Gav-Yam, Bayside Land Corporation of the Discount Investments group has withdrawn from the management and development of the Bat-Galim Marina project in Haifa, and has handed it back to the municipality, which had previously managed it. The reason was the delay in approving the project.
Various private developers were expected to invest hundreds of millions of dollars in the project in the next few years. The project is still in the stage of planning and receiving statutory permits, and the start of construction has been delayed for several years due to disagreements over the planning.
Gav-Yam took over responsibility for managing and developing the project, as part of a deal a year ago, in which the company acquired control (50.1%) of Matam, the economic company of Haifa Municipality. In exchange for the shares, Gav-Yam paid NIS 240 million to Matam, which still holds 49.9% of shares.
Matam was due to be responsible, together with Israel Land Administration, for issuing tenders to private developers to set up the land inside the Marina area.
Gav-Yam general manager Hanan Nitzan, who is also general manager of Matam since the acquisition, told "Globes", "Many statutory and planning permits are still required before work can begin on the project. This is strictly a municipal matter and there are no grounds for a commercial company to make decisions here."
Both Green organizations and the Ministry of the Environment are fighting against the setting up of the Marina, which is expected to include thousands of residential units and hotel rooms, and is the largest real estate project scheduled to be set up in Haifa in the next few years.
Published by Israel's Business Arena on December 22, 1999