The further expansion of international retail brands and ecommerce in Turkey are helping fuel demand for logistics developments, according to Anthony Labadie, managing director for Turkey at CBRE. ‘Logistics will be a major market in the future for Turkey,’ he predicted. ‘The infrastructure was not there in the past, but roads and major ports are being built and logistics activity is part of that.’
The further expansion of international retail brands and ecommerce in Turkey are helping fuel demand for logistics developments, according to Anthony Labadie, managing director for Turkey at CBRE. ‘Logistics will be a major market in the future for Turkey,’ he predicted. ‘The infrastructure was not there in the past, but roads and major ports are being built and logistics activity is part of that.’
Labadie was speaking at the PropertyEU Turkey Investment Briefing hosted last week by Aberdeen Asset Management at its London office. As in most developed markets, ecommerce is also steaming ahead in Turkey, thanks not least to its young population and the growing penetration of internet and smartphones, Herman Kok, international research director at Multi Corporation, said during the panel discussion. ‘The total market is still growing at a good speed. Ecommerce is growing as well, but the total market can absorb it. I don’t see any panic among tenants. The key advantage is that the market can adjust easily and learn from clicks versus bricks.’
Until now, the Turkish property market has primarily drawn international developers and retail specialists, but this is starting to change. The logistics market, currently dominated by Turkish players, is being targeted by international logistics firms like Prologis and Goodman, Labadie confirmed. He added, however, that Istanbul was in a league of its own and that land prices were prohibitively high for new developments. And with a population of around 13.5 million and 250,000 new people arriving in Istanbul each year, the competition for land for other purposes such as residential is extremely fierce. ‘But there’s still space in the regions, in cities like Konya and Kayseri,’ he said.
Space also exists outside the Turkish capital, Arda Tasarkan, business development manager at CEFIC Turkey, noted. ‘Istanbul can still grow towards the east and the west,’ he pointed out.
The full report appears in the next issue of PropertyEU. Click on the following link to subscribe:
