The Istanbul Finance Center (IFC) is becoming a new attraction for both local and foreign investors garnering interest spanning from the Far East to the Gulf and from Europe to the United States, with a surge in applications for leasing office spaces within this state-of-the-art building, the general manager of the center noted Monday.
Since its opening in April, there has been a boom in demand for space at the IFC, situated in the Ümraniye district on the city’s Anatolian side.
"The investor demand has already exceeded 60% in a short period," Ahmet Ihsan Erdem, the general manager of IFC told Sabah newspaper.
More than 700 requests have been received for over 350 spots in the 100,000 square meters (1,076,391 square feet) of commercial space, Erdem noted.
A long-awaited vast business district that promises to place the Turkish metropolis among the world’s most important financial centers, the IFC center was opened in a ceremony led by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in April.
Erdem expressed the intention to finalize leasing agreements by the coming month and said, "Investors from all around the world, from the Far East to the Gulf, Europe to the U.S., want to lease space here. This location will become Istanbul's new attraction."
Stating that domestic lenders, including Ziraat Bank, Vakıfbank and Halkbank, have already moved to the center, Erdem noted that relocations of subsidiaries are expected to be completed in a couple of months.
"We have 1.3 million square meters of office space at IFC. When Ziraat Bank, Halkbank, Vakıfbank, the Central Bank of the Republic of Türkiye (CBRT), Borsa Istanbul, the Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency (BDDK), and Capital Markets Board of Türkiye (SPK) areas are added, 470,000 square meters of space remains. We will also lease one block of Halkbank. We will lease a total of 530,000 square meters to third parties. The current demand is satisfactory. Demand for office space has reached 60%. Both local and foreign investors want to be here," Erdem explained.
Highlighting the interest from both local and foreign banks, brokerage firms, insurance companies and asset management companies in IFC, Erdem noted that many foreign investors have reached out to them already.
"Many of them have conveyed concrete demands. We are discussing square meters. There is demand for around 285,000 square meters. If all these demands are realized, the occupancy rate of the 1.3 million square meters will rise to the 80% range," he said.
"As IFC, we aim to contribute to the real potential of Istanbul. We are in talks with both domestic and foreign fintechs. In terms of participation finance (Islamic banking), this location also carries serious potential," Erdem added.
According to the impact analysis studies carried out by independent institutions, the activities to be carried out in the IFC will significantly contribute to Türkiye's financial service exports and the country's economy. By 2036, the IFC is expected to increase Türkiye's total financial services exports nearly threefold.