18 months after the plan was approved for deposit, the District Planning and Building Commission in the Tel Aviv Planning Administration has decided to validate the plan for a business and commercial tower at Elite Junction in Ramat Gan. The plan involves a 14-dunam (3.5-acre) site bordered on the north by Jabotinsky Street, on the south by Arlosorov Street, and on the west by Elite Junction. A 45-storey business and commercial tower is planned.
The plan, designed by architect Yoav Oman from the Tito Oman Architects firm, includes 33,000 square meters of business space, 3,000 square meters of commercial space, and 1,000 square meters of public space.
The developers of the plan were Elite Gan and Elite Top, two companies owned by a group of diamond traders who were behind the plan. The plan also includes a passageway for pedestrians connecting the business tower with a nearby residential tower on Arlosorov Street.
The plan eliminates a planned underground tunnel for vehicles under the historic building of the Elite factory, which is designated for preservation. The aim is to avoid damage to the building, which is of historical and architectural importance in the development of the city. Instead of the tunnel, the plan proposes an alternative entrance from Jabotinsky Street by way of Hagilad Street.
In its decision, the District Planning and Building Commission stated, "Canceling the tunnels contributes to the creation of bustling city streets that encourage traffic of pedestrians and bicycle riders, who are preferable to lowered streets serving only vehicles that contribute nothing to the quality of public space and all of its users, and in most cases create dark spaces."
The commission added, "The plan is a proper one that offers additional construction rights for business without additional parking spaces on a site within the Ramat Gan Diamond Exchange compound in accordance with the district outline plan set for this area as the most important business center in metropolitan Tel Aviv, bordered by a mass transit route and only a few meters from the Tel Aviv light railway station now under construction.
"The plan comes on top of a series of nearby plans on Jabotinsky Street in accordance with the plan reflected in the district outline plan, which encourages concentrations of large-scale business and commercial space along the city's main traffic artery, through which the city's Red light railway line is planned to run. The plan is also an additional part of the plan for business space in the Ramat Gan Diamond Exchange, together with other plans in the planning stages that will increase the supply of offices in the area.
The planned office tower is close to a 60-storey residential tower slated for later construction, the land for which is owned by Azorim Investment, Development and Construction Ltd. (TASE: AZRM). Azorim bought the land together with a group of private diamond traders from US company Crescent Heights, controlled by Sonny Kahn, for $80 million. The plan has undergone a number of changes since then.
Published by Globes [online], Israel Business News - www.globes-online.com - on January 14, 2018
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