The plan for Kikar Atarim on Tel Aviv seafront, which is meant to enhance one of the most famous locations in the city, is set to be approved for deposit this week by the Tel Aviv Local Planning and Building Committee, after an excruciating planning process that has lasted almost 15 years.
The plan proposes demolishing the current buildings in the square and replacing them with three 25-floor towers with 300 hotels rooms and 220 apartments.
Over the years, there have been many controversies over the scale of the plan, which delayed its approval. The agenda of the committee's previous meetings show that it responded to most of the objections, although as a committee it was unable to provide a solution to various legal disputes that still exist, mainly involving ownership of Kikar Atarim's parking lot.
Many objections argued that the valuations set for the various uses in the plan was inaccurate. In response, the municipality stated that the table of allocations (which assigns rights to owners) "was amended at the time of its deposit by the plan appraiser and incorporated the results of the theoretical review conducted by the consulting appraiser. The valuation set was conducted on the basis of a market survey conducted by the plan's appraiser and is acceptable and within reasonable limits."
Another prominent objection to the plan was by the Carlton Hotel, which is on the northern border of Kikar Atarim, but was not included in the project. The owner, AMS Tourism and Properties, claimed, "The plan causes serious and disproportionate damage to the hotel in a way that calls into question its continued functioning," The Carlton Hotel owners added that the building works in the square are expected to reduce its value by tens of millions of shekels. The municipality stated in its response, among other things, "Upon the completion of the works, the Carlton Hotel will be located in one of the main landmarks on the city center seafront, a fact that will undoubtedly benefit it."
A change that the municipality did accept after hearing objections was the downsizing of the construction areas in the project. The "No to Towers" Association claimed that the plan contradicted the principles of the policy document for Kikar Atarim on the height of the floors and roofs (area of each floor), and the municipality said this was a clerical error. Following its amendment, building rights were reduced by 4,000 square meters (half in the hotel areas and half in the residential areas) and the size of each floor was reduced from 1,400 square meters to 1,250 square meters. Another main claim concerned loss of public areas in the square, but he municipality insists that the new plan has larger public areas in the square than currently exist.
In responding to the objections, the municipality admitted of the current Atarim Square, built in the 1970s, "There are those who define Atarim Square as a symbol of an ambitious urban project that failed, which does not contribute to the space but harms it and for years has stood as an immovable stone. This is an impressive architectural experiment, which affected the city and its surroundings in a way that does not justify its continued retention."
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on November 12, 2024.
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