Lisi: the green district with the schools already in it

Every green district around Tbilisi offers air, space and a garden. Lisi is the only one where the international schools are inside the district rather than a drive down the hill, and for a family with school-age children that single fact usually settles the decision.

The district sits around the lake above the city, roughly fifteen minutes by car from Vake and noticeably cooler in summer. It is built almost entirely of individual houses on plots, many of them recent and architect-designed, with a handful of newer apartment projects.

Five international schools, inside the district

• British International School of Tbilisi — Leo Kvachadze
• British-Georgian Academy — the same campus on Leo Kvachadze
• International Maarif Schools Georgia, Tbilisi campus — the same street
• Millennium School — Fermtzerta
• GMUS — opened here in September 2026

In practical terms that is a school run measured in minutes rather than a daily crossing of the city, which is what families moving from Vake or Saburtalo are usually trying to escape.

The lake

Lisi lake is the centre of the district and the reason it fills up at weekends: a running and cycling loop around the water, cafés along one side, open water in summer. It is the sort of amenity that holds value because it cannot be built somewhere else.

Buying a plot above the lake: what to check first

Building land still comes to market here, and the upper slopes are where most of the new houses are going up. Before you commit to a plot, establish four things in writing.

• Utilities, and how far away they are. Water, gas, electricity and drainage reaching the plot boundary is a very different proposition from reaching the end of the road. The gap is paid for by you.
• The access road, and who maintains it. Several upper streets are unsurfaced and privately maintained. Ask who clears snow, and whether anyone is obliged to.
• What you are permitted to build. Height, footprint and setbacks are set by the municipality and vary plot to plot. Confirm it before you design the house.
• The registered boundaries. Check the Public Registry extract against what is actually fenced. Discrepancies on hillside plots are not unusual.

What things cost

Houses in Lisi are not priced per square metre. Plot size, view, build quality and whether the interior is finished drive the value, and two houses on the same street can differ by a factor of two. Finished architect-designed houses generally start in the mid six figures; building plots and black-frame houses sit well below that.

Apartments exist but supply is thin, concentrated in a few newer projects. For reference, the citywide average for a newer secondary-market apartment in Tbilisi was $1,366/m² in May 2026.

Houses here are valued one at a time. Any district figure for Lisi would be an average of things that are not comparable, which is why this page does not give one.

What you give up

A car for every adult in the household, thinner infrastructure than the city, and a sensible vehicle for the upper roads between December and March. Tskneti is higher, cooler and more forested but a longer drive and without the schools; Dighomi gives more space per dollar and much less air.

Questions buyers ask about Lisi

Are the schools really in the district?
Yes. Four of the five are on or beside Leo Kvachadze and Fermtzerta, inside the Lisi area. That is unusual — most international schools in Tbilisi are in Vake, Saburtalo or Bagebi.

Is Lisi a realistic daily commute to the centre?
For a car-owning household, yes. Vake is about fifteen minutes, the centre twenty-five outside the rush hour.

Can you still buy land here?
Yes, regularly, and several gated developments still have capacity. Settle utilities, the access road and the permitted build before you sign anything.

What should I budget for a house?
Finished architect-designed houses generally start in the mid six figures. A black-frame house or a plot costs a fraction of that, with the interior as your own project and your own budget.

How is the air compared with the city?
Noticeably better, and that is one of the two reasons people move here. The district sits several hundred metres above the valley where Tbilisi’s traffic sits.

Market figures reviewed and verified by Alain Lavit, Caucasus Elite Estate, Tbilisi. Drafted with AI assistance.