The Tel Aviv District Planning and Building Commission has decided to deposit for public objections a vacate and build plan in the Yad Eliahu neighborhood. The 30-dunam (7.5-acre) site, which is bordered by La Guardia, Wingate, Hama'apilim Streets and the Ayalon Highway, currently contains five old railway buildings with 130 apartments and one building owned by the Tel Aviv municipality. Under the plan, the old buildings will be demolished and 450 apartments built in their place, with a ratio of 3.4 new apartments to each old apartment.
According to the deposited plan, the new apartments will be built in eight-story buildings on three new residential lots facing La Guardia St. and a 27-story residential tower in the rear in the direction of Wingate St. A 25-storey office tower will also be built on the interior lot towards the Ayalon Highway. The plan also adds public space for kindergartens and public buildings. Architect Doron Zafrir of the Farhi-Zafrir Architects firm drew up the plan.
The government zoned the site for vacate and build in April 2012, and the plan initiated by the Tel Aviv municipality through Hoshen Project Management was approved by the Tel Aviv Local Planning and Building Commission in March 2013. The Tel Aviv Municipality owns most of the space, with many of the tenants leasing their apartments from the municipality.
Although the Local Commission approved the construction of 411 new apartments, and previously obtained confirmation of its viability from District Planning and Building Commission Appraiser Barry Cherniavsky, the District Planning and Building Commission decided to add 39 more apartments to the project, despite opposition from the Tel Aviv municipality, at the request of the contractors who obtained the consent of the tenants living on the site to the project. These contractors included developer Aryeh Bar, a former Minister of the Interior director general.
In the discussion, the Tel Aviv municipality asserted that there was no economic justification for the additional apartments. The District Planning and Building Commission, however, headed by Gila Oren, eventually approved 450 new apartments in place of 411.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on April 29, 2015
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