Only a few real estate projects have seized on the contrasts of being part West and part East as the foundation of a development philosophy.

Zorlu Center, a mixed-use extravaganza rising in city-central Zincirlikuyu, on the city’s European shores is an example. This four-tower, five-function and two-theater gigantic project aims to provide the city’s most luxurious apartments as well as entertainment for people without a lira to spend.

The Center, scheduled to open by the end of 2012, also feflects the continued dynamism of Istanbul’s high-end real estate market — and of Turkey’s robust economy, hardly affected by the global downturn and debt crisis that has crushed its neighbor, Greece.

Zorlu Center Project : Total Investment of Turkish Company  $2.5 billion

The Center site, which totals 102,000 square meters, or almost 1.1 million square feet, was bought in 2007 for $800 million by Zorlu Property, part of the Zorlu Group, now one of the largest conglomerates in Turkey and in Europe. When the project is complete, Zorlu Property says, the company will have invested more than $2.5 billion. (In Turkey, top-end real estate generally is priced in U.S. dollars.)

The residential units in the Center, which will vary from 117 square meters to 733 square meters, are selling at $9,500 to $18,000 per square meter, depending on the type of apartment and the view, although the developers think demand will push prices for the best units to $20,000 per square meter by the time the apartments are ready for occupancy at the end of 2012.

If the prediction is accurate, that would put the Center’s top prices at the low end of the world’s most expensive residential range. Knight Frank real estate states that, for January 2011, luxury prices in Hong Kong were $30,677 per square meter; in London, $26,328; and in New York, $22,614.

The development seems to be affecting surrounding areas, too. Data from Colliers International real estate brokers show that districts around the Center now command $7,500 to $10,000 per square meter in next-door Etiler and around $6,000 per square meter in nearby Levent.

Zorlu Center stirring controversy

However there is also the dark side of the medallion. Financially well affected areas seem to have benefitted from Zorlu Center, but some urbanists claim the bulk of Zorlu Center will affect the climate and natural fabric of the Ortaköy Canyon, shadowed by Zorlu Center’s bulk.

Istanbul chamber of architects and Besiktas municipal administration argue with eachother over Zorlu Center’s site and it is claimed that at least 4 floors of the gargantuan centre is being built illegaly.

“Until recently, we’ve all been wondering how far up prices could go,” said Mehmet Even, an assistant general manager at Zorlu Property. “Istanbul has been basically a wealthy place for hundreds of years, although admittedly, the last century has been a bit quiet. Now, though, it’s definitely taking off again.”

The project, so far advertised only by word of mouth and its towers’ growing outlines on the city skyline, has sold 30 percent of its residential units since pre-construction sales began in October 2010.

Location, of course, is everything. Zincirlikuyu is a place where a jumble of highways from Asia and Europe intersect, before heading off again into the central business district, the upmarket residential region of Etiler and the older commercial and residential venues of Nisantasi, Taksim and Besiktas. Jammed traffic already a problem will become a gigantic problem, after construction will be completed.

“What we’re trying to do here is create a private place that is also very much a public part of Istanbul,” said Mehmet Emre Zorlu, a board member of Zorlu Property Group who, born in 1984, also is a good example of the growing number of youthful businesspeople in this ancient city.

To achieve that goal, the architects Emre Arolat and Murat Tabanlioglu — the Turkish winners of an international competition for the design — have created a south-facing terrace overlooking the Bosporus, partly as a level surface for construction and partly as a public gathering area. On this terrace, “we have a hard shell that evolves into a soft and green hill,” Mr. Arolat said.

Four towers rise from the terrace, including the residential development, a $175 million Raffles Hotel and spa, and around 22,000 square meters of office space. There also will be a shopping center, with parking and access roads created below ground level at a cost of $100 million.

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