The steering committee for the Sde Dov project, headed by Tel Aviv-Jaffa Municipal Engineer Oded Gvuli, recently approved the program for the site, in which the number of housing units planned will be increased to 16,000, instead of 12,000 under the original plan. The site will also include 335,000 sq.m. of industrial space, 90,000-135,000 sq.m. of commercial space, and 1,500-2,000 hotel rooms, making a total of 2.3 million sq.m. of built space. The smaller buildings will have 12-14 storeys, and the larger ones will have 30-40 storeys.

The site covers 1,454 dunam (363.5 acres), owned mostly by the state, while 17.1% is owned by private owners. The Arie Cohen architectural firm, selected in an architectural competition, will present a number of alternatives that fulfill the principles of the program, one of which will be accepted by the steering committee. According to Gili Tessler, the Tel Aviv district planner in the Israel Land Authority, who heads the committee's work team, the timetable for planning the site will be shortened by a year, with the selected alternative being brought to the Tel Aviv Planning and Building committee in the Tel Aviv municipality for approval, and then to the Tel Aviv District Planning Commission. "We decided to increase the number of housing units on the site in order to fulfill the government's policy of giving priority to residences over other uses," Tessler said. "The area will be very dense, but it will have large public spaces."

Last month, the state decided to transfer NIS 1 billion to the defense budget, in return for which the Ministry of Defense will bring forward the transfer of the military side of Sde Dov Airport forward to 2017, while the civilian part of the airport is scheduled for removal in 2018.

Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on September 4, 2014

© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2014