A Finnish-Canadian who has made Istanbul his home for the past 10 years, Markus is a convert into the real estate sector. With an education in law and international relations (Canada and UK) and work experience rooted in emerging market investment banking (NYC and the Far East), Markus entered real estate in Turkey in the year 2000 consulting the launch and initial public offering of ISGYO, the country’s largest quoted REIT. Following this, he was appointed as Marketing Director helped steer the company’s growth from roughly $150 mn to $450 mn over a 3 year period.
He was then appointed in 2002 to become the founding Managing Director of the joint venture between ISGYO and Eczacibasi established for the realization of Kanyon, a visionary mixed use development at the heart of the CBD of Istanbul that has won numerous prestigious global awards and remains one of the largest and most important milestone projects in the Turkish market.
Following the completion and handover of Kanyon in 2007, Markus co-founded Urbanista International Ltd. together with Selcuk Avci, and so continues in his mission to realize milestone projects. The two partners agreed to further combine their forces in AVCIARCHITECTS in 2008, and in so doing have brought the ability to see projects through from inception through to completion and beyond under a single roof.
Urbanista is a full service real estate development and consultancy company, with activities ranging from project conceptualization (envisioning) development, project, and construction management though to branding, marketing, and leasing. Founded in 2007, Urbanista tackles projects of varying size, structure, and complexity. The company has developed an impressive pipeline of development projects in Turkey, and provides development management services on a number of leading projects throughout Europe and the Middle East. Markus Lehto is a founder and partner of the company and is active and responsible in all areas of its activity.
Markus’s approach to property has emerged from an outsider’s perspective, and he has found his passion in the creative blending of business goals and compelling, customer centric, and sustainable design solutions. He is a frequent speaker on the future of real estate in Turkey and on the international scene, and a widely recognized for his unique property vision and ability to devise innovative market shifting solutions.
Markus is graduate of Laurentian University (BA, Canada) and the University of Leeds (MA, UK), and a dual citizen of Canada and Finland. He is fluent in English, Finnish, and Turkish.