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Turkey Commercial Property Development Summit, 2012

September 13th - 14th , 2012, Istanbul, Turkey

A surge is taking place in the construction of new office buildings and shopping centers in cities throughout Turkey, and Mixed Use Building projects are mushrooming.

Investment and management companies are racing to acquire their market share in Turkey. As of March 2011, Turkey had 270 modern shopping centers, and some 74 others were under construction making this one of the best investment opportunities in the region.

The Istanbul office market is known for its impressive dynamism: in the final quarter of 2011 alone 190 000 m2 of supply was added. Market indicators such as very low vacancy rates and competitive rates are stimulating investors and operators to continue growing.

Noppen’s Turkey Commercial Property Development Summit started as a joint session with Noppen’s 2nd Annual Turkey Hotel Expansion Summit and Mr. Haluk Kaya, Chairman of Bekay Property Partners, gave the opening speech. Ms. Özlem Gökçe provided the participants a brief summary of 2012 and GYODER’s expectations for the year 2013 in the Real Estate Market Development in Turkey. Following that Mr. ÖmerIsvan, President of Servotel Corporation, presented a very comprehensive outlook about the present and future development climate in Turkey. He not only highlighted the positive angels but also drew attention to possible setbacks. Ms. Işıl Dinçer, General Manager of TSKB Appraisals, updated the participants of the both events regarding the recent developments in regulations and their possible effects in Real Estate Markets.

Up next was the first discussion panel led by Mr. Kıvanç Erman, Director of Capital Markets of JLL, with participants: Mr. Ertan Dal, General Manager of Taurus Investments, Mr. Yağmur Yaşar, CFO of Cefic Turkey, Mr. Henry Morris, Associate Director of Head of Acquisitions Emerging Europe of Europa Capital, and Mr. Ulf Pettersson, Director of Development and Construction of Amstar Global, submitted their expectations of Real Estate Market Development in Turkey as foreign investors. Being of the most rapidly developing market in the region, numerous opportunities in different cities were discussed. Panelists also mentioned the ways to increase foreign investor’s involvement by discussing some regulatory and transparency issues that the newcomers are facing when entering the market.

Mr. Filippo Sona, Head of Hotels & Resorts Mena Region of Colliers International, moderated the discussion panel for enhancing a win-win for investor-developer-operator, highlighted the situation from the operator’s perspective. Mr. Murat Yılmaz, Senior Director, Acquisition & Development EMEA of Starwood Hotels & Resorts , Mr. Philippe Baretaud, Senior Vice President Head of Development EMEA of Accor, Mr. Melik Kızılcan, General Manager of Mövenpick Hotel İzmir, and Mr. Bilge Turcan,Chief Business Development Officer of Dedeman Hotels & Resorts International,provided their most valuable insight and finally agreed and pointed out to achieve a win-win scenario; the developer-investor-operator-financer should start working together. Expectations of all parties should be clearly agreed upon and respected to achieve success.

Ms. Buket Hayretçi, First Vice President of Aareal Bank AG Turkey presented a very well prepared paper on the philosophy of project financing, reasons of rules and expected securities. The questions and answers part was a result of her great experience in project financing and found interested ears in the audience.

The Final discuccion panel of the joint session was led by Mr. Mete Varas, Head of Business Development – Europe of Reidin.com, with the participation of Mr. Alaeddin Babaoğlu, President & CEO of Amplio Real Estate Investments, Mr. Erol Özmandıracı, Chairman of Bay Construction, Mr. Arda Taşarkan, Business Development Director of Cefic Turkey, Mr. Serdar Garan, Founder & General Manager of Segment Property Development & Construction. The discussion about bigger and luxurious vs. smaller and affordable developments showed that if a project is well examined and the reasons bringing to a conclusion are based on reality the question is not big or small because the study will lead to a profitable solution anyway.

After an extremely rich morning, the Commercial Property program continued with a focused and elaborate afternoon welcome address from the Chairman of the Summit, Ms. Güniz Çelen, whom is Chairperson Corporate Valuation and Counseling Inc. Although there were a number of outstanding speakers at the event, she, contributed the most. Her years of experience within the industry along with her meticulousness and consistent drive for better, reflects the kind of person she is and her level of professionalism. She is a well-respected figure in the industry and had the delegate’s undivided attention. She paved the way for Hakan Gümüş, Board Member & General Manager of EA Real Estate Development & Construction.

Mr. Gümüş developed on the Real Estate Brand Value of Istanbul, showing several charts and graphics that rank Istanbul in global perspective. A very passionate speaker, Mr. Gümüş managed to capture the audience entirely and trigger several comments from the listeners. Istanbul does have a long way ahead of her it seems, in several aspects, and yes it must be said, rather negative conclusions were heard about Istanbul. Mr. Gümüş however made sure to stress the fact that Istanbul is worthwhile investing in.

Once coffee break passed, the Founder and Principal of GAD Architecture, Mr. Gökhan Avcıoğlu took over, with a long, impressive slide show on high-rise projects that will be dominating Istanbul`s skyline in near future. Without a doubt, it was an eye-opening revelation to see architectural adventures being built in the city.

Mr. Curt Carrigan, Coordinator from UNEP-SBCI, launched into the green theme. He spoke about the changing globe and the pressure on the environment, resulting in new challenges and trends for the real estate sector. Ending the day was Mr. Daniel Frey, Founder & CEO of Green Growth, with a compact speech on creating destinations, differentiated experiences and stakeholder involvement.

Friday morning`s first session set the pace for the rest of the day which was dominated by in-depth, well prepared discussion panels. Mr. Murat Ergin, Managing Director of Kuzaybatı Real Estate Services, guided Mr. Anthony Khoi, President of Aerium Turkey and Mr. Hilmi Özçakir, CEO of Turkmall, through a 30 minute panel about personalizing shopping mall experiences and delivering high-tech solutions to enhance that customer experience. Many aspects were highlighted, from accessibility of parking lots to high-tech mobile applications.

The second session was moderated by Mr. Firuz Soyuer, Managing Partner of DTZ Pamir & Soyuer. Together with Mr. Ömer Egesel – General Manager of Tekfen Real Estate Development, Mr. Hakan Gümüş General Manager of EA Real Estate Development & Construction, and Mr. Feyzi Tecellioğlu, Managing Director of Soyak Real Estate Development & Investment, discussed the criteria that are moving tenants into office complexes. Among the determining factors that were brought up were also prestige and traffic.

The longest panel was led by Ms. Güniz Çelen. She had gathered Mr. Şefik Birkiye, Founder & President of Vizzion Group, Mr. Kerim Cin, Managing Partner of Colliers International Turkey, Ms. Buket Hayretçi, First Vice President of Aareal Bank AG Turkey, Ms. Ayla Heyfegil, Vice President & Managing Partner of Servotel Corporation and Mr. Özcan Tahincioğlu, Chairman of Tahincioğlu Holding. Topic was the very hot issue of mixed-use projects. For one hour the panelists touched on pros and cons, difficulties and challenges, bank requirements, planning, and very importantly duration of studies.

Ms Çelen continued after the coffee-break with a presentation focus on mitigating risks in investment projects, again many questions and comments were raised in the audience, keeping the event very interactivel.

The Commercial Property Development agenda closed with a surprising discussion lead by Mr. Leon Goldwater – Executive Board Member, Europe Real Estate. He put with him on stage: Mr. Tony De Graaf, Director of Mall Management in Redevco, and Mr. Anthony Khoi from Aerium. How to counter vacancy in malls was the theme, it lead to a conversation about the need of decent master planning, the necessity to adjust to changing customer needs, captive, low-cost solutions like pop-up shops and the problem of franchisee quality in Turkey. `Turkey and Retail are not in crisis` - Anthony Khoi.

Noppen would like to express a special thanks to the sponsors of the Turkey Commercial Property Development Summit; Somfy, ThyssenKrupp, Keypenk, Agenor, AGP. We also want to extend our gratitude to all delegates for their active participations. Their questions spoke to the heart of the main issues facing the Commercial Real Estate Sector and their eagerness to build the industry is commendable. We have no doubt that your contribution helped in making this event a success.

Turkey Commercial Property Development Summit, 2012

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