The Ministry of Defense today announced the launch of the preliminary vetting stage for companies and groups interested in participating in the tender for the construction of the new IDF defense intelligence campus near Shoket Junction in the Negev. This is the largest and most expensive project in the transfer of IDF units to the southern Israel, with an estimated cost of NIS 10 billion. The preliminary stage, which started today, will continue until the first quarter of 2017, while the tender itself, in which the companies that will pass the vetting will compete, is expected to begin in the third quarter of 2017.
According to Ministry of Defense and IDF estimates, occupying this new campus will begin in late 2022; the campus will eventually house about 80% of defense intelligence personnel. It will be built on a 2,500 dunam (about 620 acre) plot, with a 350,000 square meters built-up area. The concessionaire group chosen in the tender will be a private sector group, company or several companies joining forces for this project. It will be responsible for project financing, planning and construction, as well as for the operation of the campus for 25 years. The companies and groups which will participate in the preliminary process will be vetted according to various prerequisites, including financial, engineering, computerization and operation capabilities. A similar model was used in the construction of the IDF training complex (City of Training Bases) at the Negev Junction, managed by the Mabat Lanegev group, composed of the companies Minrav Holdings Ltd. (TASE: MNRV), Electra Ltd. (TASE: ELTR), Bynet Data Communications Ltd. and Noy Infrastructure and Energy Investment Fund.
After construction of the new complex will be completed, most intelligence units will be removed from their current bases, which occupy precious real estate in high-demand areas in central Israel, mainly in Glilot. This plan takes place in parallel to IDF and Ministry of Defense efforts to the build the ICT campus in Beersheva, a project estimated at over NIS 7 billion. This project is in more advanced stages of its tender, with bidders that are leading companies and groups in the market: Africa-Israel Investments Ltd. (TASE:AFIL), together with Shikun & Binui Holdings Ltd. (TASE: SKBN); Minrav Holdings Ltd. (TASE: MNRV) together with Electra Ltd. (TASE: ELTR); and the companies Ashtrom Properties Ltd. (TASE:ASPR) and Shapir Engineering, bidding separately. Estimates are that in the first quarter of 2017, the concessionaire which will lead the construction of the new campus will be chosen.
Thousands of soldiers and career servicemen and women will serve in the new campus near Shoket Junction, and this will be an 'open' base, with most soldiers arriving there each morning and leaving at the end of the workday. Based on these plans, the defense establishment today clarified the need for future arrangements regarding train access to the site and preparing transportation infrastructure which will match service characteristics there. After the construction of all new IDF bases in the Negev is completed, more than 30,000 soldiers and about 7,000 career servicemen are expected to serve there, "we build these new bases with a look forward to the next 100 years, in a way that will match the changing technology and the needs of the different units," said Southern Relocation Administration chief Brigadier-General (res.) Nati Efrati: "we have been working on the defense intelligence campus for years, because of its unique technological characteristics and while taking into consideration protection and construction which will enable continuous operation for a long time."
Commander of the Israel Defense Intelligence Logistical Infrastructure and Transfer to the Negev Department, Col. M. said, "This is a flagship project that does not only change the Defense Intelligence's geographical location, but is expected to change the ecosystem in southern Israel." She says that even today, IDF authorities and Beersheva's education system cooperate in a way that will ensure that most soldiers serving in the new campus will be residents of southern Israel, with manpower supplemented by soldiers from other area of Israel, if necessary.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on August 16, 2016
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