Next Sunday, the Tel Aviv-Yafo Local Planning and Building Committee will discuss the conclusions of land appraiser Levana Eshed, who was appointed to investigate the 130 objections filed against construction of the new northwestern neighborhood of Tel Aviv. The neighborhood between Ibn Gbriol Street and Herzliya is due to be built in part on the site of the former Sde Dov airport.
Due to the cancellation of restrictions related to operations at Sde Dov, the committee is expected to recommend drawing up new plans for the southern section of the area that will enlarge the building rights. Real estate sources estimate that this will delay construction by many years.
The initial plan was approved in 2015 and in 2018 the more detailed master plan plan was approved for five separate areas. The plans cover an area of 475 acres on which will be built 13,500 housing units, 60,000 square meters of hotels with 1,500 rooms, 150,000 square meters of office space, 70,000 square meters of commercial space and 50 acres of public buildings. There will also be a 100 acre seafront park. The land currently belongs to thousands of private landowners with rights, the Israel Land Authority and the Tel Aviv-Yafo Municipality.
In theory each of the five areas are separate, so even if the southern section is delayed, the other areas could push ahead with planning, obtaining permits and construction. But in practice, the areas are all inter-related because private landowners in the southern area, who had their building height rights restricted in the original plan, were compensated with parcels of land in the more northern areas.
Adv. Shmuel Shoob says that there is still a long way to go before the plans are finally approved. He adds that even though the planning won't be changed in four of the five areas, "Different valuations must be given to the various lots. This will of course allow people to object. This means opening up all the appraisers' allocations."
He continues, "In the fifth (southern) area a new plan will be drawn up. But because the plan is under the authority of the local planning and building committee, here there will be options for appealing to the appeals committee."
Adv. Miri Donin of Hamburger Evron & Co. describes allowing the local committee rather than the district committee to be responsible for the new plans as catastrophic. "I think this hybrid decision will mean that you won't be able to begin building for another 30 years."
Full disclosure: Edna Bar On, the mother of Globes publisher and controlling shareholder Alona Bar On is on the list of heirs owning rights to the Sde Dov land.
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on May 24, 2021
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