The Herzliya Local Planning and Building Commission this week decided to deposit for objections the new plan for the Arena shopping mall submitted by the Reality Fund, which owns the mall, sources inform "Globes.
The approved plan includes opening the mall to the surroundings, removal of the ceiling, and converting the building from a closed shopping mall to six open commercial streets, similar to the Mamilla mall in Jerusalem. The aim of the change is to make the mall accessible from the east, west, north, and south, without entering a building cut off from the surroundings, as is the case now.
The plan does not add construction space, and does not change the original zoning of the land. The Arena mall has been regarded as a money-loser for years, with few visitors, especially in mid-week. It has 45,000 square meters of built-up space, but its design is economically unviable. According to the existing construction, attractive space for commerce is taken up by systems and infrastructure and is used as service space, while the space used for commerce is located in inaccessible places.
Under the deposited plan, the location and amounts of service and commercial spaces will be changed to optimize the space and its accessibility to the public, without any change in the original zoning or currently permitted use for construction. Among other things, the Reality Fund is considering the construction of a conference hall to satisfy the need for an area in which tourism is increasing, offices in the form of shared workspaces, and an emphasis on family leisure.
The Reality Fund completed its acquisition of the Arena mall from Arena Group in early 2017 for NIS 335 million. The plan was designed by UK celebrity architect Norman Foster, who designed Hong Kong Airport, Qatar's international stadium, the Reichstag dome in Berlin, and the London municipality building.
Reality Fund managing partner Assaf Vardi said, "Up until now, the Arena mall has been a concrete block cut off from its surroundings. The plan we are about to carry out opens the mall to the surroundings and the public, and makes optimal use of its space. Only 65% of the space in the mall was zoned for commerce, and the tenants were charged huge management costs for service space. We are going to invest millions in the new plan. This is a money-losing deal, but we believe that it will alter the state of the Arena mall, the number of people visiting it, and eventually also prove economically worthwhile."
Herzliya Mayor Moshe Fadlon welcomed the decision, and said that he was glad about the new plan, which reflected the municipality's demands for tightening the connection between the city and the shore, multiple uses, connecting the parts of the promenade, and opening the city's marine horizon.
Published by Globes [online], Israel Business News - www.globes-online.com - on January 17, 2018
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