Manmade peninsula under way in Istanbul

A 140,000-meter square manmade peninsula as large as ten football stadiums has plans to be constructed as a shoreline extension of Istanbul's Ataköy neighborhood, which  has ran out of space for new buildings.

There is nearly no space left for any new construction along the shore of Ataköy, a neighborhood of expensive residences and apartments with many shopping malls and spots of leisure next to Bak?rköy, a district in Istanbul very close to Atatürk Airport.

The new project, named the Mega Marina, is a manmade peninsula which will be built as a coastal extension.

Currently, only an area known as Baruthane, located between the Galleria Shopping Mall and Air Force Academy, is left for new construction projects.

The proposed area does not encompass the breakwater and previously made marina.

The Mega Marina will be made as an extension of the area known as the Ataköy Tourism Complex, which also contains the Galleria Shopping Mall, Sheraton Hotel, Ataköy Marina Hotel, Ataköy Marina and Ataköy Marina Park, and will be used as a marina for large cruisers. 

The process to fill the peninsula has already begun, with filling materials being carried by ships to the construction site because of heavy traffic on the road running along the construction site.

Conference halls, convention centers, restaurants and clubs are to be built on the proposed peninsula.

A three-story trade and entertainment center, two-story eatery with a club, two-story convention center, five-story administration building, five-story yacht sales building, open-air parking area for 320 vehicles, yacht maintenance offices and several swimming pools will also be constructed on the proposed area.

The buildings recently built on...