Globes, Israel
May 1 2005
Jerusalem Planning C’ttee approves three downtown plans
The land, zoned for residential, hotel, office, and commercial
construction, is privately owned.
Gal Nissim and Ron Paz
The Jerusalem Local Planning and Building Committee has approved for
deposit three urban building plans with a total of 150,000 sq.m. in
the city center. Three sites are involved: an Armenian site bordered
by Jaffa Street, Independence Park, Shlomo Hamelech Street, and the
Feingold courtyard; a site bordered by Jaffa Street, King George
Street, and Hillel Street; and the Havatzelet site, bordered by HaRav
Kook Street, Jaffa Street, Helena Hamalka Street, and Monbaz Street.
Most of the land is privately owned. The goal of these plans is to
remove planning obstacles and encourage private construction
initiative in the town center. The land has not been changed for
decades. A company named Eden, which is promoting the project, has
decided to emphasize approval of the statutory availability.
In order to smooth planning processes, it was decided by refrain from
consolidation and dividing, and to facilitate planning flexibility in
the use of the land for residential, office, hotel, and commercial
construction. Eden will also invest NIS 400 million in developing
public space, together with its private investment.
As part of Eden’s efforts and investment in rejuvenating the city
center, it was decided to invest resources in encouraging private
initiative, which is one of the main anchors in renewed construction
in the city center.