Interview with Yağmur Özyalçın

As Özyalçın Construction’s new project - Casa Oliva - is now on sale, we decided to visit the Özyalçın Group of Companies Sales Director, Yağmur Özyalçın. We invited her to give Propertync readers an idea about the location of Casa Oliva together with information on payment plans, and she did.

• Let’s start with the location. How did you come up with the idea of such a project in Zeytinlik?

For the last three years, the company has focused on apartments in Kyrenia city centre and villa projects to the East of Kyrenia. Nowadays we can see that the city has started to grow towards the east. Zeytinlik is one the most beautiful areas located here and besides its natural beauty, it has an economic advantage when compared to some other areas of Kyrenia. The land in question is located behind the Ship Inn Hotel, right next to the tennis courts and football pitches. It is surrounded by nature, a bit like a place in heaven. We started to work on a project that we felt would best fit the area. The first thing to come to mind while walking around the grounds was the poetic setting, we wanted to protect the olive trees and include them in the project as much as we could. The idea of spacious villas with large gardens fits in perfectly with the surroundings. The garden would be shared and life here would create a warm neighbourhood with social interaction. This is how Casa Oliva was created.

• How did you integrate the villas into the green landscape on the land?

My first thought was that the buildings should be compatible with their surroundings. We collected all the olives before we began the construction process and produced our own olive oil; the sentimental value was priceless. We have planned to have at least one olive tree in each villa’s garden. Also, while drawing up the project, we left a section for a spice and herb garden. We thought a small garden to grow herbs such as mint, parsley and rosemary would be a fun hobby for all residents. Of course there will also be playgrounds for the children.

• Your location has a great advantage, who do you think will be interested in your project?

Yes, the location is superb. It’s only 5-10 minutes driving time to Kyrenia city centre and the top road going to Nicosia. This means you can get anywhere easily without going through too much traffic. I think the project will appeal to young, Cypriot professionals, but as the land is Turkish Title, foreign investors may be interested as well, because it is difficult to find Turkish Title villas in this area.

• Of course foreign investors will be interested in a Turkish title deed project in Zeytinlik. They do tend to get confused with the number of different title deeds on the island. Were the villas designed with foreign investors and holidaymakers in mind?

There are 14 villas in the project of which only four will have private pools. In other words, yes, we have considered the fact that holidaymakers may not prefer a private pool because pools need to be maintained even when they are not used. It has to always be kept clean which may be difficult for some, therefore we are offering options without pools. Besides, the beach is very close and easy to get to. Some general facts concerning the properties, there are three bedrooms, 220 m² villas with gardens, located close to the city therefore safe and protected. There is a high quality kitchen, built in bedroom wardrobes and first class flooring in all rooms. We are planning to complete this project in two years. Other options available are:

• Ceramic or laminate parquet flooring in the bedrooms
• Built in cisterns
• LPG’ central heating
• Natural marble staircase
• Swedish wooden front door
• One-piece fireplace with glass hatch (shutter).
• Split inverter air-conditioner
• Internet, satellite, telephone and CCTV infrastructure
• Automatic closing rolling garage gate
• Remote control garden gate
• Water pump
• Partly stone covered facade
• Street lighting
• 652 m² common green area, playground, spice and herb garden
• An olive tree in each garden
• Options with or without pool

If we were to talk about the payment plan, it is a 25% deposit upfront and then payments spread over up to 11 years, where the first 36 months will be interest free. All payments will be made to Özyalçın Construction. If you would like to learn more about Casa Oliva villas we invite you to visit our offices for a chat.
 

• When we talk of the Özyalçın Group of Companies the first thing we normally think of is Özyalçın Construction, but we know you are active in other sectors. In fact recently you added a new company to the group. Would you like to tell us about it?

We have a Petrol Station, car rental company and glass manufacturing factory. Now we have added the brand Özyalçın Energy to the group. Özyalçın Energy offers In-Charge stations for electric cars. Unfortunately, our group of companies, together with most others, are responsible for high amounts of carbon emissions, but we believe the number of electric cars will increase on the island and In-charge stations will be more effective then and help us all reduce our emissions. My sister Yaprak and I have always been interested in cars, it is a hobby that has been passed down to us from our father. We closely follow up on advances made in this sector and the company we have started is a project geared towards our social responsibility. We wanted to be at the forefront of this technology on the island and we are aiming to increase our current 2 charging stations to 11 stations by the end of the year. As of March 2020 there are officially 75 electric cars in the TRNC, let’s all see how long it will take for this number to greatly increase. Personally we hope it will increase quickly, because there are certain responsibilities we need to be aware of while living on an island and I feel we need to be much more sensitive towards our environment.