The Jerusalem District Planning and Building Commission has approved a plan for the Alliance Israélite Universelle site in Jerusalem. The plan includes 184 additional housing units, 44 of which will small apartments. The plan also includes 70 hotel rooms.
The eight-dunam (two-acre) site is located between the Mahane Yehuda market, Alliance Israélite Universelle and Agrippas Streets, and the Etz Chaim Yeshiva site. A complex with commercial space on the ground floors will be constructed along the streets surrounding the site, with two 24-storey towers being built over them.
In response to the lack of parking, the Planning and Building Commission approved the preservation of the parking standard and its transfer to a five-floor underground parking lot to be constructed below the site. The plan also provides for the preservation of the historic Alliance Israélite Universelle building, currently unused, which will be converted into a hotel.
The Jerusalem District Planning and Building Commission approved the plan for objections in November 2015. A discussion of the objections was held in January, including all the parties involved, among them the operators of the parking lot on the site; Israel Police, whose offices are in the nearby Clal Center building; the Alliance Israélite Universelle non-profit association, which owns the rights to the building; and others. They allege that the Jerusalem city center is already extremely congested, and the addition of the towers will greatly aggravate the congestion.
Jerusalem District planner Shira Talmi said, "The plan will make a marked contribution to urban renewal and development of the municipal and public space, with an emphasis on rejuvenating the Jerusalem city center. The plan provides a solution to city's development needs, while serving a number of purposes and fitting in with the existing construction."
The plan makes it possible to open the site to the public, while connecting the surrounding neighborhoods to the nearby market. The square in the center of the site will create an open public space connected to key municipal focuses, including the Mahane Yehuda market, the Jerusalem light rail on Jaffa Street, Agrippas and Alliance Israélite Universelle Streets, and Davidka Square.
Architect Ian Bader from the Pei Cobb Freed & Partners architectural firm designed the building, in cooperation with architect Mandy Rosenfeld.
Published by Globes [online], Israel Business News - www.globes-online.com - on March 7, 2017
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