Multi-billion dollar Çandarlı port project boosts local land prices

Multi-billion dollar Çandarlı port project boosts local land prices

The projected construction of the Northern Aegean Container Port, which will be one of the top 10 largest ports in the world once it is completed, has increased the value of the surrounding land up to 15-fold.

The Transportation Ministry will shortly organize a tender to find a company to construct the port under the "build-operate-transfer" model. It will have a capacity of 943,000 20-foot equivalent units (TEU).

Zeytindağ Mayor Feridun Ergün has advised locals to be mindful of the increasing value of their land, which is worth between TL 18 and TL 20 per square meter nowadays, noting that land speculators often try to purchase land in such places for much less than its actual value, capitalizing on the landowners' lack of knowledge. Aegean Region Chamber of Industry (EBSO) Chairman Ender Yorgancılar predicts that the average price of land in the nearby Bergama Organized Industrial Zone will jump from its current price of 18 euros per square meter to 100 euros after the construction of the port.

The decision to construct a port in Çandarlı Gulf was made in 1993 as an alternative to Greece's Port of Piraeus. Its initial estimated cost was $4.5 billion. Large tonnage vessels are unable to berth at the Port of İzmir, so they head to the Port of Piraeus in Greece to unload. The goods carried by these large ships are later distributed by small ships to Turkish markets through ports along the eastern Mediterranean, Aegean and Black seas.Greece earned $57 billion in 2008 from the Port of Piraeus . The feasibility studies, environmental impact assessment, tender specifications and issues related to financing the port were all resolved 10 years ago, but the tender process has still not been initiated. The Environment and Forestry Ministry submitted its approval for the construction of the port in March 2005. After this, the Transportation Ministry first set August 2009 as the date to hold the tender, but later delayed the tender to an unspecified date in 2010, expecting to receive a grant loan from the European Union to finance some preliminary investments that will cost nearly $600 million. The delay was especially necessary since the previously completed feasibility studies, environmental impact assessment and bid specifications need to be updated in accordance with EU standards for holding a tender.

The next step will be the EU's approval of the loan. The General Directorate of Railway, Port and Airport Construction (DLH) plans to complete its work on a breakwater in the sea prior to the start of construction on the port. The jetty of the port will be 800 meters long, and the depth of the water surrounding it will be 40 meters.

Once completed, even ships over 200,000 tons in weight will be able to dock in the port and unload cargo. The dock is planned to be two kilometers in length. If everything goes as planned, the port will be operational by 2012.

Five large international construction companies from Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, South Korea and Sweden were interested in the project before the ongoing global economic crisis erupted last year. The 4.5-million-square-meter plot of land on which the port will be constructed belongs in full to National Real Estate, the public institution that holds the real estate assets of the state and markets and operates them. Ergün, the mayor of Zeytindağ, where the port will be located, says a majority of the nearby land has changed hands, especially in the last couple of months. "The owners of this land are villagers. During my visits to their villages, I recommend that they hold on to their land if they don't need money urgently. They usually expect to sell their land after the completion of the port," he said in response to Today's Zaman's questions.