Kıbrıs Developments in the Alsancak region are bringing a new dimension to the real estate sector of our country with the high standards and sensitive approaches it implements in every project undertaken. We met up with Harper Özbirim, the company’s Project Development and Marketing Director, during the pandemic period for this interview.

 

• How did the pandemic period change your way of doing business? How were you affected by the pandemic process while designing your projects?

As a company we have been heavily investing in technology since our early days. In our second, largescale housing project, Milos Park Homes, we pioneered the use of virtual reality to enable us to reach our foreign buyers based in other countries.  Obviously no one foresaw the pandemic coming, but as a result we have, like many other companies, moved to more digital selling methods. 60-70% of our customers are abroad, mainly in Turkey and the European countries, so they are currently unable to come here due to the travel restrictions, so our sales processes have changed profoundly. Although we haven't launched it yet, we now have an online office at work. We have continued our work on the sales process for customers who reach us through our own channels or via agencies, with many presentations being conducted online. We have also held online meetings to get information to buyers in connection with the post-sales processes. We have also been sending our monthly reports to customers who need information relating to the progress of the construction phases of the project, as well as photographs and videos of their individual residences. We also had Zoom meetings inside the houses to show customers how their properties were progressing and at what stage the development had reached.

• The negative effects of the pandemic on the economy manifested itself on many sectors. What has been the most challenging for you in this process?

When the first shutdown occurred, we sent an e-mail to our customers to explain the situation, but no one was really surprised because most other countries were in a similar position with even earlier shutdowns. Then, when restrictions were lifted the first time, we held a meeting with our director, Mr. Çağatay, on site, and I will never forget his comment that day, “we will still deliver this project on time”. In other words, although everything had been forced to stop for some two months, orders were delayed, but we were able to finish our standard residences within the timeframe that we had originally promised.  I should also state that we designed 61 of the 68 residences on the Natura development without having to alter any of our customers’ specific requests, even though the pandemic made things problematic. Deliveries of some residences were delayed due to delayed materials, but our customers were already aware of this situation. Ever since our first project, the issue of simultaneous turnkey-title deeds has been a red line for us. What differentiates Kıbrıs Developments the most in terms of delivery on time is that we execute good project management. During the pandemic period, some 30-40 thousand people returned to Turkey, many of whom were construction workers and this caused a serious contraction in the sector; it was very difficult to find workers to complete any of the projects. At some point the teams had to be renewed. Coordination in the field was very important and in this sense we have completed very good project management in the field. Ultimately, we will deliver the Natura project only one month later than we promised, due to delays we were unable to anticipate, for example, delays in materials arriving from Europe due to the closure of many countries.

Now, once again, we are looking forward to the turnkey delivery of our Natura project, assuming that the current restrictions are lifted and conditions allow, we aim to achieve this with a ‘phygital’ - a marketing term that describes blending digital experiences with physical ones. Our customers, both those living within Cyprus and those abroad, who have previously given their ‘power of attorney’ to a legal representative, will be able to ‘physically’ participate in the turnkey event. The event will be broadcast live in a digital environment, and owners will be able to receive their properties together with their title deeds. Those living abroad will be able to connect to the live broadcast and see that we have delivered their homes in the presence of their legal representatives; there is no legal drawback to making turnkey deliveries via a phygital event.

We wanted to eliminate the distance issue by carrying out the turnkey activity in this way, to achieve this we have embraced the highest level of modern technology and have actually reduced the distances involved for our customers. This shows how quickly we can adapt as a company to the new ‘normal’ experienced during this pandemic.

• What effect did the pandemic process have on foreign investors’ interest?

I can honestly say that the interest in Cyprus did not decrease, on the contrary, it has probably increased during this period. However, our foreign customers who wanted to sell their houses on some of our previous projects realised that this was probably not possible at present and resigned themselves to waiting for a sale. It also showed us that during this pandemic period, people's interest in a more isolated, more grounded, more independent life style has really increased, reinforcing our beliefs that our projects have been correctly developed in this way since the beginning.

Northern Cyprus as a destination has been attractive to European customers for a long time. European customers view Northern Cyprus’s ‘undiscovered’ potential as a gem. Of course, the price advantage is also important. When you look at our close neighbours in the South, the prices here are one third cheaper, or when we look at the European customer, the housing prices are at a much more opportune level compared to Spain or their islands, which are basically the most compared with locations. In addition, the fact that our company’s quality meets European standards is also reflected in people’s preferences as, when you look at new consumer behaviour, we see that they are searching for higher standards.

• So can you tell us about your new investments? Kıbrıs Developments already has a certain style, it is implementing low-rise public housing sites, will it continue with this approach? Do you have new projects and will things change in your new projects?

Believe it or not, 2020 was the 35th year of Kıbrıs Development. We originally had a lot of plans for 2020 and even though we have had to postpone some like many other companies, I think we have reached an even better point than we perhaps had planned. We always wanted to do this digitalization process, but I don’t think the market or people were previously ready for it, but now during the pandemic this process has been accelerated. Even though we cannot celebrate our 35th year, we have added good innovations to our brand. “This year, we are also renewing the logo and image of our brand. We updated our logo as a more digitally compatible and contemporary interpretation of Kıbrıs Developments, whilst still preserving our roots." Therefore, 2021 has actually begun by us renewing our own brand identity. This is another indication that we, as a well-established company that has adopted sustainability as a principle, have taken a stance that adapts to innovations in a very up-to-date manner.

Of course, I won't skip Natura's delivery either, so in fact, the first goal of this year will be to renew our brand and image and Natura's phygital turnkey process. We have a new housing project that we're currently working on that excites me quite a lot. If all goes to plan, our new project, which we will create with the team from the Kıbrıs Town Houses project, will launch in the spring as a project in the spirit of Kıbrıs Town Houses. Actually, each of our projects has a story. Kıbrıs Town Houses was a project that was more thematically close to the local. The process of creation was a long-term process, a process in which we were able to do more inspiring research and inspections. In Natura, the location was very important and we aimed to increase the owners’ immediate contact with nature. We brought back the idea of a roof terrace because of its location, on the one hand it is close to the sea and on the other hand it is close to the park, it is in touch with nature. I'd say we're looking for an even deeper relationship in our new project.

We tend to create a synthesis in each project and try to carry what we have learned in each project onto the next one. We're already heading there. The location of this project is also very nice, in fact I think this is the land where the mountain-sea relationship has been the strongest so far. Let's not give away too much detail about the project at this stage, I hope we will launch it in the spring, all things being equal.

• We see that you use the word "most" in every project compared to the previous one. You have defined the most qualified project for Natura up to this time. Are you taking the previous "most" even further in the next project?

Of course, each project should be evaluated according to the conditions of that day. Such as the buyer of that day, the market conditions of that day, the opportunities in the market of that day ... When we look back, our first site project was Escape Homes. In other words, since 2013, the sector and the opportunities in the country have improved a lot in this 7 years. We compete with ourselves in each of our projects and try to do even better. For example, we will have a great breakthrough in our new project, especially in connection with waste. It is not entirely up to us, but there is a project that Alsancak Municipality has submitted to the European Union at the moment, it is at the point of being a pilot region for the separation of household waste. I hope that when a positive result is obtained, we are already developing our own infrastructure within this project to make full use of this. In fact, it will be the first site project to substantially do this in Northern Cyprus. There are details like this that excite us. European consumers are already accustomed to this and it is very important for us to make such a breakthrough on behalf of the country and to bring this standard to the sector. Kıbrıs Developments already has such a mission. I follow the previous Kıbrıs Developments projects, for example, after a couple of years, we can already see that the conversations in the sector are a little more cultural, inspired by local architecture, and that sustainable and environmentally protective projects are developing. This is one of our missions as a company. In fact, I think being a leader is not to build the most houses or the company that sells the most, but to be in a position that leaves behind something to the country. We ask ourselves the question "what do we leave for tomorrow" and we encourage everyone around us to ask themselves this question.

• During the pandemic problems, the concept of a "healthy home" started to be used as a new concept in the sector. How do you evaluate your projects in this context​?

I think health issues can be viewed from two different viewpoints; physical health and mental health. After the pandemic, I have spoken to my friends in companies living in multi-storey buildings in Europe and the big metropolises. When you look at it, you may be able to physically exercise in the house, but at some point, living in a small area and not being able to go outside, not being able to do things that feed the soul, this psychologically affected people and the concept of a healthy home became more evident.

The idea of ​​a healthy home was actually something that already existed in all of our projects, so it is not a new concept for us. As I live on our Milos project, I also experienced the positive impact living spaces can offer during the pandemic, during my home lockdown. People were going for a walk in the morning, taking their children around the site in the evening, etc. In my opinion, we did not feel the psychological burden of the process much compared to some other places, so by noticing this awareness that we already have, we will highlight the issues of people being able to touch the soil, walking on the soil, with access to clean air in our new project. As I said, these were things that we already did. For example, the daylight simulation that we apply in our projects, 100 percent of all houses receive daylight, have natural ventilation, air conditioning is actually there for extra comfort, that is, it is a comfort about health rather than a necessity, both physically and psychologically.