Karakoy building investment opportunity in central Istanbul

FACILITIES & LOCATION

Right in the heart of the city, Karakoy is one of the go-to areas of Istanbul for artistic souls who love street photography, boutique stores, cobbled streets, and want to experience the charm of Istanbul – this building is in the middle of it all.

About the building

Built across multiple floors, the building was constructed in 1864 and is surrounded by a range of boutique hotels and special-licensed hotels. The building is situated on a plot measuring 118m2 and offers 800m2 of internal space. Our experts at Property Turkey have suggested three options for how this investment could be managed:

Option 1: Offices

The building could be renovated into an office building with cafeteria that could be rented out separately. Property Turkey expects rental income with this strategy to be around 110,000TL per month. Taking into consideration the costs of renovating and original purchase price, the total generated income per annum would amount to around a 7.8% yield. This is much higher than the average rental yield in Istanbul, currently 5-5.5%. This is a low risk strategy with secure yield and high profit should you want to sell the building.

Project time: A project of this size would take around 9-12 months to realise, including full licensing, strengthening, total renovation, and furnishing.

Option 2: Apartment building

The building could be renovated into an apartment building with the ground floor used as a separate cafe-restaurant-bar. Property Turkey expects that the building could be renovated into multiple apartments – three studio units on the larger floors and two one bedroom flats on the smaller floors. The central location would assure a high rental yield of around 8-9% per annum. The rental performance and yield here would be slightly better than Option 1 but is dependent on Istanbul’s tourism performance as apartments are rented to tourists.

Project time: This project would take between 9-12 months to complete – this includes full renovation, licensing, and furnishing of the units.

Option 3: Boutique hotel

The building could be renovated into an 18-room boutique hotel with its own cafe-restaurant-bar on the ground floor. This strategy would maximise on the total return on investment but is the most time consuming of the options. Hotels in Karakoy area of Istanbul regularly obtain an occupancy rate of around 85% and average cost per night per room is 100 Euros. It is highly likely that after the hotel has been renovated, it would be worth upwards of 5,000,000 Euros and as much as 8-9,000,000 Euros after a few years and building a reputation.

Project time: Converting this building into a hotel will take longer and involve a higher cost with the Board of Historical Buildings. The total project could be finished within 12-18 months.

Location in Istanbul

Located in the colourful heart of Istanbul, this building is found in Karakoy and is surrounded by some of the best boutique hotels, restaurants, and popular bars in the entire city. Come the evenings, Karakoy is alive with the sound of people as bars open terraces, restaurants serve tables outside, and a general buzz of activity creates a war atmosphere. A short walk is all it takes to reach the seafront where views head out towards Hagia Sofia and Topkapi Palace. From Karakoy, it is even possible to walk up the hill towards Galata Tower and Istiklal Avenue before finding Taksim Square within 30 minutes.