Shopping Centers Today is the news magazine of the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC)
Issue link: https://sct.epubxp.com/i/62026
ISTINYEPARK HAS BEEN WIDELY IMITATED BY OTHER TURKISH VENUES SINCE IT OPENED IN 2007. and everything is done according to law and regulation," Kurt said. Meanwhile, the country is clipping along at a 5.3 per- cent annual growth rate, says Kurt. There has been a huge expansion of the Turkish middle class, says mall designer Roy Higgs, of Baltimore-based Development Design Group. The coun- try's eagerness for admission to the Eu- ropean Union seems to be taking a back seat right now to the EU's various fiscal challenges, says Higgs. Turkey has stron- ger banking controls than many other countries, and it has not been ham- strung by mortgage woes like the U.S., says Higgs. "Home buyers tend to pay up to 30 percent and the balance when they move in," he said. "You can get a loan, but not a mortgage loan." There are a few dark clouds on the horizon. Turkey's deficit of $78.6 bil- lion amounts to 10 percent of GDP. Though Goldman Sachs' predictions of a "technical recession" for Turkey by early 2012 did not prove true, Citigroup says the country's economic expansion is becoming inflationary and is not sus- tainable because of heavy reliance on do- mestic demand. "There may be a small recession in the next few years," Steiner said. "Things have been going too good, too long, and there's a slowdown in ev- ery cycle." The Turkish central bank's interest rate policies are creating neither 212 SCT / MAY 2012 pricing stability nor financial, according to the International Monetary Fund. Moreover, parts of Turkey are be- coming overbuilt, says Dion. Some of the facilities should not have been built as large as they were, and location may prevent others from seeing spectacular success, though there have been few out- and-out failures, he says. "Their malls are triple-A from a visual and tenant perspective," Dion said. "They are abso- lutely stunning." Though the number of new centers in Turkey seems to be more than ample to serve the populace, supply remains below the average for Europe, says Kurt. At current rates, Istanbul's popu- lation is projected to rise from nearly 13 million now to at least 20 million over the next 20 years. By the end of next year, Istanbul will have 132 shopping centers, up from 93 at the beginning of last year, according to Jones Lang La- Salle. Several centers in the city have al- ready cut rents as a result of the amount of space being built and because of pre- dictions of slowing economic growth, according to Merrill Lynch. Though Istanbul is amply stocked, the "secondary and tertiary cities and towns still offer opportunities for en- hanced retail facilities," said Simon Thomson, head of consultant firm Re- tail International. Outside Istanbul 37 malls are to open in Turkey by the end of next year, according to Jones Lang LaSalle. Among them are Optimum Izmir, an outlet mall in the Gaziemir section of Izmir, and Forum Adana, which will feature a hypermarket, some art galleries, indoor and outdoor walk- ing trails and 44,600 square meters of retail space when it is completed next year. Most new shopping centers in Turkey are built into the architectural context of their surroundings and feature residential components, says Higgs. "They aren't just building shop- ping centers as we know them," he said. "They're making use of density, topog- raphy and height." The comparatively strong position of the Turkish economy and the solid economic prospects in the midterm are to likely to keep Turkey in the spotlight as an investment and retail destina- tion in the coming years, according to Jones Lang LaSalle. Consumer spend- ing there supports that argument: Re- tail sales rose 16.8 percent in the third quarter from the 2010 third quarter, says Cushman & Wakefield. As for the sprawling Grand Bazaar, it remains open and bustling, like the lit- any of colorful new malls across Turkey. "The Turkish," said Higgs, "have been traders and consumers par excellence for a very long time." SCT