Kikar Atarim plan set for final approval

The Kikar Atarim plan on the Tel Aviv waterfront, which aims to enhance one of the city’s most famous sites, is set to be approved for filing this week by the Tel Aviv Local Planning and Building Committee, after a grueling planning process lasting nearly 15 years.

The plan proposes demolishing the current buildings in the square and replacing them with three 25-story towers containing 300 hotel rooms and 220 apartments.

Over the years, there have been many controversies over the size of the plan, delaying its approval. The agenda of the committee’s previous meetings shows that it responded to most of the objections, although as a committee it was unable to provide a solution to the various legal disputes that remain, mainly related to the ownership of the Kikar Atarim parking lot.

Many of the objections argued that the specific assessments of various uses in the plan were inaccurate. In response, the municipality reported that the Schedule of Allotments (which cedes rights to owners) “was amended at the time of its filing by the plan valuer and incorporated the results of the theoretical review conducted by the consulting valuer. The valuation package was conducted on the basis of the market study conducted by the plan valuer and is acceptable and within reasonable limits.”

There was another notable objection to the plan by the Carlton Hotel, located on the northern border of Kikar Atarim, but it was not included in the project. The owner, AMS Tourism and Real Estate, claimed that “the plan caused significant and disproportionate damage to the hotel in a way that raises questions about its continued operation.” The owners of the Carlton Hotel added that construction work on the square was expected to reduce its cost. Its value is tens of millions of shekels. In its response, the municipality stated, among other things, that “upon completion of the works, the Carlton Hotel will be located in one of the main landmarks on the city center’s waterfront, which will undoubtedly benefit it.”

The change that the municipality accepted after hearing the objections was to reduce the building area of ​​the project. The “No to Towers” association claimed that the plan contradicts the principles of Kikar Atarim’s policy document on the height of floors and roofs (the area of ​​each floor), and the municipality said this was a clerical error. After its amendment, building rights were reduced by 4,000 square meters (half in hotel areas and half in residential areas) and the area of ​​each floor was reduced from 1,400 square meters to 1,250 square meters. Another major claim concerns the loss of public areas in the square, but the municipality insists that the new plan includes larger public areas in the square than currently exist.

In its response to the objections, the municipality acknowledged the current Atarim Square, which was built in the 1970s, saying, “There are those who define Atarim Square as a symbol of an ambitious urban project that has failed, that does not contribute to the space but rather harms and harms it.” It has stood for years as a fixed stone, and is an impressive architectural experiment, which has influenced the city and its surroundings in such a way as to not justify its continued preservation.

Published by Globes, Israel Business News – en.globes.co.il – on November 12, 2024.

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