Throughout its 153-year history, the Turkish Red Crescent has managed its real estate, mainly acquired through donations, with an effective system. The real estate management system, whose rental income is a source for humanitarian aid activities of the TRC, was completely revised and restructured in 2021 by adopting a sustainable resource management approach. In this context, TRC initiated a process of organizational structure and digitalization, aiming to improve the system, and include effectiveness in real estate management processes in line with the goals stated in the Turkish Red Crescent 2030 Strategic Plan. A consultancy protocol was signed with the Department of Real Estate Development and Management of the Ankara University Faculty of Applied Sciences, and primary goals were set. Process improvements were made traceable through key indicators.
Newly incorporated into the organizational structure, the Directorate of Real Estate Development concentrated on transferring funds to humanitarian aid activities by generating more rental income while adding more value to the valuable real estate in the inventory. Real estate development is a process that spans a long period of time, and its effects may not be visible in the short term. It is necessary to monitor the goal and the actual trend by observing the short-term effects of the improvements by planning the development activities and carrying out a detailed development plan. The project should be designed to include all aspects from the beginning to the very end. Many factors play a role in the planning process, such as demand forecasting, current market sentiment, previous sales/rental rates, location, anticipated timeline, and project type.
The development project is prepared with these factors in mind and by deciding on the design and number of units of the real estate and dividing the inventory management into levels. The effectiveness of real estate activities is ensured by the interactive management of all processes.
2021: The Restructuring Year
We focused on restructuring in 2021. We reviewed and categorized our real estate and planned the project steps. The course of action adopted within the scope of these activities is as follows:
- To develop models in which our qualified real estate can be used more effectively, such as tendering for build-operate-transfer, revenue sharing, or long-term partnerships.
- To turn residences aged 20+ into new high-yield projects by modeling them to create sustainable resources for humanitarian aid processes
- Consolidation of agricultural lands and to switch to a partnership system that can generate high-yield potential rather than a rental low-yield one
- To carry out management processes of joint-owned real estate that prevents income generation by considering the organization’s rights
To increase the technical capacity within the organizational structure and to utilize international models in the processes, we ensured that all our personnel attended the postgraduate program provided by the Department of Real Estate Development and Management, Ankara University, Faculty of Applied Sciences.
We will continue to carry out these activities in a better way in 2022 and operate within the scope of the Sustainable Model for Real Estate Development and Management. We have set goals for 2022 to make our activities traceable. We will make sales that will allow us to launch 12 high-yielding projects, and we also will obtain resources through investments in agriculture, logistics management, nursing homes, etc. That will help the Turkish Red Crescent to become a critical stakeholder in achieving the strategic goals within the scope of the 2030 Strategic Plan.
As a result of these investments, we aim to meet a significant portion of the resources needed for the humanitarian aid activities of the TRC from real estate management revenues in the next five years.