Historic Tütün Han building goes on sale

Dinçer Gökçe ISTANBUL / www.hurriyet.com.tr

Some 21 firms are expected to bid for the historic building at the end of March. Hürriyet Photo

Some 21 firms, 19 local and two foreign, are interested in purchasing Istanbul’s historic Tütün Han building at the end of March. The 102 year-old building with Italian inspired architecture has views of the Golden Horn from its top floors, and is one of the most coveted buildings in the Karaköy neighborhood of Istanbul, the city’s historic financial center. It will go on sale for a 25 million Turkish Lira asking price.

Of the two foreign firms interested in the building, one is English and the other is Middle East-based. Local firms eyeing the building include the Marmara Group, Yılmaz Ulusoy Holding, İnter Yapı (Özak Global Holding), Golden Line and the Sabancı Foundation.

The Özak Group has already announced to the Istanbul Stock Exchange that it plans to make a formal bid for the warehouse. Many of the firms are interested in transforming the historic tobacco warehouse into a boutique hotel.

ING Bank currently occupies the 433 square meter, nine story building, but will have to vacate it within four months, once a buyer is found.

The tobacco warehouse was built in 1910 and opened in 1911. It has had many different occupants over the years, including a number of insurance companies and law firms. The building was last purchased by Tütün Bank and was then renamed the Tütün (tobacco) Han, after the name of the bank.