Tel Aviv Municipality this morning published an ad to sell its 73% share in the Kikar Atarim underground car park for a minimum price NIS 184.5 million in a public auction. This marks another stage in moving ahead with construction of the Kikar Atarim seafront project above the car park.
The latest sale of the car park comes after in August 2020 the Supreme Court canceled the original sale of the car park to JTLV, the partner promoting the high-rise buildings in Kikar Atarim. JTLV, controlled by Amir Biram and Yakov Shalom Fisher, bought the minority stake in the car park from hotelier David Schiff in 2017. In July 2017, the Tel Aviv-Yafo Council approved arrangements for JLTV to buy the municipality's majority share for NIS 150,000.
Businessman Sefi Tzvieli appealed to the Tel Aviv District Court against this sale insisting that the car park could only be sold through a public auction process as stipulated in tenders law - a claim eventually accepted by the Supreme Court.
Sources close to the matter have told "Globes" that the sale of the car park won't influence the progress of the overall Kikar Atarim project which is in its advanced stages. In the event that JTLV wins the auction, it will add a partner.
Last November, the Tel Aviv Local Planning and Building Committee 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. 50% of the high-rise towers will be for apartments and 50% for hotels.
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on May 11, 2021
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