Daily Sabah: Polat Construction is a leading company in the construction industry with high customer satisfaction and is especially known for its hotel and office building projects. What is the secret behind your success?Kaan Yücel: We have been in the construction business for the past 60 years; this group is one of the oldest firms in this sector. It is true that the Polat brand is known for hotel and office projects, and we do operate hotels and office buildings, but we also carried out many residence projects too. Our founder İbrahim Polat established this firm initially through residence projects, today in many upscale neighborhoods such as Nişantaşı, Etiler, Ulus and Bağdat Avenue there are many residential buildings constructed by Polat. Therefore, this group is one of the masters of construction in Turkey, and has also carried out many "firsts" in this sector. For example, Polat Tower Residence in Fulya is the first building of its kind in Turkey with many services and automated systems, and is one of the leading examples of urban renovation projects. Automated systems, such as fire extinguishing and alert systems, were introduced in this project, which proved successful in 2012. (A 42-storey tall building survived a major fire in July 2012, and hundreds were safely evacuated with no injuries). Polat is also a successful brand in other sectors such as energy, ceramics, and mining. Piyalepaşa Real Estate was founded by Polat for the sole purpose of taking part in urban renovation projects that are underway in Istanbul's Piyalepaşa district.D.S.: How many times have you attended Cityscape Fair, which has run since 2002? Could you tell us about the fair's concrete contributions to your company and your expectations?Yücel: This will be the first time that Polat Construction and our project is attending Cityscape. We attended the MIPIM Expo in France in March, and our aim was to make the initial publicity of the project both in terms of the investors, press and sector. In MIPIM, we reached a European customer profile, and in Cityscape, we aim to reach investors and customers from the Middle East. Cityscape is a more sales-oriented expo, and we aim to directly come across our customers and conduct our sales. We have shopping areas and a shopping street in the project, and therefore we also aim to get together with potential investors.D.S.: Can you tell us about the customer profile of your project? From which countries do you receive demand? Do individual or investor/company-based purchases make up most of your sales?It is too early to answer this question as we are about to introduce our publicity campaign for Piyalepaşa Istanbul. Currently most of our sales are either preliminary sales to our environment or former customers. If we are to speak about our older projects, most of our customers were locals. However, this project is too large, and 20,000 people are expected to live in Piyalepaşa Istanbul when it is completed. The interest from foreign nationals is continuing to increase and we can clearly see it in general sales data. Therefore, we want to create a proportionate mix of customers in that regard.D.S.: How would you define the reasons for foreign customers to choose your project and why should they invest in this project?Foreign nationals pay attention to a couple of things before they make their purchases. The first one is who is building this project, and Polat brand really steps forward in that regard as a good reason to choose Piyalepaşa Istanbul. Location is very important. We are very close to old Istanbul, Nişantaşı, Taksim and Beyoğlu districts. We have easy access to main arteries and motorways. Architecture of the project can attract both foreign and Turkish customers. We were inspired by the nearby Piyale Pasha Mosque [a 16th century Ottoman mosque designed by Ottoman imperial architect Mimar Sinan] while preparing the architecture of the project and we added motifs from Seljuk and Ottoman architecture. I think that we came up with a project that harmonizes both the old and the new. Our group's financial stability and ownership of construction land are also important.D.S.: The project is located near some of Istanbul's old neighborhoods like Okmeydanı, Dolapdere or Hacıhüsrev, which are often associated with crime. Do you have any security concerns or do you foresee a larger renovation that includes these neighborhoods?We are not constructing a single building; this project is very large and will be situated on 80 hectares of land. There is also a larger transformation in the area. For the last two and a half years, we were in Piyalepaşa and we have made land purchases, contracts and agreements with current residents. So far, we have not had any problems.I think that this area will transform very rapidly. There are many examples of this in large cities like Paris and London like Marais, Soho or Tribeca. Location is very important and neighborhoods like this can rapidly transform, along with a rapid hike in prices. Our project is walking distance from İstiklal Street, the most popular tourist destination in Istanbul. The transformation has already begun in the Dolapdere-Tarlabaşı area, there is ongoing planning for Galataport and there are also plans for the Golden Horn area. This area will change very rapidly. In my personal life, I have witnessed all stages of Beyoğlu's transformation. First, the area between Galatasaray and Taksim was redeveloped, and then it extended to Tünel, then Galata, then Karaköy. I expect an even faster transformation in Piyalepaşa.D.S.: How would you define the reasons to choose Istanbul and Turkey for such an investment?Turkey is changing very rapidly. First of all, we have a large very young population, which is hardworking. Turkey has many natural resources. When all of them are combined, it produces a great potential. Especially for the construction sector, this feature is reflected in our sales numbers, residence sales do not decrease and our sector is not affected from crises. This potential attracts many people into Turkey.D.S.: As you have mentioned Turkey's young population, does your project include any studio flats, usually preferred by students and bachelors? Usually projects in Turkey include large flats that are to be occupied by families. Hence your project is located in a very central area, have you factored in this demand in Piyalepaşa Istanbul?This project will include 25 buildings and approximately 1,000 flats that are organized to accommodate all types of flats. We want families to reside in this project but we also have studio or 1+1 flats assembled in several buildings. There are many universities located in our surrounding area, and we are aware that this is an important opportunity.D.S.: How would you describe the effects changes in reciprocity legislation in 2012 and the increase in residence sales to foreign nationals have had on your company and the sector? Are there still any delays due to the number of bureaucratic procedures and are additional regulations needed?Changes in reciprocity legislation increased residence sales to foreign nationals. However it is not enough and we have the potential to increase our sales due to continuing interest in Turkey. Some bureaucratic procedures still take time and are still not carried out electronically. These problems, along with the ones in urban renovation, should be solved with the sector. We still have problems in allocating loans to foreign nationals, they usually have to make their purchases in cash. I think the finance and banking sector should develop more foreign national-friendly products. D.S.: Could you identify the pluses and minuses of the Turkish construction sector?Turkey is one of the leading countries in construction, and we construct many projects not only in Turkey, but throughout the world. Currently we are building mega projects in Turkey; we should start undertaking mega projects throughout the world. Our companies should start developing, planning or financing such projects rather than taking part as subcontractors. We should move the experiences we have in Turkey abroad. For example, like Piyalepaşa Istanbul, we have many beautiful mixed projects; we should be able to construct them in foreign countries.