Antalya megaprojects to showcase city's metropolitan character

Antalya Metropolitan Mayor, Menderes Türel has said 11 megaprojects, worth TL 4.5 billion ($1.165 billion), currently under development in Antalya will further boost development and highlight the city's metropolitan character.

He was speaking at the Ninth Developing Cities Summit, organized by the Association of Real Estate Investment Companies (GYODER) and Antalya Metropolitan Municipality. The event promotes investment opportunities in developing cities to sector representatives.

Supported by the Sabah daily as the media sponsor, the summit also addressed the future of the city.

Türel said Antalya as a leader in number of tourists and sale of houses to foreigners until three years ago. He hopes that the city will reach the peak again next year thanks to a number of megaprojects that will be contracted soon. He said that they are yet to reach the desired price per square meter in Antalya.

"We are currently dealing with 10 museum projects. We have 11 projects, including a cruise port, marina, film sets, cable car, power plant, solid waste facility and residences," he said.

He said that some countries such as South Korea and China have started to move such projects to city center, contending that this lack of vision for Antalya wasted the city's potential 10 years ago.

Also speaking at the event, Antalya Metropolitan Municipality Deputy Secretary-General Bedrullah Erçin said the cruise port and marina projects will generate annual revenue of TL 122 million.

"As part of the film set project, TL 665 million will be invested in a theme park area and TL 180 million will be invested in the film studio area. We expect the film set to bring TL 210 million in turnover over five years. Also, the natural life area is expected to generate TL 500 million over five years. Moreover, TL 140 million will be invested in Tünektepe and on a cable car project, which will give tourists an opportunity to observe Antalya from above."

Kuzu Group board bember Özen Kuzu said they are interested in urban renewal areas. He said they are planning to invest in a project to build 500 luxury homes next year.

Sur Yapı Chairman Altan Elmas also spoke about their new urban renewal project consisting of 19,000 houses in Antalya's Kepez district.

"There is no urban transformation project of this size in the world. We aim to complete it in eight years and deliver around 5,000 homes in 2019."

GYODER Chairman Feyzullah Yetgin said they are planning to sell a record 1.4 million houses by the end of the year. "We want the taxation incentives, which will expire on Sept. 30, 2018, to continue in our sector," he said. He said that the megaproject will boost the development of the city. "More than 10,000 people will be employed only in the film studios and sets."