Krtsanisi Grande Renovation Brief

Why

A shell at $1,840 competes with a new-build at $1,900. It loses.

The developer still sells unsold stock in the same complex from around $1,900/m². A buyer looking at a grey shell has two options: ours at a 3% discount, or the developer's with a warranty, a payment plan and a sales office. That is not a discount, it is a rounding error. The resale shell has no argument to make.

Buyers in this segment are not construction managers. They cannot price the gap between bare concrete and a finished home, so they assume the worst and walk to the apartment where the gap is already closed. The three viewings that ended in someone else's renovated apartment are the market telling us exactly this.

1

Liquidity first, margin second

The property is not selling at all. A finished apartment moves into a deeper, faster pool of buyers: relocators, families, and rental investors who want to move in or let it out this month.

2

The uplift more than covers the work

Break-even sits near $2,350/m². Renovated stock in Krtsanisi trades from $2,300 to $2,800/m². The renovation pays for itself in the middle of that band and earns above it.

3

Distinctive costs almost nothing extra

The delta between a forgettable beige renovation and a memorable one is a few thousand dollars of paint, tile and joinery choices. The price delta at the top of the comp band is five times that.

The thesis in one line. Tbilisi's renovated inventory is overwhelmingly grey-and-white minimalism. We are not trying to beat it on square metres or on price. We are making the one apartment in the search results that photographs like a European home rather than a serviced apartment.

How

Five rules that decide every spend.

Not a taste exercise. Each rule exists to make the listing photos better or the viewing more convincing, and to keep money away from things buyers never notice.

Spend where the camera looks

The first three listing photos do most of the selling. That means the floor, the kitchen wall, the bathroom, and the light through the balcony doors. Concentrate budget on those four surfaces; everything else is competent and quiet.

One committed colour, everywhere else calm

Warm off-white walls throughout, with a single deep blue-green used deliberately, on kitchen fronts, or the WC, or a joinery wall. Colour is what makes a photo scroll-stopping. Colour everywhere is what makes it exhausting.

Warm floor, wall to wall

Oak-toned herringbone through the whole interior, no thresholds between rooms. In a 52 m² footprint, one continuous floor reads as a bigger apartment, and herringbone is the single cheapest signal of "this was designed".

Finish the wet rooms completely

Bathroom and WC done to the last towel rail, kitchen fitted with appliances. A half-finished wet room kills a deal faster than no renovation at all, because it reads as a problem the buyer inherits.

No furniture, but not empty

Fitted joinery, lighting, mirrors, blinds and door hardware are part of the build, not decoration. They carry the photographs without buying a sofa. Digital staging can add the rest for the listing.

Neutral where taste is personal

Deep colour goes on repaintable surfaces. Tile, stone, worktops and floors stay in warm neutrals. A buyer who dislikes the blue can change it in a weekend, and knows it.

What

Scope of the deliverable.

A handover-ready apartment: everything fixed to the building is finished and working. Nothing loose is bought.

In scope

Bathroom, complete: waterproofing, tiling, shower or tub, WC, vanity, mirror, towel rail, extract, plumbed washing machine space
Separate WC, complete: wall-hung pan, concealed cistern, compact basin, tiling or wet-paint scheme
Fitted kitchen: cabinetry, worktop, splashback, sink, tap, hob, oven, extractor, integrated fridge and dishwasher
Floors: levelling screed and oak-toned herringbone across the full interior
Walls and ceilings: plaster correction, plasterboard ceilings, cornice, skirting, paint
Electrics: full first and second fix, consumer unit, lighting design, sockets, data
Heating and cooling: boiler connection, radiators or underfloor, split AC to living room and bedroom
Doors: entrance door upgrade, three interior doors, all hardware
Balconies: both finished, utility corner boxed in and ventilated
Handover: deep clean, snagging, appliance manuals, photography

Out of scope

Free-standing furniture of any kind: sofa, beds, tables, chairs
Soft furnishing, rugs, artwork, plants
Wardrobes, unless a fitted niche unit proves cheaper than losing the wall
Smart-home systems beyond wiring provision
Structural change to load-bearing elements
Anything requiring a permit that adds weeks to the programme

Two grey areas to decide early, both cheap and both photographic: window blinds or curtain tracks, and a fitted bench or joinery wall in the living room. Treat them as scope, not decoration.

When

Sixteen weeks from decision to listing.

Twelve of those are on site. The four that decide whether the schedule holds are the first two and the last two: design lock and procurement at the front, photography and listing at the back.

Weeks 1–2 · Design lock

Pick one scenario and freeze it

Choose from the three scenarios, lock the layout, produce dimensioned plans, an electrical and lighting plan, and tile and joinery drawings. Every change after this week costs money and days.

Weeks 2–3 · Procurement

Order the long-lead items

Kitchen cabinetry, interior doors, tile, sanitaryware, appliances, flooring. Tile and doors are the usual schedule killers in Tbilisi. Order before demolition, not after.

Weeks 3–5 · Rough works

Partitions, first fix, screed

Any partition changes, then electrical and plumbing first fix, bathroom waterproofing, floor levelling. Screed then needs its curing time. Do not compress it.

Weeks 6–8 · Wet rooms and surfaces

Tiling, plaster, ceilings

Bathroom and WC tiled, plasterboard ceilings built, walls skimmed. The apartment stops looking like a building site around week 8, which is a good moment for a site review.

Weeks 9–11 · Fit-out

Floor, doors, kitchen, paint

Herringbone laid, skirting and cornice fixed, doors hung, kitchen installed and templated, painting. Worktop templating adds a week of its own if the top is stone.

Weeks 12–13 · Second fix

Everything switched on

Sanitaryware, taps, appliances, lighting, sockets, AC units, mirrors, towel rails. Commission the boiler and test every circuit and every drain.

Week 14 · Snagging

Punch list closed before anyone photographs it

Walk the apartment with a list, fix everything on it, then walk it again. Deep clean. This is the week people skip and regret.

Weeks 15–16 · Go to market

Photography, staging, relist

Professional photographs in good afternoon light, a short walkthrough video, optional digital staging, then relist at the new price with a new headline. Treat it as a launch, not an edit to the old listing.

Season matters. Sixteen weeks starting now puts the relaunch in late winter, ahead of the spring buying season rather than into it. Starting two months later means listing in summer, which is the slowest window of the year in Tbilisi.

Who

Small team, one decision-maker.

63 m² does not need a project management layer. It needs one person who answers questions the same day, and a contractor who does not need chasing.

Role	Owns	Notes
Owner: Pavel	Budget, scenario choice, sale price, every trade-off between cost and finish	The single approval point. Same-day answers on site questions are worth more than a weekly site visit.
General contractor	All trades, sequencing, site protection, snagging	Fixed-price against a drawn scope. Ask for two references you can visit in person, and hold a retention until snagging closes.
Designer / visualiser	Layout, palette, lighting plan, tile and joinery drawings, renders	Can be a person or an AI-generated scenario pack refined into technical drawings. The drawings are the part that cannot be skipped.
Kitchen supplier	Survey, cabinetry, worktop template and install	Separate contract from the builder. Lead time drives the whole back half of the programme.
Site contact in Tbilisi	Deliveries, access, weekly photo report, cash payments	Essential if the owner is not in the country. A weekly ten-photo report catches most problems while they are still cheap.
Agent + photographer	Pricing sanity-check, listing, viewings, photo shoot	Bring the agent in at week 12, not week 16. A pricing opinion before the paint dries is still useful.

Context

Where this stands today.

The asset

Complex	Krtsanisi Grande, Grande Group
Address	Krtsanisi Lane 17, Tbilisi 0114
Status	Construction finished, unit delivered
Unit	1-bedroom + living/kitchen, 2 balconies
Interior	52.35 m²
Balconies	4.24 + 6.48 = 10.72 m²
Total	63.07 m²
Condition	Grey shell / white frame
Purchase	$1,600/m² · $100,800
Held	≈ 2.5 years

The market signal

Listed at $1,840/m² in shell condition. Several viewings, no offers.
Every viewer who did buy, bought a renovated apartment instead.
The developer still sells in the same complex from ~$1,900/m², which caps what any shell resale can ask.
Krtsanisi renovated stock in modern complexes trades roughly $2,300–2,800/m².
Turnkey renovation from shell in Tbilisi runs $350–600/m² depending on specification.

Read it plainly. The shell is priced into a segment that does not exist. There are buyers below us for cheaper districts and buyers above us for finished homes. Nobody is shopping for a $116k concrete box in a premium complex.

Market figures cross-checked against Korter (Krtsanisi Grande), MyHome price-per-m² by district, Rinox renovation costs 2026 and PB Services renovation guide. Treat them as a band, not a quote. Confirm with a local agent before setting the sale price.

Layout

One long living space, one bedroom, one wet core.

The plan is unusually good for its size: a 3.80 × 7.75 m living space with glazing at both ends, a genuine 12.75 m² bedroom, and the wet rooms stacked on one wall next to the entrance. The whole renovation is easier because the plumbing never has to travel.

Developer floor plan of the 63 m² apartment showing living area 33.14 m², bedroom 12.75 m², WC 5.33 m² and two balconies — **Developer plan.** 52.35 m² interior: living/kitchen 33.14 m², bedroom 12.75 m², wet room 5.33 m² (2.25 × 2.95 m). Balconies 4.24 m² and 6.48 m². Entrance at the top, into the living space.

Layout study showing proposed new partitions in green with kitchen run, wet room fixtures and bedroom wall — **Layout study.** Green marks new partitions. Kitchen run and tall units along the entry wall, wet-room fixtures grouped on the party wall, and a partition defining the bedroom.

What the plan gives us

7.75 m of clear length with light at both ends
Wet rooms adjacent to each other and to the entrance
Services already terminated on the balcony: gas, water manifold, heating distribution
Two balconies, one of them 6.48 m²: a real outdoor room, not a ledge

What the plan costs us

5.33 m² is tight for a bathroom that also has to hold a washing machine
The kitchen has no window wall, so lighting design has to do the work
Only one bedroom, so the living space has to feel generous enough to justify the price
Entering directly into the living space with no hallway needs a designed threshold

Decisions the scenarios must answer

One bathroom plus a separate WC, or one larger bathroom?
Kitchen along the entry wall, or an island / peninsula splitting the long room?
Bedroom closed with a solid wall, glazed partition, or sliding doors?
Washing machine in the bathroom, or moved to the balcony utility corner?

Location

Krtsanisi: green, diplomatic, five minutes from the old town.

Krtsanisi sits along the Mtkvari south-east of the historic centre: government residence, embassy row, Krtsanisi Forest Park, and a corridor of new premium complexes. It is quiet in a way central Tbilisi is not, and still inside the city.

Map of Tbilisi with the Krtsanisi district marked south-east of the historic centre — Krtsanisi district, Tbilisi 0114. Marker is approximate, the complex address is Krtsanisi Lane 17. Open in Google Maps. Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Distances

Old Town / Meidan	≈ 2.5 km · 5–10 min drive
Rustaveli Avenue	≈ 4 km
Krtsanisi Forest Park	walking distance
Tbilisi International Airport	≈ 20–30 min drive

What the complex sells

Outdoor and indoor pools, fitness and spa, three-level underground parking, 24/7 security and concierge, and roughly 10,000 m² of landscaped grounds with a playground. These are the amenities the listing should lead with. They justify a premium per m² that the apartment alone does not.

Who the buyer is

Relocated professionals and their families who want a finished home and a secure compound; Georgian buyers trading up from older stock; and investors buying for long-let, for whom "furnished-ready, tenant next month" is the whole pitch. All three want to see a finished kitchen and bathroom before they take the viewing seriously.

Inspiration

Thirteen references, one consistent taste.

Collected without a brief, they converge hard: warm oak laid in herringbone, chalky off-white walls with proper white mouldings, and exactly one saturated colour, a deep blue that runs from navy to petrol teal, carried on joinery, doors and full walls. Brass where metal shows. Black used sparingly as a line, never a field.

Handleless dark-stained oak kitchen run against a white wall with a pale stone worktop — Dark-stained oak, handleless, pale worktop. Cabinetry as furniture.

Fluted oak island with a stone top, off-white tall cabinetry and herringbone parquet — Fluted oak island, stone top, off-white tall units, herringbone floor.

Kitchen room with tall white joinery, oak herringbone floor and moulded doorframes — Tall joinery to ceiling, deep skirting, moulded reveals.

Living room with a navy accent wall containing painted niches and a light oak floor — Navy wall with painted-in niches. The colour does the whole job.

Hallway with doors and panelling painted the same deep blue, oak parquet floor — Doors, frames and wall in one blue. No visible hardware fuss.

Teal painted wall meeting a white ceiling with a deep white crown moulding — Teal against white cornice. The moulding is what makes it look built, not painted.

Corridor with a navy accent wall, white joinery and a wide-plank oak floor — Navy on one plane only, white everywhere else.

Wide herringbone oak-look floor meeting tall white skirting at a corner — Herringbone in a wide format with tall white skirting. The achievable version.

Navy kitchen island with a brass tap, brass pendant lights and a chevron wood floor — Navy island, brass tap and pendants, chevron floor. Warm, not cold.

Small guest WC painted teal with black trim, wall-hung pan and a slim basin — Small WC, saturated teal, black trim. Exactly our 1.5 m² problem, solved.

Bathroom with navy painted lower wall, white tiles above, brass taps and patterned floor tile — Navy dado, white tile above, patterned floor, brass taps.

Hallway with navy built-in bookcase and wall, white doors and chevron oak floor — Navy joinery wall in a corridor. Storage that reads as architecture.

Living room with a blue-grey wall, recessed shelving in oak and a wide oak floor — Blue-grey wall, oak shelving, light floor. The calmest version of the palette.

Derived direction

Warm European classic, built at Tbilisi cost.

Not Japandi, not Scandi, not the grey minimalism that fills every other listing in the district. A warm apartment with white mouldings, oak underfoot and one deep blue-green room. The look of a renovated Amsterdam or Paris flat, delivered with Turkish and Georgian materials.

Chalk white#F4F0E8 · walls

Trim white#FFFFFF · cornice, skirting

Deep navy#1E3A57 · joinery

Petrol teal#17505A · WC, alt joinery

Warm oak#C6996A · floor

Aged brass#A8813F · taps, handles

Materials

Oak-toned herringbone, 8–10 mm laminate or SPC in a wide format. Engineered oak if the budget allows
White cornice and 100–120 mm skirting throughout, mitred properly
Matt chalk paint, washable in wet zones
Pale stone or compact-surface worktop, honed not polished
Large-format warm-neutral tile on bathroom walls; patterned or terrazzo-look floor tile for character
Fluted or shaker-profile fronts on at least one joinery run. Texture is what photographs

Fittings

Brushed brass taps, shower set and door handles; black only as a thin line
Wall-hung WC with concealed cistern in both wet rooms
Frameless glass shower screen, no shower tray lip if the floor build-up allows
Slim recessed downlights plus warm 2700K accent lighting: under-cabinet, mirror, and one pendant point
Full-height mirror in the bathroom, wall-to-wall over the vanity
Blinds or curtain tracks fitted, not left to the buyer

Deliberately avoided

Grey everything, cold white LEDs, glossy white cabinet fronts
Suspended ceilings with a light strip around the perimeter
Marble-look porcelain on every surface at once
Chrome fittings mixed with brass
Accent walls in more than one room
Anything that dates the apartment to 2019

Current condition

Grey shell, honestly assessed.

Better than the average white frame: glazing is in, services are terminated in a sensible place, and the balconies are already screeded and clad. Everything else starts from concrete.

Bare living room with raw concrete slab ceiling, plastered walls, unfinished concrete floor and installed balcony glazing — **Living room.** Plastered walls, exposed slab ceiling with formwork marks, unfinished floor, glazing installed with protective film. Electrical tails hanging from the wall.

26-second walkthrough: entrance, living room, balcony, utility corner and the view.

View from the entrance along the corridor toward the balcony glazing — Entrance looking through to the balcony. The shot the listing photos will use.

Living room floor with red PEX pipe runs lying loose on raw concrete — Heating pipe runs loose on the slab. No screed anywhere.

Full-height balcony door and window unit, protective film still on the frames — Full-height glazing installed, film still on. Good light, both ends.

Balcony with timber-look clad reveals and a finished floor — Balcony reveals already clad in timber-look panel, floor finished.

Balcony corner with gas pipe, white water manifold with valves and red PEX distribution — Utility corner: gas line, water manifold with valves, heating distribution, floor drain.

View from the balcony over greenery and an adjacent construction site toward wooded hills — View: greenery and hills, plus an active site next door. Shoot around it.

View toward the neighbouring block of the complex — Neighbouring block. Overlooking distances are comfortable.

Wet room shell with a drain stack and pipe stubs in the corner — Wet room shell. Drain stack and stubs in the corner set where the fixtures can go.

Condition audit

Element	State today	Implication
Ceilings	Bare concrete slab, visible joints and formwork marks	Plasterboard ceiling throughout. Buys the coffer for downlights and hides the AC pipework.
Walls	Plastered, unpainted and patchy, some areas raw block	Skim coat and correction before paint. Budget for more correction than the photos suggest.
Floor	Raw concrete, no screed, uneven, pipe runs lying loose	Levelling screed across the full interior, with curing time in the programme.
Windows and balcony doors	Double glazed, aluminium/PVC, installed, film still on	Nothing to spend. Reveals need finishing and sills fitting.
Electrics	Cable tails stubbed out, no boxes, no consumer unit	Full first and second fix. Design the lighting before anything is chased.
Plumbing	Water manifold with valves and heating distribution terminated on the balcony	Good position. Runs to kitchen and wet rooms are short. Boil down to one clean chase.
Gas	Gas line present at the balcony utility corner	Boiler location is effectively decided. Box it in, ventilate it, keep access.
Heating and cooling	None installed	Radiators or underfloor, plus two split AC units. Underfloor competes with floor build-up. Decide at design lock.
Wet rooms	Empty shell, no waterproofing, no fixtures	Full build: tank, tile, fit out. The single biggest line item after the kitchen.
Kitchen	Nothing	Full fitted kitchen with appliances. Longest lead time on the job.
Doors	No interior doors; entrance door basic	Three interior doors plus an entrance door upgrade. Cheap, and buyers touch every one of them.
Balconies	Floors finished, reveals clad, drain present	Light touch only: clean up, lighting, one socket, screen the utility corner.

Verify on site before pricing. Ceiling height to slab, actual floor level variance across the 7.75 m span, whether the heating distribution is sized for underfloor, and the exact wet-room drainage position. Those four numbers move the budget by thousands in either direction.

Task list

Everything that has to happen, in order.

Grouped by phase. Critical path items are the ones that push the finish date if they slip. Nothing below assumes a specific scenario. The scenarios change the finishes, not the sequence.

#	Task	Phase	Flag
1	Measure the apartment properly: dimensions, ceiling height, floor level variance, service positions	Design	Critical path
2	Choose one of the three renovation scenarios and freeze it	Design	Critical path
3	Produce dimensioned layout, electrical and lighting plan, tile setting-out, joinery drawings	Design	Critical path
4	Confirm target sale price with an agent against live renovated comps	Design
5	Tender the scope to three contractors, fixed price, same drawings	Procurement	Critical path
6	Sign contract with payment schedule tied to milestones and a retention	Procurement
7	Order kitchen cabinetry and worktop, survey first	Procurement	Critical path
8	Order tile, sanitaryware, taps and shower set	Procurement	Critical path
9	Order interior doors and entrance door	Procurement	Critical path
10	Order flooring, skirting and cornice with 10% waste allowance	Procurement
11	Order appliances: hob, oven, hood, fridge, dishwasher, washing machine	Procurement
12	Register works with the building management, agree lift access and working hours	Procurement
13	Site protection: glazing, entrance door, balcony finishes, lift	Rough works
14	Build or adjust partitions per the chosen layout	Rough works	Critical path
15	Electrical first fix: chases, consumer unit position, all circuits, lighting points, data	Rough works	Critical path
16	Plumbing first fix: hot, cold and drainage to kitchen, bathroom, WC, washing machine	Rough works	Critical path
17	Heating: boiler position and flue, radiator or underfloor loops from the balcony manifold	Rough works	Critical path
18	AC first fix: indoor unit positions, condensate runs, outdoor unit mounting	Rough works
19	Bathroom and WC tanking: full waterproofing to floor and wet walls, flood test	Rough works	Critical path
20	Levelling screed across the full interior, then cure	Rough works	Critical path
21	Tile bathroom and WC: floor and walls, setting-out approved on site before adhesive	Surfaces	Critical path
22	Plasterboard ceilings with service voids and AC access panels	Surfaces
23	Wall correction and skim, window reveals, sills	Surfaces
24	Kitchen splashback and any feature wall tiling	Surfaces
25	Lay herringbone flooring wall to wall, no thresholds between rooms	Fit-out	Critical path
26	Fix skirting and cornice, fill and caulk every joint	Fit-out
27	Hang interior doors, fit entrance door and all hardware	Fit-out
28	Install kitchen cabinetry; template worktop and install once cut	Fit-out	Critical path
29	Build any fitted joinery: niche unit, bench, wardrobe carcass	Fit-out	Optional
30	Paint everything: ceilings, walls, trim, accent colour	Fit-out
31	Sanitaryware, taps, shower screen, towel rails, mirrors, bathroom accessories	Second fix
32	Appliances installed, plumbed and tested	Second fix
33	Electrical second fix: sockets, switches, all light fittings, extract fans	Second fix
34	AC units mounted and commissioned; boiler commissioned and certified	Second fix
35	Blinds or curtain tracks fitted	Second fix	Optional
36	Balcony finishing: clean up, box in and ventilate the utility corner, add light and socket	Second fix
37	Snagging walk with a written list; fix; second walk to close it	Handover	Critical path
38	Deep clean including glazing, balconies and inside every cabinet	Handover
39	Collect warranties, appliance manuals, boiler certificate, paint codes for the buyer	Handover
40	Professional photography and a walkthrough video, shot in afternoon light	Go to market	Critical path
41	Digital staging of the empty rooms for the listing	Go to market	Optional
42	Relist as a new launch: new price, new headline, new photo set, agent briefed	Go to market	Critical path

Money

What it costs and what it has to return.

Illustrative, not a quote. The point is the shape of the trade, not the third decimal place. Confirm every line against a real Tbilisi tender before committing.

Indicative budget

Line	Low	High
Design, drawings, site setup	$900	$1,800
Partitions, plaster correction, screed	$2,500	$3,500
Electrics, first and second fix	$2,200	$3,200
Plumbing and heating	$2,400	$3,600
Split AC, two units	$1,100	$1,900
Bathroom + WC, complete	$4,500	$6,800
Kitchen with appliances	$5,000	$8,000
Flooring, skirting, cornice	$2,300	$3,800
Doors and hardware	$1,200	$2,100
Ceilings, painting, decoration	$2,000	$3,000
Lighting and electrical fittings	$900	$1,700
Balconies, clean, snagging	$800	$1,400
Contingency, 10%	$2,600	$4,100
Total	$28,400	$44,900
Per m² of total area	$451	$712

Plan around $32,000. Below $28k the finish stops being the reason someone pays a premium; above $40k the maths only works at the top of the comp band.

The trade

Scenario	$/m²	Sale	vs. today's ask
Do nothing (current ask)	1,840	$115,920	n/a
Break-even after $32k	2,348	$147,920	$0
Conservative	2,400	$151,200	+$3,280
Mid-band	2,550	$160,650	+$12,730
Top of band	2,750	$173,250	+$25,330

All figures on 63.07 m² total area, $32,000 renovation, before agency fees and taxes. If local comps are quoted on interior area only, the totals hold but the per-m² numbers shift up by ~20%.

Where the risk actually sits. Not in the budget. Tbilisi construction cost is reasonably predictable. It sits in landing at $2,400 instead of $2,700. That gap is $19,000, and it is decided almost entirely by the kitchen, the bathroom and the first three listing photos. Which is exactly where the brief tells you to spend.

Next step

Three scenarios, then pick one.

The repository contains a prompt that turns this brief into three fully specified renovation scenarios: layout, palette, materials, kitchen and bathroom specification, budget and the argument each one makes to a buyer. Run it, compare them side by side, choose one, and freeze it in week two.

Read the scenarios prompt Walkthrough video