The Man Behind Bayrock Group: Who is Tevfik Arif Doyen?
The luxury real estate development firm Bayrock Group has been involved in several high-end projects in the United States, but who is the founder, Tevfik Arif Doyen?
Washington – RealEstateRama – Prior to the establishment of Bayrock Group in 2001 in New York City, its founder, Tevfik Arif Doyen, lived in Soviet Kazakhstan and Turkey, where he ran several businesses.
Tevfik Arif Doyen grew up in Kazakhstan with his brothers and parents of Turkish descent. At an early age, he became interested in business and economics and studied for a degree in International Relations from the Moscow Trade and Economic Institute.
Later on, he got a job at a government office. Working for the government was a very popular and respected choice for young men at the time, and Tevfik Arif Doyen was employed at the Soviet Union’s Ministry of Commerce and Trade.
Eventually, he advanced and got a job as chief economist and was promoted once more; this time to deputy head of the Ministry’s Hotel Management Department.
Tevfik Arif Doyen maintained his government job for 17 years before he decided to pursue his own business ventures.
At the beginning of the 1990s, the Soviet Union collapsed, and many of its citizens started looking for opportunities in the privatization of corporations.
Tevfik Arif Doyen wanted to seize the opportunity and make his mark in the local economy.
His degree from the Moscow Trade and Economics Institute combined with his comprehensive experience from the government offices turned out to be the perfect foundation for what Tevfik Arif Doyen had in mind.
He started opening businesses dealing in luxury property development, natural resources and import and export. At a later stage, he also became involved in the automobile and food sectors.
Through his many companies, Tevfik Arif Doyen developed an extensive international network, which enabled him to expand his repertoire and explore new markets.
In 1993, he moved to Turkey and began investing in real estate and the tourism industry. By using his knowledge from his 17 years in the Hotel Management Department of Soviet Kazakhstan, Tevfik Arif Doyen became a pioneering force behind the popular all-inclusive resort model.
One of his first projects in the country was the Labada luxury hotel in Antalya.
Over the years, Tevfik Arif Doyen’s success whetted his appetite to expand his businesses to other places in Central Asia and Europe.
Tevfik Arif Doyen sets his sight on the United States
In 2001, Tevfik Arif Doyen took a big step and moved to the other side of the Atlantic Ocean to be closer to his US-based family members.
There, he established his real estate investment and development firm, Bayrock Group, in New York City.
One of the company’s first projects was renovating Loehmann’s Seaport Plaza, a shopping center in the Sheepshead Bay area of Brooklyn.
After some years in the United States, Tevfik Arif Doyen and Bayrock Group became increasingly ambitious and decided to relocate the company’s offices to a more glamorous part of the Big Apple.
The new address became 725 5th Avenue on the 24th floor of the Trump Tower.
The new location, brought Tevfik Arif Doyen and Bayrock Group into contact with the Trump Organization, and the two firms started cooperating on a new real estate development project.
The building was finished in 2008 on Spring Street in New York City and got the name Trump SoHo.
Tevfik Arif Doyen acknowledged that the Trump brand was powerful, so Bayrock Group tailored a strategy that would leverage the Trump name to add value and glamour to the project it was building with the Sapir Organization.
The three parties reached an agreement and signed a deal that would leave the Trump Organization with 18% equity in the building in exchange for using the Trump name in its title.
Tevfik Arif Doyen goes back to Europe and Central Asia
Trump SoHo is a 46-story condo-hotel with hotel rooms, apartments, premium restaurants and bars, an outdoor pool, a world-class spa, a banquet and event halls.
Tevfik Arif Doyen’s Bayrock Group, the Trump Organization and the Sapir Organization made sure that both the exterior and interior of Trump SoHo were as immaculate as possible.
The building featured floor-to-ceiling windows with incredible views of the city and furniture from the high-end Italian brand Fendi Casa.
The building still exists today, but the name has been changed to the Dominick.
After the successful opening of the Trump SoHo, Tevfik Arif Doyen and the Trump Organization looked into collaborations on more real estate development projects under the same licensing terms in Arizona and Florida.
However, the 2008 financial crisis that hit the American real estate market severely put a stop to those plans.
Following a downturn in the market in the United States and the success of Trump SoHo, Tevfik Arif Doyen decided to leave the country and focus on Europe and Central Asia once more.
Today, Tevfik Arif Doyen has retired from most of his day-to-day activities in Bayrock Group, but he remains a trusted and highly valued advisor to the firm.
