The numbers in the outline plan for the Diamond Exchange area in Ramat Gan, when it was approved in February 2022, were on a grand scale: an addition of 3.7 million square meters of space (above ground), consisting of up to 2.98 million square meters of office space, up to 200,000 square meters of commercial space, and up to 200,000 square meters of public space, together with 1,750 housing units, 500 student dormitory rooms, and 1,500 hotel rooms.
The site is already thick with office towers, but the increase in building rights promoted by the Ramat Gan municipality was huge.
A little under five years on, the municipality’s vision is starting to materialize, Several large plans are being promoted on the site following the approval of the outline plan, and some of them are already at various stages of construction, on the way to strengthening the area’s status as one of the main tower sites in Israel.
At the same time, Ramat Gan’s western neighbor, Tel Aviv, has also approved a number of towers not far from the Diamond Exchange site, in the Sarona area. Apart from the Toha 2 building and Azrieli Group’s Spiral Tower, plans have been approved for the Tara tower, and Amot and Bayside are already acquiring land for Toha 3. Will there be demand for all this office space? Industry sources are optimistic, and say that even a scenario of normal economic growth will fill all of it.
The Diamond Exchange site in Ramat Gan has already made a huge leap in development, but it is still largely an industrial and office zone. Most of the activity there takes place during the day, and in the evenings and at night it is much less lively. This would appear to be the main challenge of the Ramat Gan municipality in encouraging renewal on the site, and the outline plan also addresses this.
"The need to change the function of the commercial activity and to turn the public space into an area that is inviting for pedestrians and user-friendly is a vital need in turning it into a site in demand," the outline plan for the area states.
One of the ways of doing that it to include residential construction in the new projects, and the outline plan therefore contains more than 2,000 housing units and student dormitories, and up to 1,500 hotel rooms, and other uses to freshen up the site, and to make it active and inviting in the evenings and at night as well.
The outline plan does this by "encouraging mixed use on the site and developing it as an area of culture, entertainment and leisure, together with the planning of high-quality public space with an emphasis on pedestrians and cyclists, connecting them to nearby neighborhoods and sites."
The Ramat Gan municipality says that "the combination of renewed construction and accessible transport will continue to establish the Diamond Exchange as one of the main urban and economic centers in Gush Dan."
Ramat Gan mayor Carmel Shama-Hacohen adds, "The Diamond Exchange site is at the height of renewal, and we are already seeing significant change taking place on the ground. Alongside new towers already being occupied, large plans and projects are being promote that will change the skyline and strengthen the Diamond Exchange area as one of the main business districts in Israel. The advantage of the Diamond Exchange is the combination of business strength and the location, in the heart of Gush Dan, with exceptional access by rail and light rail."
The largest project in the area is Vertical City, on a ten-dunam site at 37 Menachem Begin Street. It consists of three towers, the tallest of which will be up to 395 meters high and will have 95 floors. Israel Canada and BSR bought the site in 2021 for NIS 936 million. Clal Insurance now holds 25% of the project. It will have 240,000 square meters of office space, 14,000 square meters of commercial space, 600 housing units (of which 400 will be for long-term rental), and 350 student dormitory rooms.
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on September 30, 2026.
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