The state today notified the Tel Aviv District Court that, Israel Land Administration last week made the historic decision, Number 3363, to vacate Sde Dov Airport in northern Tel Aviv. The court now has to approve the agreement.
The announcement discloses the main points of the agreement between the Israel Land Administration and the Israel Airports Authority, which the managers of the large bloc had to examine in order to decide whether the private landowners should share in the cost of vacating the airport.
The government's notice to the court said that, on May 12, the Israel Land Administration's management met to discuss the draft agreement to vacate Sde Dov Airport, and share in the costs of moving it. The Israel Land Administration agreed to the proposal, provided that the court confirms the agreement reached between the government the large bloc's landowners to share in the cost of vacating the airport's civilian operations.
Under the agreement, the Airports Authority will not request an extension of the Airports Authority after June 30, 2016, and it promises to halt all civil aviation operations at Sde Dov by that date. The airport will be vacated by the date set in the government decision, and no later than 2018. The Israel Land Administration will bear NIS 230 million, linked to the Consumer Price Index (CPI), of the cost of building an alternative.
The agreement also states the reservation that if completion of the infrastructures at Ben Gurion Airport to handle Sde Dov's civil aviation are delayed for any reason that is not under the Airports Authority's control, or due to a government decision, or a delay in planning approvals, the parties will agree to an alternative date for vacating Sde Dov.
Following the agreement between the Israel Land Administration and the Airports Authority, the large bloc landowners are due to approve their participation in the vacating of Sde Dov in the amount of NIS 20 million. The money can be paid in kind using land, on the basis of an updated valuation by a Ministry of Justice assessor.
Three architect firms bid on the plan for Sde Dov, a 1,400-dunam (350-acre) site north of the Yarkon River in Tel Aviv. The steering committee picked the proposal by Ari Cohen Architects & Town Planners Ltd. to build 14,000-18,000 housing units on the site.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on May 28, 2013
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