After the opening of Ordu-Giresun Airport, Turkey's first airport to be built on an artificial island, land prices in the Gülyalı district where the airport is located have skyrocketed by 400 percent.

Speaking to Anadolu Agency, Ordu Mayor Enver Yılmaz said the area has started attracting investors and residents are glad that their land and homes are increasing in value. The official opening of the airport took place on May 22, and since then land prices, which were approximately around TL 100 ($34) per square meter have risen to between TL 400 to TL 800. As it is the first airport on an artificial island in Turkey and the third in the world, the project is one of Turkey's prestige projects. The airport is built on an artificial island made of 36 million stones in the sea and has a 3-kilometer landing strip. Yılmaz said they have received applications at both Gülyalı Municipality and at the Ordu Metropolitan Municipality to purchase land, but residents are not yet willing to sell their land and property. Explaining that the prices in Gülyalı are currently almost equivalent to Istanbul's Baghdad Avenue, which is one of the most renowned and prestigious districts of the city. "There was already a problem of lack of plots and land in the area and currently, with the increasing demand, we have to turn down many investors and buyers," Yılmaz said. He added that the construction site has been delivered and the contractor firm has commenced the construction of the Chocolate Park project. The park, which is in close proximity to Ordu-Giresun Airport and will be built on approximately on 48,000 square meters, will be both the production and sale center of chocolate in the region and also boast playgrounds, an amphitheater, artificial turf, tennis courts and other recreational areas. "With this project, the most important product in the region - nuts - will also be appreciated and used more," Yılmaz said.