Only a fourth of planned malls completed in Turkey this year

ISTANBUL - Reuters

Seven of the 16 newly built malls are in Istanbul. DHA photo

Only 16 of the 64 malls planned to be built in Turkey so far this year have been able to be completed due to cancellations or postponements in investments, a sector report has shown.
 
“Some 64 new malls were planned to be completed by the end of September 2014, but only 16 have been able to be completed up until now. Other projects were not realized due to cancellations or postponements in the planned investments,” said the Potential Analysis Report on Malls published by Eva Real Estate Assessment and Akademetre Research.

Some 326 malls with a gross leasable area of 9.25 million square meters were built in 2013. This number was planned to be increased to 390 with a gross leasable area of 11.24 million square meters this year.

However, only 16 more malls have been able to be completed, bringing the total number of malls in Turkey to 342 at the end of September 2014, with a gross leasable area of 9.96 million square meters, according to the report.

“Sector representatives expect to reach some 449 malls with 13.5 million square meters of gross leasable area by the end of 2016, but we are seeing several cancellations and investment postponements in the sector. We should, therefore, see this target as a ceiling level,” the report stated.

Some 112 of Turkey's existing 342 malls are based in Istanbul, making it the city with the largest gross leasable area for malls in Turkey. Seven of the 16 malls built so far this year are in Istanbul.