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Someone Built A $200 Million Village Of Disney-Like Castles, Realizes His Mistake When It’s Too Late

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Hundreds of Disney catsle-like faux chateaux being built for wealthy Gulf investors have just got their new residents. Ghosts. The Burj Al Babas residential area project in Turkey’s northern Bolu province began in 2014, but its developer, the Sarot Group, has failed to come up with the required amount of money for finishing the medieval castles.

Someone Built A $200 Million Village Of Disney-Like Castles, Realizes His Mistake When It's Too Late

Image credits: Adem Altan/AFP/Getty Images

Someone Built A $200 Million Village Of Disney-Like Castles, Realizes His Mistake When It's Too Late

Image credits: Adem Altan/AFP/Getty Images

The Sarot Group was recently slapped with a court-ordered bankruptcy ruling over the Burj Al Babas’ $27 million debt. The suburb project was designed to include 732 chateau-style villas, swimming pools, Turkish baths, health and beauty centers, a shopping center and a mosque, according to its website. And even though customers from Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, and Saudi Arabia have bought around 350 of the 587 kitsch villas built, it’s not enough.

Someone Built A $200 Million Village Of Disney-Like Castles, Realizes His Mistake When It's Too Late

Image credits: Adem Altan/AFP/Getty Images

Someone Built A $200 Million Village Of Disney-Like Castles, Realizes His Mistake When It's Too Late

Image credits: AFP

“We couldn’t get about 7.5 million dollars receivables for the villas we have sold to Gulf countries,” Hurriyet newspaper quoted Sarot Group Chairman Mehmet Emin Yerdelen. “We applied for bankruptcy protection but the court ruled for bankruptcy. We will appeal the ruling.”

Someone Built A $200 Million Village Of Disney-Like Castles, Realizes His Mistake When It's Too Late

Image credits: Adem Altan/AFP/Getty Images

Someone Built A $200 Million Village Of Disney-Like Castles, Realizes His Mistake When It's Too Late

Image credits: Adem Altan/AFP/Getty Images

Someone Built A $200 Million Village Of Disney-Like Castles, Realizes His Mistake When It's Too Late

Image credits: Adem Altan/AFP/Getty Images

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Someone Built A $200 Million Village Of Disney-Like Castles, Realizes His Mistake When It's Too Late

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Image credits: Adem Altan/AFP/Getty Images

The court also ordered the group to stop all construction immediately leaving a site full of abandoned houses, but Yerdelen remains hopeful. “The project is valued at $200 million,” he said. “We only need to sell 100 villas to pay off our debt. I believe we can get over this crisis in four to five months and partially inaugurate the project in 2019.”

More info: burjalbabas.com

Someone Built A $200 Million Village Of Disney-Like Castles, Realizes His Mistake When It's Too Late

Image credits: Adem Altan/AFP/Getty Images

People had a lot to say about this project and its fate

Someone Built A $200 Million Village Of Disney-Like Castles, Realizes His Mistake When It's Too Late

Someone Built A $200 Million Village Of Disney-Like Castles, Realizes His Mistake When It's Too Late

Someone Built A $200 Million Village Of Disney-Like Castles, Realizes His Mistake When It's Too Late

Someone Built A $200 Million Village Of Disney-Like Castles, Realizes His Mistake When It's Too Late

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Someone Built A $200 Million Village Of Disney-Like Castles, Realizes His Mistake When It's Too Late

Someone Built A $200 Million Village Of Disney-Like Castles, Realizes His Mistake When It's Too Late

Someone Built A $200 Million Village Of Disney-Like Castles, Realizes His Mistake When It's Too Late

Someone Built A $200 Million Village Of Disney-Like Castles, Realizes His Mistake When It's Too Late

Someone Built A $200 Million Village Of Disney-Like Castles, Realizes His Mistake When It's Too Late

Someone Built A $200 Million Village Of Disney-Like Castles, Realizes His Mistake When It's Too Late

Someone Built A $200 Million Village Of Disney-Like Castles, Realizes His Mistake When It's Too Late

Someone Built A $200 Million Village Of Disney-Like Castles, Realizes His Mistake When It's Too Late

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Someone Built A $200 Million Village Of Disney-Like Castles, Realizes His Mistake When It's Too Late

Someone Built A $200 Million Village Of Disney-Like Castles, Realizes His Mistake When It's Too Late

Rokas Laurinavičius

Rokas is a writer at Bored Panda with a BA in Communication. After working for a sculptor, he fell in love with visual storytelling and enjoys covering everything from TV shows (any Sopranos fans out there?) to photography. Throughout his years in Bored Panda, over 300 million people have read the posts he's written, which is probably more than he could count to.

Rokas is a writer at Bored Panda with a BA in Communication. After working for a sculptor, he fell in love with visual storytelling and enjoys covering everything from TV shows (any Sopranos fans out there?) to photography. Throughout his years in Bored Panda, over 300 million people have read the posts he's written, which is probably more than he could count to.

What do you think ?

meAgan 5 years ago

The houses aren't bad in themselves, but the layout of the entire thing is terrible and would cause so many unnecessary problems. No. Just no.

53points

chi-wei shen 5 years ago

This reminds me of The Palm in UAE and other artificial islands close by. The developers from Dubai couldn’t sell the villas on this artificial islands as expected and had to lower the prices because the villas were not attractive to rich buyers. They were to close together and looked the same. Wealthy people prefer distance to their neighbors and some individuality.

18points

Load More Replies...

Random Panda 5 years ago (edited)

Who in their right mind would think that a person with the funds to purchase such a fancy house would spend them on this overcrowded monstrosity? No one likes to be this close to their neighbors and people with means aren't going to buy a house that has a thousand identical clones sitting right next to it, with no space between them. What about yards, gardens, parks? This is incredibly poor design made by someone who possesses more greed than common sense. It's sad they destroyed so much land for this c**p.

44points

bob 5 years ago

It would be perfect for an army of clones, though.

10points

Load More Replies...

arjelio mas 5 years ago

Maybe they had hopes of a large influx of Chinese buyers. Or people from Singapore. Anyplace where there's so much less room, even these would seem roomy and reasonably spaced.

1point

dismas666 5 years ago

turkish or middle eastern people of course.

1point

Michelle Sebold 5 years ago

Don't come home drunk!

43points

John Louis 5 years ago

Best comment so far.

4points

Load More Replies...

seauf 5 years ago

or at all!

1point

Adam Cantor 5 years ago

Yup sir mr. taxi ... *hic* ....I just live in the white castle up ahead.....oh c**p.

0points

bob 5 years ago

This comment is hidden. Click here to view.

Load More Comments

meAgan 5 years ago

The houses aren't bad in themselves, but the layout of the entire thing is terrible and would cause so many unnecessary problems. No. Just no.

53points

chi-wei shen 5 years ago

This reminds me of The Palm in UAE and other artificial islands close by. The developers from Dubai couldn’t sell the villas on this artificial islands as expected and had to lower the prices because the villas were not attractive to rich buyers. They were to close together and looked the same. Wealthy people prefer distance to their neighbors and some individuality.

18points

Load More Replies...

Random Panda 5 years ago (edited)

Who in their right mind would think that a person with the funds to purchase such a fancy house would spend them on this overcrowded monstrosity? No one likes to be this close to their neighbors and people with means aren't going to buy a house that has a thousand identical clones sitting right next to it, with no space between them. What about yards, gardens, parks? This is incredibly poor design made by someone who possesses more greed than common sense. It's sad they destroyed so much land for this c**p.

44points

bob 5 years ago

It would be perfect for an army of clones, though.

10points

Load More Replies...

arjelio mas 5 years ago

Maybe they had hopes of a large influx of Chinese buyers. Or people from Singapore. Anyplace where there's so much less room, even these would seem roomy and reasonably spaced.

1point

dismas666 5 years ago

turkish or middle eastern people of course.

1point

Michelle Sebold 5 years ago

Don't come home drunk!

43points

John Louis 5 years ago

Best comment so far.

4points

Load More Replies...

seauf 5 years ago

or at all!

1point

Adam Cantor 5 years ago

Yup sir mr. taxi ... *hic* ....I just live in the white castle up ahead.....oh c**p.

0points

bob 5 years ago

This comment is hidden. Click here to view.

Load More Comments

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