Urban renewal is making progress on La Guardia Street in Tel Aviv in the Yad Eliyahu neighborhood. The Tel Aviv Local Planning and Building Commission in the city has approved for deposit an urban renewal plan for demolishing 114 old apartments in three-storey buildings and replacing them with 420 new apartments. The Tel Aviv municipality initiated the plan through the Ezra Uvizzaron municipal company. The architect for the project is Gil Shenhav from the Canaan Shenhav Architects firm.
The buildings to be replaced are those at 35-45 La Guardia Street (odd-numbered addresses only). The project includes 7.5-storey buildings above a commercial floor facing La Guardia Street, 5.5-storey buildings facing Wingate Street, and a 15-storey residential tower on the corner of Yigal Allon Street.
Under the plan in question, the project will include a capital fund for maintenance of the buildings. The developer chosen for building the project will undertake to establish the fund and put money into it for 10 years. The fund is designed to pay for the expenses of maintaining the new buildings and subsidizing the cost for owners of the old apartments currently living on the site.
Ezra Uvizzaron VP urban renewal Naama Ben Zeev said, "The plan is being promoted together with the residents. The administration we are operating has been working on the site for three years already. The model we are using is planning with the residents. Now that the plan has been deposited, there is already extensive support from 72% of the apartment owners. The next step is a tender to select the developer and contractor, whom the residents will choose. The idea is t hat now hat the plan has already begun to circulate, the rights will be clearer and so will the bids by contractors, because there is more certainty." Ben Zeev added that where the capital fund was concerned, it was a measure meant to accompany projects in Tel Aviv and that it had been decided in this case that anyone living in an old apartment in the area would be entitled to a subsidy from the fund.
Shenhav said, "I think approval of this plan is very important. The plan is a pioneer in urban renewal in southern and eastern Tel Aviv. It is good news for southern Tel Aviv, which is starving for renewal and development and improving the residents' lives, while at the same time upgrading the public space. What is special about the plan is that although it increases the number of housing units, it preserves the urban fabric of the Yad Eliyahu neighborhood, the green spaces between the buildings, and connectivity for pedestrians and bicycle riders. It adds space for public institutions and creates a good urban street on La Guardia Street."
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on August 1, 2018
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