The Israel Land Authority Council has approved more than 2,000 apartments in the heart of Tel Aviv. The approved projects are for 1,280 apartments in the 2000 Compound near the central train station, 540 apartments near the Kirya (IDF headquarters), 120 apartments on Dubnov Street, and 287 apartments in the Kanarit Towers project adjacent to the IDF headquarters, for a total of 2,227 apartments.
The construction of the new apartments is part of an agreement between the government and the Tel Aviv-Jaffa Municipality for the financing of the underground section of the light rail's Green Line along Ibn Gvirol Street between Carlebach Street to Shimon Hatarasi Street, continuing the line's underground section between Carlebach Street and Levinsky Street. The government's share of the project will be financed by proceeds from the sales of apartments in the four projects.
The closed Israel Land Authority Council meeting also approved vacate-and-build projects related to these projects. The Israel Land Authority Council increased the building rights for the projects 2.5-fold compared with the number of apartments for vacate-and-build projects, and it will sell adjacent supplementary lots to contractors to improve the worthwhileness of the land for urban renewal.
In separate decisions, the Israel Land Authority Council approved the memorandum of understanding between the Israel Land Authority and the Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Defense for moving IDF bases to the Negev and the planning of 35,000 housing units on the vacated bases. The Israel Land Authority will transfer NIS 1.6-1.9 billion in preliminary financing for this project to the Ministry of Defense.
The Israel Land Authority also extended the eligibility of IDF reservists to receive a discount on the purchase of lots in Israel Land Authority tenders to six years after the soldiers' discharge from regular service. It also approved additional compensation to agricultural landowners for the sale of lots, which will be available for the construction of 2,500 housing units.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on October 29, 2012
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