When in large Turkish megacities, in Istanbul first of all, there was no free land left for housing construction in advantageous locations, developers began to look closely at shopping malls. In particular, it is already known that negotiations are underway regarding a shopping center in Beylikdüzü Torium AVM and another shopping center on the Asian side.
Shopping centers are usually located in the center, and on large plots, some of which are empty. And the shopping centers themselves have not all been profitable since the beginning of the pandemic; so, there were ideas about «repurposing» these territories, and sometimes the shopping center buildings themselves.
So, recently an agreement was signed between Iş REIT and Artaş Inşaat regarding Profilo shopping Center (Profilo AVM) in Shishli: residential residences will appear in its place.
It also became known that Sapphire AVM - a shopping center in one of the tallest skyscrapers in Istanbul - was transferred to Kiler REIC for 905 million Turkish lira (TL).
Profilo AVM is one of the most recent examples of the sale of shopping centers «for housing». The developer Artaş Group plans to implement a housing project on 18 hectares of land consisting of two sections of the Profilo shopping center, one of the oldest shopping centers in Turkey, which was bought for $65 million (1.22 billion TL). By the way, the same Artaş Group bought the Forum Trabzon shopping center in March 2022 for 53 million euros (1 billion TL).
Huseyin Altash, Chairman of the Board of the Association of Shopping Centers and Investors (AYD), clarified that currently the occupancy rate of «passable» shopping centers is very good; and in general, there are no shopping centers that are not in demand at all. So, the mass demolition of the shopping centers being sold is not expected: there are simply empty plots on their territory because they were built on large areas, including those designated «for residential development» and now these unclaimed square meters will be used for the construction of residential buildings.
But some factories that have lost their relevance have begun to be turned into residential buildings. In particular, in Yenibosna, Ikitelli, Basaksehir, where the land on which the production facilities are located is considered valuable. Although some market players – in particular, the president of the Istanbul Real Estate Brokers Club (ISTEB) Ulvi Ozjan - believe that after the departure of some foreign investors from Turkey, their Turkish partners had financial difficulties due to a noticeable decrease in the inflow of rental payments in foreign currency; and they decided to transform the unprofitable (if not unprofitable) shopping centers, giving these areas to hospitals and private schools.
Earlier we told that Artaş is becoming a leader in shopping malls.
As for cities, Bursa is also developing as «another commercial capital» of Turkey.