The Haifa municipality is formulating an Urban Building Plan (UBP) for the construction of ten new hotels, with 1,500 rooms altogether, in the city. Three of the hotels will be built in the city's historic German Colony: one each by Nitsba Holdings Ltd. (TASE: NTBA), Morovati Properties Ltd., while the Israel Land Administration (ILA) will hold a tender to pick the developer for the third in a few days.
The Ministry of Tourism declared Haifa a tourist development area 'A' 18 months ago, and it will remain so until 2011. Central Bureau of Statistics data show an increase in tourism in the city during 200, with the number of tourist and Israeli overnights rising from 140,000 in 2006 to 160,000 in 2007.
Nitsba plans to build a 200-room luxury hotel at an investment of $45-60 million on the site of the city's old central bus station. The Haifa Regional Planning and Building Commission is due to approve the plan in an expedited process. Morovati Properties, owned by Israeli developer who resides abroad Haim Morovati, plans to build a 40-room hotel at an investment of NIS 15 million, renovating an old building slated for preservation.
The third hotel in the German Colony will be built on a site currently used as a parking lot, owned by the ILA near the Bahai Gardens. The Haifa Regional Planning Commission approved the plan for a 200-room hotel, costing $45-60 million, last week.
Haifa Mayor Yona Yahav noted that the municipality was in talks with private developers to convert the unfinished seafront casino in Bat Galim into a boutique hotel. "When the 1,500 hotel rooms included in the new UBP are added, the city will have 3,000 rooms," he added.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on August 10, 2008
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