From his offices high up in one of Kyiv’s most prestigious business centers, Mehmet V. Sacaklioglu enjoys stunning panoramic views of the Ukrainian capital. It is a fitting location to plot the progress of new arrival Bosphorus Development, a real estate developer company that brings decades of experience in Turkey to the Ukrainian market.
Sacaklioglu has a unique skill set that makes him ideally suited to his role as Founder and Chairman of the Board of Bosphorus Development. He represents the third generation of a flourishing Turkish family business that has grown into one of the largest real estate developers in Turkey today.
At the same time, he has been resident in the Ukrainian capital for the past twenty years and regards Ukraine as a second homeland. He is now looking forward to translating this wealth of professional experience and intimate knowledge of Ukrainian realities into a meaningful contribution to the building boom currently underway in Kyiv and other cities across Ukraine.
“I want to apply our fifty years of successful experience in Turkey to the Ukrainian market and build high quality projects here,” says Sacaklioglu. “Now is the right time to be entering the real estate development market in Ukraine. The current business climate is favorable and there is considerable demand for international-class residential and commercial real estate projects.”
Bosphorus Development has already acquired a strong land bank of plots in prestige locations throughout the Ukrainian capital, with work scheduled to begin on the company’s first Kyiv project in the final weeks of 2021. Further projects are expected to get underway in the following months as the recently launched company builds momentum.
Sacaklioglu comes from a family with a rich tradition in the real estate development business. The Sacaklioglu family business currently ranks among the top ten developers in Turkey with a portfolio featuring hundreds of projects mostly concentrated in Istanbul including some of the historic city’s most iconic modern buildings.
The flagship of the family business is undoubtedly the Istanbul Tower 205 Levent. This 61-story, 220 meter tower in Istanbul’s most prestigious business district is the tallest office building in Turkey and features state-of-the-art technologies while also meeting the latest environmental standards. It was designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM), the Chicago-based global architectural firm that was also behind a host of internationally famous towers such as New York’s One World Trade Center and the world’s current tallest building, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai.
Other notable family projects include the vast Istanbul Aquarium, which ranks among the three largest in the world. The aquarium, which was developed on the basis of a public-private partnership, is a major tourist attraction. It encompasses a total area of 40 hectares and features 66 tanks holding thousands of animals in more than seven thousand cubic meters of water.
Sacaklioglu aims to replicate the ambition behind these large-scale projects with his work in Ukraine, and notes that Bosphorus Development can call upon a highly skilled architectural team in Turkey. He also plans to repeat the practice of engaging some of the world’s leading architects and engineers to develop projects that will take the Ukrainian market to the next level. “We are committed to developing beautiful projects here in Ukraine together with top names from the international architecture industry. This commitment to quality is our core value as a company and reflects directly on the reputation of our family. Protecting and enhancing this reputation is our top priority. We will deliver high quality projects or none at all.”
In addition to his strong family background in the real estate development business, Sacaklioglu also points to the current health of Turkish-Ukrainian ties as a source of optimism. “There is a very good relationship between Turkey and Ukraine at the moment,” he notes. “It feels very comfortable doing business in Kyiv. We are good partners and friendly neighbors across the Black Sea. I can fly from Kyiv to Istanbul in less than two hours. Everything is very convenient.”
Looking ahead, Sacaklioglu is excited about Ukraine’s trajectory and hopes Bosphorus Development can play a part in the country’s further growth. Having witnessed first-hand the role of the construction industry as an engine of Turkey’s economic success story, he believes the same is possible in Ukraine. “We believe in Ukraine and we are ready to invest in the country’s future. We think Ukraine has great prospects and aim to contribute to this progress.”
