Maqro Group, with 10 years of experience in the Georgian market, is strengthening its construction business with a new brand. Maqro separated the direction of construction of residential complexes from Maqro Construction, a group of companies, which will continue to operate under the name of Maqro Development. Maqro will offer customers two new projects in Tbilisi and Batumi with a renewed brand.
Maqro Group, which operates in Turkey and Azerbaijan in addition to Georgia, appeared on the Georgian market in 2013. It started investing in the leading sectors of the country’s economy – construction, tourism, catering – on behalf of various companies. The amount of direct investments carried out by Maqro Group in Georgia exceeds $270 million, and the number of completed projects exceeds ten.
The driving force of the group is the direction of construction, which until now carried the name of Maqro Construction. It led the construction of both residential complexes and roads and participated in various government tenders.
Over time, the company grew and developed, which led the management to see the need to separate directions at Maqro Construction. This is how Maqro Development, a brand focused on residential complexes, was created, and Maqro Construction will continue to work on road construction and government tenders.
“The desire to offer the market the most refined and necessary product stimulated us to separate the direction of residential complexes and focus more on it,” says Oguz Kaan Karaer, who leads the new brand and has been working as the deputy general director of Maqro Construction since 2014.
Still under the name of Maqro Construction, the team sold 2,000 apartments in residential complex projects – “Green Budapest” and “Green Diamond” and invested a total of $168 million in the said direction.
The company started the construction of the first multifunctional residential complex in 2013, when this type of project was still unknown to Georgian consumers. “Green Budapest” includes 350 apartments. Along with that, a green area of 3,500 square meters, a basketball court and children’s entertainment spaces were organized on the territory.
The company notes that this was one of the first projects in the country that offered the buyer fully equipped apartments. “When we started the construction of “Green Budapest”, we made a decision to deliver all the projects that we would implement in Georgia to the customers as finished,” Oguz Kaan Karaer told us.
The green zone and entertainment spaces arranged in the residential complex were highly appreciated by the customers, so the company decided to base all future projects on the concept of “greenness”.
After “Green Budapest”, in 2016 the team carried out a larger and more refined project, “Green Diamond” , which covers 70,000 square meters and includes 1,688 apartments. In the new project, the green area has been significantly increased and an area of 23,000 square meters has been allocated to it. Along with that, the commercial area has also grown.
“Green Diamond” has four sports fields, children’s spaces, running tracks, a terrace, indoor fitness centers, as well as three swimming pools, which are not found in “Green Budapest”.
“Pools are rarely used in residential complexes in Turkey, but their presence in the project is very important for buyers. In Georgia, this space is being used quite actively, which is why we decided to arrange three pools in “Green Diamond”, says Oguz Kaan Karaer.
There were also challenges that generally accompany the first steps in a new market, however, as Maqro Development claims, overcoming them leads the company to growth and development.
According to Oguz Kaan Karaer, since a large number of foreigners left the country due to the pandemic, the company focused on local customers in the “Green Diamond” project. And local customers asked for a black or white frame, mainly to save money. Therefore, the team brought half of the apartments up to the black frame level, and handed the half to the buyer repaired. However, despite this experience, the company made a decision to complete all projects itself up to the last stage in the future.
“We refused to offer black or white frames to buyers in order to avoid inconvenience to the residents, which was caused by repairs and other works in neighboring apartments for the new residents,” says Oguz Kaan Karaer.
In addition, there were some complaints about the elevators from the residents of “Green Budapest”, in order to meet the customers’ demand and offer them an improved product, the company started a long-term partnership with “Mitsubishi”.
Based on the experience of “Green Diamond” and “Green Budapest”, the group decided to improve some more products. Maqro Development will use aluminum windows in future projects for greater strength against strong winds. Taking into account the feedback of users, their sizes will also increase. The so-called sliding doors will be added to the apartments that bring more comfort and ease to their lives.
The team gained another experience in the business of residential complexes in connection with the educational space, the arrangement of which was entrusted to an external company in the “Green Diamond” project. It subsequently changed the type of educational institution. Maqro Development has decided to take responsibility for the arrangement of similar spaces in future projects.
“Before selling the apartments, we said that “Green Diamond” would have its own school. Maybe some people made the decision for this reason. In order not to disappoint the customers in the future, we will implement similar projects ourselves”, Oghuz Kaan Karaer told us.
As the company assures us, the new residential complexes will be based on the experience gained from “Green Budapest” and “Green Diamond” and customer feedback. First of all, the number of apartments will increase – in Tbilisi, in Samgori district, near the Ministry of Internal Affairs, a residential complex will combine up to 4,000 apartments, and in Batumi, in an area similar to “Green Diamond”, up to 3,000 apartments will be located.
Another update is related to the commercial zone. In the case of “Green Budapest” and “Green Diamond”, these spaces were located inside the projects and were accessible only to the residents of the complexes, but now it will be located on the external territory of the project and will be accessible to others as well.
Unlike “Green Diamond”, in this case the pool for children was also taken into account, which includes a mini-aquapark. In addition, the project plans to build tennis courts, a large fitness room and a nursery school. As we mentioned earlier, Maqro Development itself will take responsibility for this.
Taking into account the positive feedback of customers and their requirements, the company will continue to offer small-sized apartments to the market. “When you increase the size of the apartments, the cost also increases, which makes it less affordable for consumers,” Oguz Kaan Karaer tells us.
Along with improved and customized projects, Maqro Development will continue to offer pre-sales to the loyal customers of the company to get more benefits. For example, in the case of “Green Budapest”, the initial price was $700, which increased to $1,500 at the end of the project. Currently, a square meter in the mentioned project costs $2,500-$2,750 on average in the secondary market. The same happened with the “green diamond” – the sale started at $700 and the price increased to $1350, and the current value is $1500 on average.
The company will offer pre-sales to customers who have already purchased an apartment in other projects of Maqro Development. “They know that they will get a guaranteed profit if they invest at the initial stage of the project, because the price for sale or rent in our projects is quite high,” Oguz Kaan Karaeri tells us. According to him, pre-sales for a limited number of apartments will start from September 2024 and will last for a month. Maqro Development will start official sales in new projects in 2025.
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