Offices for Sale and Rent in Istanbul for Foreign Companies

Yes, foreign companies and investors can buy or rent offices in Istanbul. The main business districts are Levent, Maslak and Şişli/Mecidiyeköy on the European side, and Ataşehir, home of the Istanbul Financial Centre, and Kozyatağı on the Asian side. An office worth at least USD 400,000 by official valuation can also qualify you for Turkish citizenship.

Bosphorus Brokers is a licensed brokerage based in Şişli (license no. 3408704). We help foreign companies find Istanbul office space for rent for their teams, and help investors buy an office for sale in Istanbul as an income or citizenship investment. Offices are part of our wider commercial property service in Turkey.

Which Istanbul business districts should you consider for an office?

• Levent (European side): one of the city's main business districts, with office towers and corporate headquarters.
• Maslak (European side): north of Levent on the same business axis, with large office buildings.
• Şişli/Mecidiyeköy (European side): central and well connected, with older office buildings alongside newer mixed-use projects. Our own office is in Şişli.
• Ataşehir (Asian side): home of the Istanbul Financial Centre, with office towers and mixed-use projects.
• Kozyatağı (Asian side): a business area near Ataşehir, a practical choice for teams living on the Asian side.

For a company, the right district is usually decided by where your staff live and how they commute, because a daily Bosphorus crossing adds up. For an investor, it is decided by tenant demand for that specific building and unit size. See our Şişli neighbourhood guide for one of the central options.

Should you buy an office in a mixed-use project or a standalone building?

Factor	Office in a mixed-use project	Standalone office building
Typical buyer	Investors, citizenship applicants, smaller teams	Companies needing whole floors or a building
Title	Individual unit with its own title deed	Floors or the whole building, depending on how it is divided
Running costs	Service charges (aidat) shared with residential and retail parts	Set by the building; as sole owner you control them
Control	Management rules on signage, access hours and fit-out	More freedom on access, signage and layout
Citizenship	Units can qualify at USD 400,000 or more by official valuation	Can qualify on the same basis
Letting and resale	Standard unit sizes suit a wider range of tenants	Larger lot size, fewer but bigger tenants

Offices in mixed-use projects are often sold off-plan by developers, so the developer's track record and the expected iskan matter as much as the floor plan. We check both before you reserve a unit.

Can you buy an office in Istanbul for rental income or citizenship?

Yes, for both. For rental income, the result is driven by the building's quality and management, the unit size, parking and how many similar units stand empty nearby. Before you buy, we compare the asking price with recent sales and look at asking rents for comparable units. We will not quote a yield we cannot support.

Rental income from Turkish property is taxable in Turkey, including for non-resident owners; individuals declare it in an annual return in March. When your tenant is a company and you are an individual landlord, the tenant withholds 20% stopaj and pays it to the tax office. Our guide to rental income in Istanbul explains how this works in practice.

To buy an office in Istanbul for citizenship, the property must be worth at least USD 400,000 by official valuation and be kept for at least three years, with a no-sale annotation on the title deed. Office units in mixed-use projects can qualify. Browse citizenship-eligible properties, and we can assist you with the citizenship application procedures. If you might sell within five years, an individual's gain on such a sale is generally subject to income tax, so confirm your position with a tax adviser.

What should a company know before renting an office in Istanbul?

• Deposit: capped at three months' rent for roofed workplaces (Turkish Code of Obligations No. 6098, Art. 342).
• Increases: on renewal, the annual increase may not exceed the 12-month average of CPI (TÜFE) (Art. 344).
• Stopaj: if you rent from an individual, your company withholds 20% income tax from the rent and pays it to the tax office (Income Tax Law No. 193, Art. 94). Agree whether the rent in the contract is gross or net.
• Assignment: moving the lease to another group company needs the landlord's written consent, which cannot be refused without just cause for workplaces (Art. 323).
• Licence: your company needs a workplace opening and operating licence, which requires the right zoning and an iskan for the building.

Ask an independent lawyer to review the term, break options, increase clause and reinstatement duties before you sign. Our fee for an office lease is agreed in writing before we start; see our fees.

What should you check before buying or renting an office?

• Title-deed type and use: whether the unit has full condominium title (kat mülkiyeti) or is still on a construction-stage title (kat irtifakı), and whether the deed records it as an office or workplace rather than a residence.
• Occupancy permit (iskan): issued for the building and matching the unit you are buying or renting.
• Mortgages and annotations on the title-deed record.
• Service charges (aidat): the monthly amount, what it covers and any arrears, which the seller should clear before the transfer.
• Parking: how many spaces come with the unit, whether they are allocated and whether they cost extra.
• Building management: who runs the building, the rules on access, signage and fit-out, and how decisions are made between owners.

A mistake we see foreign buyers make is buying a unit registered as a residence to use as an office, then running into trouble with the business licence or the other owners. We check the use on the deed before you make an offer.

How does Bosphorus Brokers help you buy or rent an office in Istanbul?

1. Brief: headcount or investment goal, districts, size, budget, parking and timing.
2. Shortlist: resale and leasing options plus new projects from our current property listings, compared across developers and areas.
3. Checks: title-deed type and use, iskan, mortgages, aidat, parking, building management and the developer's track record, with the price or rent compared against recent transactions.
4. Negotiation: price or rent, deposit, fit-out time, parking and the fee split.
5. Completion: tax number, bank account, valuation report, translator, notary and land-registry appointment, then the transfer or lease signing, in person or by power of attorney.

Burak Ünal, our founder and principal broker, is a licensed real-estate broker (licensing exam passed in 2021) with an MSc in Finance from the London School of Economics. Real-estate appraising and retail leasing are among his listed specialties, so we read service-charge budgets, rents and valuations critically rather than taking a developer's figures on trust. Our purchase fee is 2% plus VAT, the same for foreign and Turkish clients and paid only on completion, and any developer commission is disclosed. We are rated 5.0 on Google; Burak advises in English, Turkish and French, and the team also works in Russian, Chinese and Arabic.