The Technion - Israel Institute of Technology is auctioning land in Tel Aviv’s Kikar Hamedina. The 517 meter plot is located in the heart of Kikar Hamedina’s inner circle, and was donated to the academic institution a few years ago. The land comprises 3 separate privately-owned plots, measuring about 500 square meters each, and the Technion owns one third of each. The Technion stated that income from the sale of the land will fund research at the university.
The plots are a part of 10,000 square meters on which there are plans, which were posted in June, to build three 40-story residential high-rises with 452 apartments. The plans have been progressing through the various planning committees for more than a decade, but were not approved due to height restrictions imposed by the Ministry of Defense, which has a communication beam that passes over the square. The plan was only recently approved, after a historic agreement between the Ministry of Defense and the Tel Aviv Municipality was reached in September 2012, in which the Ministry approved the diversion of the beam. Consequently, the landowners, among them the Technion, will finally be able to realize plans for the land.
Anglo-Saxon Real Estate Rothschild Tel Aviv CEO Roi Haroosh, who also specializes in property deals in Kikar Hamedina, says: “Recently closed land deals inside Kikar Hamedina’s inner circle went for NIS 18-21,000 per square meter of land, so the price of the 517 square meters should reach NIS 10 million.” Technion officials say that they have a real-estate appraisal for the land in their possession, the details of which they are not interested in publicizing, and that they do not intend to sell the land for more than 5% below its appraised value.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on November 6, 2013
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