Shopping center investments losing momentum

ISTANBUL

Shopping center investments in Türkiye have lost momentum with only seven applications filed with authorities to build new malls in the past three years.

In the past years, shopping centers were mushrooming across the country, especially in large cities, such as Istanbul, Ankara, İzmir and Antalya. At the end of last year, rumors emerged that nine shopping centers went bankrupt, even though they denied going under but presented plans to courts regarding debt repayments.

According to data from the Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change Ministry, only a handful of companies applied for permission to build shopping centers in different cities.

In 2022, companies applied for mall investments in Istanbul’s Maltepe district and the southeastern provinces of Diyarbakır and Siirt, while two existing shopping centers in the province of Bitlis applied for capacity expansion.

Last year, authorities received two investment requests for shopping centers in the western province of Bursa and the eastern province of Ağrı.

In the first quarter of 2024, only two applications were filed for shopping center investments in the provinces of Tekirdağ and Konya.

Meanwhile, Rönesans Gayrimenkul Yatırım, a commercial real estate development and investment company of Rönesans Holding, is preparing for an initial public offering (IPO).

The company’s portfolio includes 12 shopping centers.

The book building period will take place between April 17-19, while the size of the IPO is expected to be around 4.5 billion Turkish Liras (approximately $140 million).

There are 446 shopping centers in Türkiye with total leasable space of more than 14 million square meters, according to data from the Real Estate Investors Association (GYODER).