The Deri family has completed the construction of a new building in the Givat Shaul neighborhood of Jerusalem, sources inform "Globes". The two-story building on David ha-Re'uveni Street, contains five apartments.
The apartments are currently registered to Shas leader Aryeh Deri and his wife, Yaffa, but their ownership will soon be transferred to his brother, Shlomo Deri, and his four children - who acquired the rights from Aryeh and Yaffa Deri in July 2013.
The building was part of buyers' group development which purchased a parcel of land for 88 apartments, to which Aryeh and Yaffa Deri joined in 2010 when they purchased the rights to 5 apartments in the project.
The development recently concluded its project, with two nine-story buildings and Deri's two-story building. Two of the apartments, each 80 sq. m., have a balcony, storage, and three parking spots. The third, a more spacious 123 sq. m., also includes the balcony, storage, and three parking spots.
The two higher-end units in the project are defined as "cottage apartments" which spread out on two levels. One apartment has 158 sq. m. of space, a 126 sq. m. garden, storage, and three parking spots; the other has 150 sq. m., a 100 sq. m. garden, storage, and four parking spots.
Sources at Jerusalem real estate firm "Anglo-Saxon" believe the lower-end apartments are worth between NIS 2.1-3 million, while the larger units likely cost between NIS 3.7-4.5 million. The overall value of the 5 apartments is close to NIS 15.5 million.
In 2013, Aryeh Deri decided to sell his rights to the property to his brother Shlomo. During a conversation with "Globes", Shlomo Deri said that in July 2013, Aryeh and Yaffa Deri signed an agreement to sell their rights to the property to Shlomo Deri and his four children for NIS 4.2 million (not including construction costs.) The deal was even reported to the tax authority.
According to industry insiders, the terms of the deal -- including the estimated NIS 5 million for construction costs - are substantially lower than the current value of the apartments: NIS 15 million.
The apartments in the project were registered to the names on the buyers' group on October 6, with 5 of the apartments registered to Aryeh and Yaffa Deri, along with a mortgage of NIS 7.5 million from Mercantile Discount Bank, which supported the project.
Though the Deri brothers signed the real estate deal two years ago, they have yet to be registered to Shlomo Deri and his children, nor was a notice included of the purchase.
The office of Adv. Shlomo Deri said: "This is a property deal from 2013 which was legally reported and submitted to the tax authority -- meaning the property is in the name of Shlomo Deri and his children in the tax authority database.
"Since the conclusion of the deal, the registration at the real estate tax office was blocked because of the mortgages registered to the bank which provided the financial backing to the buyers' group. In the past few months, the buyers' group has been working to register the property as a condominium -- during which a supervisor placed on a hold on any additional registrations until the condominium process is complete. With the process over, we asked the bank to receive the banknote to erase the mortgages on the property. The moment we receive the banknotes, we will complete the registration in the name of the buyers."
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on October 26, 2015
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