Akmerkez is a

shopping mall A shopping mall (or simply mall) is a large indoor shopping center, usually Anchor tenant, anchored by department stores. The term ''mall'' originally meant pedestrian zone, a pedestrian promenade with shops along it, but in the late 1960s, i ...

located in the Etiler quarter of

Beşiktaş Beşiktaş () is a district and municipality of Istanbul Province, Turkey. Its area is 18 km2 and its population is 175,190 (2022). It is located on the European shore of the Bosphorus strait. It is bordered on the north by Sarıyer and ...

district in

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

, Turkey. As the country's third shopping mall following Galleria Ataköy and Capitol, it was opened by a joint venture of the Akkök, Tekfen and İstikbal companies on December 18, 1993. The Akmerkez complex covers an area of and consists of a four-story shopping area, with two towers offering a total of 31 stories of office space, 14 and 17 in two towers, and a third tower with 24 stories of residential areas. The shopping area, offering visitors 246 stores, is spread over a triangular area connected to the surrounding main roads through 3 atria. The total rentable store area is . There are 41 escalators, 2 panoramic elevators and 30 elevators. The cleaning, security and general maintenance is provided by a workforce of 250 people. In 2005, the shopping mall was converted into a real estate investment company, and 49% of the stakes were offered to the public. The Dutch real estate investment company Corio owns 46.9% of the public shares. Akmerkez is visited by visitors on weekdays and 50,000 over the weekends. The number of visitors reached around 1.5 million per month, or 14 million a year. It is reported that the average visiting time is with three and half hours over the world average. The shopping mall started to host art exhibitions and events with works of significant artists in 2002.

Renovation

In 2008, a renovation project for the shopping mall was announced. Between 2013 and 2014, it underwent a complete renovation, which cost more than 20 million.

References

External links

Official website

International Council of Shopping Centers
* {{coord, 41, 04, 37, N, 29, 01, 37, E, type:landmark_scale:50000, display=title Shopping malls in Istanbul Beşiktaş Commercial buildings completed in 1993 Mixed-use developments in Turkey