Kfar Vradim Development Co. recently marketed 25 more lots, despite Israel Land Administration (ILA) complaints that it charged double the real price for land development. Kfar Vradim is a community in the Upper Galilee.
Kfar Vradim Development Co. reported that had sold 25 of 50 lots in the community's second stage at NIS 425,000 per 650-sq.m. lot. The price included NIS 90,000 capitalization fee for the land and NIS 335,000 (NIS 500 per sq.m.) for land development. The ILA estimates the price per sq.m. for land development at NIS 250.
Kfar Vradim Development Co. is jointly owned by Stef Wertheimer and the Kfar Vradim residents association. In the early 1980s, the association received the land from the ILA without a tender, but with the option of developing the land and charging development fees for the new residents.
Following complaints by local residents, in 2000, the ILA rebuked Kfar Vradim for charging a development fee that was more than double the real price. The ILA claim was based on a report by ILA comptroller Ofer Gilad that Kfar Vradim had overcharged the new residents.
Kfar Vradim Development Co. head Uri Masloveti said the fee was not excessive, and that the ILA discussion on the matter was still pending. He claimed that the ILA calculation was wrong, since it did not include VAT. He said ILA charged similar exorbitant fees for land, and that the development price was reasonable.
Kfar Vradim has 1,300 families. 300 new housing units are planned under the second stage plan, although tenders for only 50 lots have been published to date. An Urban Building Plan for the remaining units has not yet been approved.
In late 2000, Wertheimer asked the ILA to allocate more land for Kfar Vradim's third stage plan, but the ILA refused to so without a tender.
No response from the ILA was available by web-posting.
Published by Globes [online] - www.globes.co.il - on May 3, 2004