Top 10 Construction Companies in Turkey

Turkey is one of the largest players on the global real estate development scene. Turkish construction companies work on projects in their own country and beyond its borders in the countries of Europe, Asia, and Africa. The American magazine Engineering News Record (ENR) publishes an annual list of the 250 largest international construction companies, and in the last several years, Turkish developers have taken up about 40 positions on that list. Here is what you need to know about the crème de la crème of Turkey’s construction market and turkish construction companies.

• Rönesans Holding
• Limak Holding
• Tekfen Construction & Installation
• Yapı Merkezi
• Ant Yapı
• TAV Construction
• ENKA
• Mapa Group
• Sinpaş GYO
• IC Holding

Rönesans Holding

Our list of construction companies in Turkey opens the Rönesans Holding. Turkish engineer Erman Ilıcak founded Rönesans Holding in 1993 in St. Petersburg, Russia, but the company’s headquarters are now located in Ankara, Turkey. It is Turkey’s largest international construction company. Rönesans has been on the ENR’s Top 250 Developers list for the past 15 years and currently ranks 24th in the world and 8th in Europe.

The developer is currently working on largest construction projects in Turkey and in other 28 countries. One of the most famous is the Lakhta Centre in St. Petersburg, the tallest building in Europe.

The company pays particular attention to the seismic safety of its properties. For example, the city hospital built by the Rönesans in Turkey's Elazığ survived an earthquake that measured 6.8 on the Richter scale.

Limak Holding

The next turkish international construction company is Limak Holding. Limak Construction was founded in 1976 and it expanded into a holding over the years. In its almost half-century-long history, it has become one of the largest construction companies in Turkey, running projects in 14 countries around the world.

The holding’s most ambitious buildings are located in Istanbul. The developer built the Sabiha Gökçen International Airport and Istanbul International Airport, the latter being third-largest in the world. Another record-holding project that the company was involved in was the 1915 Çanakkale Bridge across the Dardanelles, the world's longest medium-span suspension bridge.

Tekfen Construction & Installation 

The company was founded in 1956 by three Turkish engineers. It is now a large holding whose work is not limited to construction: for instance, since the 1960s, Tekfen has been known as a large manufacturer of incandescent light bulbs.

Tekfen engages in a wide range of activities including the agricultural and chemical industries. Tekfen is involved in construction projects in various countries (for instance, in Russia and Qatar), but their largest projects have been carried out in Turkey, such as the Istanbul metro and the AtatürkOlympic Stadium with 80,000 seats.

Yapı Merkezi

Yapı Merkezi is one of the major construction companies in Istanbul, known primarily for non-residential projects. Founded in 1965, the holding specialises in transport systems in Europe and Asia. Among the company's most famous projects are the Dubai Metro (the world's longest driverless metro) and the Eurasia Tunnel running underneath the Bosporus Strait (the world's first two-level automobile tunnel built under the seabed).

Yapı Merkezi also participates in restoration activities: the company restored the Galata Tower, one of Istanbul’s most famous landmarks.

Ant Yapı 

Relatively young turkey construction company Ant Yapı was founded in 1991. The company is one of the international construction companies in Turkey and it specialises primarily in international projects, not only in Europe and Asia but also in America. In the US, Ant Yapı and Italy’s Missoni fashion house built the luxurious Missoni Baia residential complex in Miami and also took part in the restoration of the Crown Building, one of the oldest skyscrapers in New York, erected in 1921.

Ant Yapı has also led many projects in Russia: for instance, the company was involved in the construction of several towers at the Moscow City business centre, and also in projects at Domodedovo International Airport.

TAV Construction

TAV Construction is one of the significant names of construction companies in Turkey. The company with more than 20 years of history specialises in the construction of airports and related infrastructure. Its portfolio includes airports in Doha (Qatar), Saudi Arabia, and Tbilisi. Interesting fact: in addition to construction, the company operates in a rather rare niche, it specialises in the maintenance and support of existing airports.

TAV Construction is participating in many large projects in the Middle East. Among the most notable projects are the Times Square Centre, the DAMAC Tower by Paramount, and the EMAAR Square in the United Arab Emirates.

ENKA 

Founded in 1957, the company operates in several fields: engineering, electric power, real estate, and trade. ENKA is one of the most valuable brands in Turkey, with a market value of $10 billion on the Istanbul Stock Exchange.

In addition to properties in Turkey, ENKA has constructed many famous buildings in Russia including the Krasnye Holmy business centre in Moscow and skyscrapers of the Moscow City business centre. The company has completed many industrial, transport, and medical facilities in Libya, Kazakhstan, Algeria, Croatia, and others.

Mapa Group

The Mapa Group conglomerate (called the MNG Group of Companies until 2020) was established in 1976 as a group of companies engaged in construction, air transportation, and telecommunications. Most of the developer's projects are in the Middle East and Africa, where Mapa is building airports, transport routes, and water systems.

The company became famous in the early 2000s for building unconventional hotels in Antalya: the buildings were perfect replicas of the world's architectural landmarks: for instance, Istanbul's Topkapı Palace and the Moscow Kremlin.

Sinpaş GYO

Unlike the aforementioned developers, Sinpaş GYO focuses primarily on residential development. For example, this construction company is an active developer in istanbul. The company was founded in 1974 and has been creating residential complexes in Ankara, Istanbul, and other Turkish cities for many years.

Sinpaş GYO has over 75 successfully completed projects in its portfolio. The main principle of the developer is an emphasis on green zones. Sinpaş GYO apartment buildings are always surrounded by gardens, squares, swimming pools, and even canals.

IC Holding

The IC Holding group of companies was founded in 1969. Its main activities are construction, power generation, and tourism. IC is currently participating in the construction of Akkuyu NPP, Turkey's first nuclear power plant. The holding’s development division specialises in the construction of luxury 5-star hotels in Turkey’s resort towns, under the management of the IC Hotels chain.

In a Nutshell

The construction business in Turkey is one of the most active branches of the Turkish economy. The developers on this list take up just a small share of the very long list of Turkey’s large-scale construction companies. Many of these construction companies have built properties famous not only in Turkey but well beyond its borders

Cover photo: akkuyu.com