Two years after Jewish billionaire Roman Abramovich stunned Israel by paying over NIS 100 million for the Varsano Hotel in the Neve Tzedek neighborhood of Tel Aviv, he has rented a house in the neighborhood for $30,000 a month. It is believed that Abramovich is renting the house, located at 8 Shimon Rokach Street, to house the employees responsible for the construction of a residential building on the site of the Varsano Hotel. A few months after the hotel was purchased, it closed down, and Abramovich filed a request for a building permit for a residential building at the Tel Aviv Local Planning and Building Commission - a request that is still pending. The newly rented 300 square meter-house, which contains a basement with a fitness room, a living room, and four bedrooms, is walking distance from the Varsano Hotel lot.
Abramovich, who lives with his family in London, owns the Chelsea football team, as well as several properties in London and the US. He has been interested for several years in buying a property in Neve Tzedek, and the purchase of the Varsano Hotel was his first real estate deal in Israel. He has invested in many Israeli technology companies, such as startup Via, which has developed a municipal transportation sharing system; Storedot, which is developing technology for high-speed smartphone recharging; and AcousticEye, which uses sound waves to test pipes.
Published by Globes [online], Israel Business News - www.globes-online.com - on March 28, 2017
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