İstanbul's tallest building set to draw attention

Briefing the press about the latest developments in the Sapphire project yesterday on the building's lookout terrace -- at a height of 226 meters -- Kiler Group CEO Nahit Kiler said they expected to make the skyscraper a modern symbol of the city. "Similar to the Empire State Building in New York, we will introduce the İstanbul Sapphire to become a trademark and make a name for itself in the world," he explained, adding that they expected to finish the building in the last quarter of 2009. He asserted that they are pleased to see that they are very close to realizing their goal. Kiler underlined that they are not afraid of the negative effects of the current global financial turmoil and that they have already sold 40 percent of the residences in the building. "We are continuing with sales, and we have earned $7.5 million since the start of the crisis," he noted, stressing that everything had gone as they expected from the very beginning, both in regard to the building and in financial terms. He also said the share of foreign investors in the sales of residences in the skyscraper so far is 15 percent and that they hoped this would increase in the coming months.

Kiler GYO General Manager Musa Aykaç said the building has already won awards in the global arena. "The İstanbul Sapphire's official Web site has been awarded the top prize 'Best in Class' by the Interactive Media Awards in the real estate category. Also, we have reached the final stage in the Cityscape Architectural Review Awards, known as the Oscars of the architectural world," he noted.

The İstanbul Sapphire, having reached 261 meters in height, is currently the tallest building in Turkey and ranks 97th in the world in terms of height. There are 66 store spaces, 10 of which are underground, a car park, a shopping mall and numerous spaces for restaurants. The prices of residences in the building range from $1 million to $7.5 million.