Bidding starts for possible ‘Turkish Wimbledon’ stadium
Posted by meb at February 1st, 2007
Organizers of the İstanbul Cup will start the bidding process today for a 40-acre property that would house a tennis complex in Turkey similar to England’s world-renowned Wimbledon stadium.
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When built, the $15 million “Tennis Village” is expected to attract roughly 200,000 tennis fans from around the world annually.
İstanbul Cup, which has organized the international WTA İstanbul Tennis Tournament for the last two years, applied to the Treasury in its quest to acquire property suitable for such large facilities. The Treasury turned down the application on a technicality — İstanbul Cup had not yet formed a separate legal entity — but the possibility of a land sale emerged as an alternative solution. The National Estate Institution subsequently invited bids for the 40-acre property in Istanbul’s Yenibosna district that will be sufficient to host as many as 30 tennis courts, a 10,000-seat arena and a hotel for athletes. The tender will be open to everyone, but the İstanbul Cup club believes they will be the winning side.
The WTA İstanbul Cup Tennis Tournament is one of the most important sports events in Turkey, yet it has been always held on random courts, İstanbul Cup General Manager Coşkun Erginer says. “Turkey will have such a facility for the first time. Eventually, this investment will bestow on us a better chance of organizing the tennis Olympiads,” says Erginer, who predicts construction of the project will finish within four months of its start. “We wish to organize the next tournament, which will be held between May 19-27, in the new facilities,” says Erginer.
Cahit Yavuz, a board member of İstanbul Cup, points out that according to international criteria, only a company can organize tournaments: a sports club has no authority in arranging such events. The investing company, therefore, established İstanbul Cup as a subsidiary of Garanti Koza. He admits the tender will be an alternative to the appropriation of land.
Preliminary bids for the property will be held today and are expected to start at around YTL 224,800 ($158,000). The winning company must then prepare blueprints and handle applications for the facilities. Following which, the project will need the approval of the relevant public authorities. Only after all approvals may the tender be completed. Recalling that tall buildings and shopping malls cannot be built around Atatürk airport in Yenibosna for safety reasons, Yavuz predicts they are most likely to win the tender. “This is certainly the best investment for such a property. The land has been unused swamp land for a long time, and our project presents an ideal opportunity,” he says.
Meanwhile, authorities warn against any speculation and reminded reporters that the tender will be open to public.
source: Today’s Zaman Istanbul
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