Over 4,000 Apartments: Urban Renewal Blitz Projects

A wave of urban renewal projects continues to gain momentum: District Planning and Building Committees have in recent days advanced a series of projects in Kiryat Gat, Kiryat Motzkin, Haifa, and Ramat Gan, including a total of more than 4,000 new housing units. Alongside the addition of housing, the plans include commercial and employment areas, public buildings, schools, assisted living, a hotel, a conference center, parks, and green corridors, and in one of them, a dedicated mechanism for ensuring the maintenance of residential towers over the years was established for the first time in Gush Dan.

In the Southern District, the District Planning and Building Committee, chaired by Adv. Oded Plus, decided to deposit the plan for the "Kiryat Gat CBD - PZ Complex," defined as a key urban renewal plan in the city's old central business district, while preserving historical heritage values through building conservation. The plan, submitted by the Ministry of Construction and Housing and prepared by Nir Chen Architects, spans approximately 228 dunams in the city center, near the train station and between HaAtzmaut, Lachish, HaRimon, and HaGefen streets. Currently, the complex includes municipal offices, 63 housing units, a central bus station, commercial and employment areas, and public buildings. As part of the plan, evacuation-construction (pinui-binui) procedures, demolition and reconstruction, addition of building rights, and mixed-use development will be carried out. In total, about 1,130 housing units are planned in a diverse construction style, combining fabric construction with towers of up to 25 floors. In addition, the plan includes dormitories and assisted living, about 150,000 sqm of employment areas, and about 31,000 sqm of commercial areas.

In the north, the Haifa District Planning and Building Committee decided to deposit an urban renewal plan for the HaHashmonaim complex in Kiryat Motzkin. The plan, initiated by the Kiryat Motzkin Municipality and the Dar Noforim company, spans an area of about 29 dunams between the railway tracks and HaHashmonaim Street, south of Hai Park and the theater hall. The plan includes the evacuation of 7 residential buildings of 4-8 floors containing 192 housing units, and in their place, 953 new housing units will be built in 4 towers of up to 41 floors above commercial and employment floors. In addition, the plan includes about 5 dunams of open public space, about 3.6 dunams for the construction of a school, a public promenade along the railway tracks, and 3 underground parking floors.

In Haifa itself, two additional plans were approved for validation. The first is the urban renewal plan for Complex 11 in the Kiryat Eliezer neighborhood, spanning about 24 dunams between Allenby Road and IDF Street. As part of the plan, submitted by the Haifa Local Committee in collaboration with Almogim Itchadshut, 7 residential buildings containing 160 housing units and an existing public building will be demolished, and in their place, 667 new housing units will be built in 4 residential towers of 20 to 32 floors and a 10-story fabric building. More than 160 of the apartments will be small apartments. In addition, the plan includes commercial and employment areas, about 5.7 dunams for public buildings and institutions, about 4.5 dunams of open public spaces, an internal network of pedestrian paths, alongside provisions for the preservation of the historic "Beit HaHistadrut" building. Another plan approved in Haifa deals with the renewal of the Grand Canyon complex. It includes the construction of 300 new housing units, alongside public, commercial, employment, hotel, and conference center areas. According to the plan, the existing gas station will be evacuated and replaced by a residential tower above a commercial and public floor. In addition, 4 floors will be built above the mall to be used for a hotel and a conference center, and cultural and leisure areas open to the public will be developed on the roof of the mall. The plan also includes upgrading the underground pedestrian crossing on Simcha Golan Street, improving access to Nahal HaGiborim, and expanding open public spaces.

In the center of the country, two significant plans were also advanced. The Tel Aviv District Planning and Building Committee approved two urban renewal plans in the Nachlat Ganim and HaGefen neighborhoods in Ramat Gan, including a total of 922 new housing units, alongside public areas, commercial fronts, green corridors, and improvement of the urban space. The first plan, in the complex of Abba Hillel, Rashi, and Arania streets, spans an area of 9.6 dunams, initiated by Africa Israel Itchadshut and Avgad. As part of it, 14 residential buildings of 3 floors containing 161 housing units will be demolished, and in their place, 522 housing units will be built in two 48-story towers. Out of all the apartments, 56 micro-units of up to 45 sqm, 116 small apartments of up to 75 sqm, and small residential units will be allocated. The plan also includes about 2.3 dunams of public areas, a neighborhood garden, a public building that will combine educational, welfare, community, and cultural uses, and a commercial front along Abba Hillel Road. The plan also includes a new mechanism of a long-term maintenance fund, intended to ensure the maintenance of the towers over the years by linking the addition of building rights of two floors and 20 additional housing units to the establishment of the fund. According to the committee, this is the first mechanism of its kind in Gush Dan. The plan was prepared by Zeit Lev Architects. The second plan, in the Sokolov-HaSavion complex, spans an area of about 7 dunams, initiated by the Aviv Group, Tzarfati Tzvi, and the Ramat Gan Local Committee. As part of it, 7 residential buildings containing 84 housing units will be demolished, and in their place, 400 housing units will be built in three residential towers - two of 38 floors and one of 20 floors. About 160 of the apartments will be small apartments of 50-70 sqm, and small residential units will also be integrated. The plan includes built public areas, a commercial front, a new open public space connecting Jabotinsky Street to the public area on HaPodim Street and an adjacent public lot, as well as a new street that will connect HaLapid Street to Sokolov Street. The plan was prepared by Ran Blender Architecture and Construction.