A group headed by Shuki Lesher won an auction held last week by Tel Aviv District Court for 900 sq.m. in an office and commercial building at 28 Harakevet St, Tel Aviv. Lesher will pay $1.51 million for the space, after outbidding insurance agent David Ben-David, who bid $1.5 million.
The property is owned by a company controlled by Moshe Cohen. The courts took over the property, due to Cohen's debt of over $2 million to Union Bank, and it was put up for sale by the receiver.
Lesher bought two floors with a total area of 750 sq.m,. and 150 sq.m. on the commercial floor of the building, as well as 25 covered parking spaces and a 50 sq.m. storeroom.
The value of the building's commercial area is estimated at $3,000 per sq.m., the value of parking spaces at $15,000 each, and storage space at $1,000 per sq.m. Based on these figures, it appears that the office space was sold for $635,000 -- only $850 per sq.m. The low price, which can only be partially explained by the shell condition of the offices, reflects the plunge in the prices of office space for sale in Tel Aviv. At peak times, offices in shell condition in the area sold for $1,500 per sq.m.
Published by Israel's Business Arena on 21 October 2001