EN
TR
RU
444 47 48
Having produced thousands of homes in Kazakhstan, the Turkish company says, “Now it’s time to invest in our own country.” Acquiring real estate in major locations, RAMS will be developing projects in Istanbul, Bodrum and Antalya. It will make an investment of 250 million dollars for two residential projects in Istanbul that will be built on land belonging to old factories.
Breaking ground in Gaziantep, RAMS Global has been active in Kazakhstan since the 1990’s. Primarily operating in construction and also in health, mining and the food sectors, the company built thousands of homes in Almaty, which it chose as its base of operations. Ramazan Bülbül and his sons Doğan Bülbül, Devran Bülbül and Faruk Bülbül manage the company and are now taking sound steps into the Turkish real estate market. We were invited to Almaty to talk about the company’s investments and future plans.
55 PROJECTS DEVELOPED
RAMS Global Chairman of the Board Ramazan Bülbül related that he had started to work when he was still a child in Cizre in cross-border trade and then discovered the Kazakhstan market when he was engaged in exports later on. Bülbül said, “We completed our first building in 1998. In the last 10 years, we launched 55 projects in Almaty that consisted of an area of 2.5 million square meters. We have become one of the most powerful three construction companies in Kazakhstan. The numbers of homes we have delivered so far has surpassed 12,000.” Bülbül said that construction was ongoing at 13 sites and that the company had a stock of plots amounting to 4 million square meters, ready for development.
Ramazan Bülbül said that they entered the Turkish market with a 400-bed hospital that they built in Gaziantep and that they were now concentrating on residential construction. Remarking that although there was demand in Turkey for homes, production was slow-moving. He said, “We saw that now is the time for investing in Turkey.” Devran Bülbül commented that they had established RAMS Türkiye for their operations in Turkey and provided us with information on some new projects.
ACQUISITION OF OLD FACTORY PLOTS
RAMS Türkiye CEO Devren Bülbül told us that they had completed a half-finisted urban renewal project in Istanbul Şerifali and that now they were working on 3 other residential projects. He said, “We purchased the plot belonging to Anadolu Efes in Bahçeliever and started to work on it. Although sales have not started as yet, there is serious demand. I foresee that we can sell all of the homes in 3 months.” Stating that they would be developing a residential project at Topkapı on the Uzel Traktör site, Bülbül said that their third project would be built on the Kozyatağı Carrefour plot owned by the Gülaylar Group.
He continued to say that Bahçelievler and Topkapı would be up for sale this year and that they would be making an investment of 250 million dollars. He also commented that the Kozyatağı project may be postponed until 2023. Pointing out that all their investments were drawing from equity capital, Bülbül said, “RAMS Türkiye’s aim is to become one of the 5 largest construction companies in the space of 5 years.” Bülbül continued to say that they had completed a boutique villa project in Gümüşlük, Bodrum and were planning to offer it out for seasonal rental. He also remarked that they had acquired another plot of land in Serik, Antalya as a tourism and residential investment. Devren Bülbül added that RAMS Global’s investments in Phuket and Moscow were ongoing and stated that in the coming period, the company planned to acquire some property in Germany and Dubai.
HATTAT’S PROJECT WILL BE COMPLETED
One of the first projects to come to mind in the context of half-completed buildings in Istanbul is “Diamond of Istanbul,” a project in Maslak owned by Hattat Holding. The project started in 2003 but could not be completed due to a cancellation of license arising from action brought against the company regarding zoning plan regulations. RAMS has announced that it held discussions with the Holding and Denizbank for the completion of the project and has consequently come to the last stage of the building operations.
HOME SIZES CUSTOM-MADE FOR INTERNATIONAL INTERESTS
Stating that there was an extensive interest in the Turkish housing market from international customers, Devran Bülbül said that some companies were now designing projects that addressed such clients. Bülbül said, “The limit for becoming a citizen through the purchase of real estate has now gone up to 400,000 dollars. This will be in effect after June 12. Now companies are developing new projects in which the size of homes are valued at 400,000 dollars. This is the trend in the market at this time. We’re designing our projects in line with the lifestyle and needs of Turkish families.”
SOURCE: hurriyet.com.tr