The Magen David Adom (MDA) ambulance building in Basel Square in Old North Tel Aviv will soon be demolished and replaced by an exclusive development, which will create a new urban atmosphere in the popular square. The new building will include a 130-room hotel with thirteen 250-300 square meter apartments above it, at an investment of NIS 600 million. The challenge posed to the developers and architects was to design an elegant, prestigious building, which was not a tower and complemented the surrounding neighborhood and square.
Covering 2,500 square meters of land, the MDA building has served the city since the 1950s. In 2019, the building was sold by Tel Aviv-Yafo Municipality in an auction process to a consortium of White City Buildings (40%), the JTLV2 Fund (40%) and Isrotel Ltd. (TASE: ISRO) (20%) for Nis 250 million.
Gidi Bar Orian, the architect entrusted with the design of the new development, believes that a lower, textured building fits in best with the surroundings. "The towers in the city are no longer fashionable from many points of view. People understand that to live in a tower means standing around with others in the elevator, and there is alienation, so that perhaps you have a view from above but there are strong winds and you can't sit on the balcony. People come from huge houses in Kfar Shmariyahu and want to live in spacious apartments and walk everywhere. The view is secondary."
He added, "This is a very special urban location and that's one of the reasons that I like this neighborhood. There is the feeling of a European street with roadside stores. The hotel will be three-floors high with commercial space on the ground floor."
Alon Baranowitz of Baranowitz Kronenberg Architects is responsible for the interior design of the project. He said, "The price derives from the uniqueness of a project, which is a result of location, which is central but quiet. The second thing is that many people are fed up with towers. This building, which has two separate entrances for tenants, is both intimate and quiet. The third thing is the synergy with the hotel. The tenants can enjoy the spa, the meals of the various restaurants, and room service. On top of that these are enormous apartments with long balconies."
Estimates are that when completed these apartments will sell for tens of millions of shekels each. Existing apartments in the neighborhood have been selling for much less, according to the Madlan website. A 127 square meter, 13th floor apartment in Basel Tower at 35 Basel Street is on the market for NIS 9.9 million, while an 81 square meter, three room, third floor apartment in a five floor building is on sale for just NIS 6.5 million.
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on May 26, 2021
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