The Tel Aviv local planning and building commission last week approved adding 11 floors to the government building under construction in the Kirya at the corner of Kaplan St. and Menachem Begin Rd. The building, being built by Africa-Israel Investments (TASE:AFIL) and Minrav, will now have 39 floors.
The approval was granted after the Ministry of Defense and the Israel Civil Aviation Authority withdrew their objections to such a high building.
The Government Housing Authority and Tel Aviv municipality recently approved to add the floors, with a total space of 25,000 sq.m. The Tel Aviv local planning and building commission used its authority to approve increasing the building rights for the building, by transferring to it the building rights from the South Kirya plan. The government compound building will now have 65,000 sq.m.
Construction of the skeleton of the building under its original blueprint is nearing completion. Construction of the addition floors will continue uninterrupted. The additional cost to building, excluding the payment for the rights, will be $25 million.
Tel Aviv municipal engineer Danny Kaizer told "Globes" that the trend to transfer building and concentrate rights along Begin Rd. was just beginning. The aim is to enlarge the buildings along the street in order to leave the internal compound as open as possible.
The government building is part of the Tel Aviv 3000 Plan for the 190-dunam (47.5-acre) south Kirya compound, one of the largest sections of land available for future development in the city.
Under the plan, the south Kirya compound will have 498,000 sq.m. of main space, of which 390,000 sq.m. is designated for business, including 30,000 sq.m. of hotel and commercial space. The compound will have 600 high-rise housing units, to be built surrounding a 40-dunam (10-acre) park.
Published by Globes [online] - www.globes.co.il - on December 21, 2003