The Tel Aviv Local Planning and Building Committee has approved the new plan for Kikar Atarim. The plan for the reconstruction of the central seafront location at the western end of David Ben Gurion Boulevard above Tel Aviv marina has been hotly disputed in recent years.
The new scaled-down plan includes two 25-floor high rise buildings on each side of steps leading down to the sea and a 6.5-floor public building. The current square will be demolished and restored to street level to the west of Herbert Samuel Street. There will also be underground parking. 50% of the high-rise towers will be for apartments and 50% for hotels.
There are few changes to the plan, which was presented to the public in June. The committee supported the plan with only Deputy Mayor Meital Lehavi voting against.
The original plan for the square first presented 10 years ago involved the construction of four towers - two 31-floor high rises and two 26-floor high-rises. But the scale of the plan generated major opposition and after years of protests and court petitions, the building plans were eventually reduced.
The new more modest plans are nevertheless still objected to by the "No to Towers in Kikar Atarim" organization, which claims that the plan presented today did not have a transport and environmental report attached. The organization added that rezoning public space to private space requires organized planning procedures and that there is no economic professional opinion on the impact of the project on the environment.
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on November 4, 2020
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