The Astana Tower rises 1,000 metres above sea level. One of the world’s highest free-standing buildings, it is designed to withstand earthquakes of ten on the Richter scale

An address can say a lot about your business partner. Kazakhstan is no exception. When it decided to support private sector activities here in 2003, the International Finance Corporation (IFC) put its money on the Ahsel Group.

Headed by Ahmet Hamdi Ayan (INTERVIEW), the Turkish-based holding was granted a $5 million loan to complete the Astana Tower and Shopping Centre. The tower is located in a busy intersection leading to government buildings and diplomatic quarters. It consists of 20 floors of office space and a three-floor shopping arcade. Initially, total project costs were slated at $22 million. Four years later, office space is going to high-profile clients like the WTO and the Asian Development Bank (ADB). As multinational companies continue to set up shop in the new capital, prices will remain at a premium.

In Kazakhstan, property prices are going through the roof. Inflows of petrodollars since 2000 have created a dramatic wealth effect. According to Germany’s Export Promotion Agency, in Almaty there will be 1.2 million square metres of new residential place in 2008. More developers are converging on the market, hoping to raise I-bars and structural beams. In turn, they are helping to raise building standards. The domestic construction market is controlled by about a dozen holdings and 40 contractors. The boom has several prime movers, according to Prime Minister Karim Massimov. One of them is wage improvement and the arrival of young professionals. “Kazakhstan is also at the crossroads of a fast-growing China, Russia and the European Union,” says Mr Massimov.

Still, when the Ahsel Group arrived here in the 1990s, the bonanza seemed eons away. In 1999, Ahsel reconstituted itself as a holding to vertically integrate its investments in CIS countries. Today, the holding has flagship projects in construction and real estate. It operates the Regent Almaty, as well as several other hotel interests, and its ABS Centre manages the Astana Tower. It is also currently breaking ground for a luxury villa complex known as Edelweiss, catering to the well-heeled set in Alamaty.

In April 2006, Ahsel’s chairman personally submitted his master-plan for the Central Asian Technical University to President Nazarbayev. Co-designed jointly with the architectural firm HOK International, it will join the group’s roster of hotels, medical centres, parliament buildings and office towers. Part of Ahsel’s success has to do with international credibility and it is constantly aiming to meet ISO 9001:2000 standards. As the Kazakhstani market evolves, more attention will also be paid to environmental standards. Almaty, after all, is located in the pristine foothills at the foot of the northern Tien Shan range. Nobody, not even developers, can improve on that address.