The first Grad missile that fell on Ashkelon scored a direct hit on the real estate sector. Deals that were about to be signed were stalled, and buyers who did agree to continue negotiations demanded 10% price reductions.
"Since the rockets began falling, a number of clients have called me, asking if they should move forward with deals," says Avigail Biton, a real estate appraiser in the South. "I told them, quite frankly, that now is not the time to invest. Why put their hard-earned money into something that is uncertain?"
There is a fundamental conflict between the real estate market - which symbolizes calm, stability and faith in an unruffled future - and war and shelling. The Second Lebanon War paralyzed the real estate market in Haifa and the North, and not surprisingly, the real estate market in the range of the Qassams and Grads has practically ground to a halt since the recent escalation of attacks from the Gaza Strip.
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Amnon Gelula, of Bayit Vegan Realty in Ashkelon, has had several important deals postponed. A group of investors from Britain, who wanted to buy land near the beach and build vacation apartments, decided at the last minute to keep their money in their wallets.
Friday, April 11, 2008
New IKEA store may open within months
The Rishon LeZion Municipality and the Ministry of Interior have agreed on a scaled-down plan for the store.
Representatives of the Rishon LeZion municipality and the Ministry of the Interior have reached agreement on a scaled down plan for a commercial zone in the Me’uyan Soreq lot. The plan, which must now go forward for review and approval by the Central Region District Planning and Building Commission, will not allow for the building of a commercial project by Gazit-Globe (TASE: GLOB), but it will allow IKEA Israel to open its second store.
Representatives of the Rishon LeZion municipality and the Ministry of the Interior have reached agreement on a scaled down plan for a commercial zone in the Me’uyan Soreq lot. The plan, which must now go forward for review and approval by the Central Region District Planning and Building Commission, will not allow for the building of a commercial project by Gazit-Globe (TASE: GLOB), but it will allow IKEA Israel to open its second store.
Discount Bank buys back Tel Aviv property
Israel Discount Bank has bought back half of a property at 16-18 Hashoeva Alley in Tel Aviv from MR Development and Investments Ltd. for NIS 21.7 million.
The bank sold the 2,600-square meter property in 2004 for NIS 14 million.
Discount Bank sold its share in the building because of the real estate crisis at the time under a sell and lease-back deal.
Anglo-Saxon Tel Aviv general manager Amos Glazer, who brokered the deal, said, "It is interesting that the bank sold its share in the property in 2004, and has now bought it back for 50% more than it received."
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The bank sold the 2,600-square meter property in 2004 for NIS 14 million.
Discount Bank sold its share in the building because of the real estate crisis at the time under a sell and lease-back deal.
Anglo-Saxon Tel Aviv general manager Amos Glazer, who brokered the deal, said, "It is interesting that the bank sold its share in the property in 2004, and has now bought it back for 50% more than it received."
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Excellence sees drop in foreign real estate investment
David Baruch: "Israel's real estate market will be hit by the US sub-prime crisis."
"A slowdown in Israel is a certainty and a sharp drop in foreign investment in both commercial and residential real estate is probable," predicts Excellence Investments CEO David Baruch. He made the comment during the annual conference of the Association of Contractors and Builders in Israel in Eilat on Friday. There were more than 950 participants at the event at the Princess Hotel.
Baruch added, "The sub-prime crisis has created capital distress at foreign banks, with the result that Israeli developers in international markets will find it difficult to obtain credit. The price of credit in Israel and overseas will go up."
"A slowdown in Israel is a certainty and a sharp drop in foreign investment in both commercial and residential real estate is probable," predicts Excellence Investments CEO David Baruch. He made the comment during the annual conference of the Association of Contractors and Builders in Israel in Eilat on Friday. There were more than 950 participants at the event at the Princess Hotel.
Baruch added, "The sub-prime crisis has created capital distress at foreign banks, with the result that Israeli developers in international markets will find it difficult to obtain credit. The price of credit in Israel and overseas will go up."
Tel Aviv's first hotel to be refurbished
The Tel Aviv Planning and Building Commission has approved four plans for new hotels with aim of adding 400 rooms in the city.
One project calls for refurbishing Tel Aviv's first hotel, the Elkonin Central Hotel, on Lilienblum Street, into a boutique hotel with 38 room. The Elkonin was built in 1913, and was once considered as having the city's most luxurious accommodations. The neglected and hazardous two-storey building is slated for preservation, with an extra floor in the same style to be added.
One project calls for refurbishing Tel Aviv's first hotel, the Elkonin Central Hotel, on Lilienblum Street, into a boutique hotel with 38 room. The Elkonin was built in 1913, and was once considered as having the city's most luxurious accommodations. The neglected and hazardous two-storey building is slated for preservation, with an extra floor in the same style to be added.
Building frenzy in Hod Hasharon
Hod Hasharon has gone on an unprecedented building frenzy in which it plans to build 3,000 new homes and increase its population by 10,000 people - or 20 percent - over the next five years, reports the Hebrew weekly Yediot Hasharon. But the "grandiose" plan is causing a great deal of controversy, with many residents fearing environmental damage, traffic nightmares and an end to the city's pastoral atmosphere.
According to the report, the plan is the most "revolutionary" to hit Hod Hasharon since it was declared a city 17 years ago. City planners have set two target dates: a five-year goal of increasing the population by 20%, and a 20-year goal during which time they aim to double the current population. Building work on hundreds of apartments has already begun in the western part of the city, and a new shopping mall and high-tech complex are currently going up in the Neveh Ne'eman area.
According to the report, the plan is the most "revolutionary" to hit Hod Hasharon since it was declared a city 17 years ago. City planners have set two target dates: a five-year goal of increasing the population by 20%, and a 20-year goal during which time they aim to double the current population. Building work on hundreds of apartments has already begun in the western part of the city, and a new shopping mall and high-tech complex are currently going up in the Neveh Ne'eman area.
Apartments to be built on college land
The Local Planning and Construction Committee has decided to allow 450 residential apartments to be built on land belonging to the Seminar Hakibbutzim teachers' training college on Derech Namir, reports Yediot Tel Aviv. But the committee rejected a suggestion to move the college to south Tel Aviv and create an additional 100 apartments on the entire plot of land.
According to the report, the college occupies only about 20 percent of its 50,000 square meters of land, and several years ago college managers agreed to allow the unoccupied land to be used for other purposes, on the condition that the builders would also tear down the rundown old college buildings and rebuild them. Now the committee has given its approval for three 27-storey residential towers, containing a total of 450 apartments, to be constructed on the site.
According to the report, the college occupies only about 20 percent of its 50,000 square meters of land, and several years ago college managers agreed to allow the unoccupied land to be used for other purposes, on the condition that the builders would also tear down the rundown old college buildings and rebuild them. Now the committee has given its approval for three 27-storey residential towers, containing a total of 450 apartments, to be constructed on the site.
Ra'anana will continue to expand
Ra'anana has presented its long-awaited "Vision for the year 2020," which plans to create an extra 4,000 apartments in the north and west of the city, reports local.co.il. But critics have been quick to attack the plan, which took two years to put together, cost NIS 176,000 and involved some 1,600 people.
According to the report, mayor Nahum Hofree presented the "vision" after it received council approval, saying the plan's main consideration was the pressing need for more housing in the city. The mayor said that 600 residential apartments would begin being built in 2009 on land currently occupied by Kfar Batya in the west of the city, and that the orchard recently planted on this land by the leaseholders would not stop the building project from going ahead. In addition, a further 3,500 residential units will be built in the north of the city, starting in the year 2010. As well as promising to find "housing solutions" for residents, the "vision" promises to upgrade road infrastructure and preserve a "clean and healthy" environment in the city.
According to the report, mayor Nahum Hofree presented the "vision" after it received council approval, saying the plan's main consideration was the pressing need for more housing in the city. The mayor said that 600 residential apartments would begin being built in 2009 on land currently occupied by Kfar Batya in the west of the city, and that the orchard recently planted on this land by the leaseholders would not stop the building project from going ahead. In addition, a further 3,500 residential units will be built in the north of the city, starting in the year 2010. As well as promising to find "housing solutions" for residents, the "vision" promises to upgrade road infrastructure and preserve a "clean and healthy" environment in the city.
Legal Ground: Little country, big on property
In tiny Israel, everything seems to be writ large. We have one of the highest numbers of symphony orchestras per capita, the greatest number of hi-tech start-ups in absolute terms and an effervescent property market.
In Israel's 21,000 square kilometers, between 100,000 and 120,000 homes change hands yearly. Most of the apartments that are bought are second-hand sales and about one-third are in newly constructed buildings.
Israeli building companies invest approximately NIS 36 billion in construction, two-thirds of which is in the residential market. In fact, the construction industry contributes over 12% of the gross national product and employs several hundred thousand workers. To grasp how big an industry it is (in Israeli terms) one needs merely to look at the number of professional and semi-professionals directly involved: between 5,000 and 8,000 real estate agents; approximately 8,000 architects and about 9,000 registered building contractors.
In Israel's 21,000 square kilometers, between 100,000 and 120,000 homes change hands yearly. Most of the apartments that are bought are second-hand sales and about one-third are in newly constructed buildings.
Israeli building companies invest approximately NIS 36 billion in construction, two-thirds of which is in the residential market. In fact, the construction industry contributes over 12% of the gross national product and employs several hundred thousand workers. To grasp how big an industry it is (in Israeli terms) one needs merely to look at the number of professional and semi-professionals directly involved: between 5,000 and 8,000 real estate agents; approximately 8,000 architects and about 9,000 registered building contractors.
Azorim to build in prestige Houston neighborhood
Shaya Boymelgreen's Azorim Investment, Development and Construction (TASE: AZRM) has shifted its focus to the prestigious Memorial neighborhood in Houston, Texas, and is going green.
Eighteen months ago, the group sold for $57.5 million land it bought four months previously for $34 million, slated for the Galleria Mall project in Uptown Houston, planned to be a $550 million residential and commercial project. It is now about to construct a prestigious residential project comprising two towers, at an investment of $200 million, in Memorial, and to build in accordance with the standards of the US Green Building Council.
The two towers will each be 28 floors high, and the project will include an 1,800 sq. m. spa. The project will be constructed on 5.25 acres of land that Azorim bought for $22 million in December 2006. Apartment prices in the new project are expected to start at $1 million.
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Eighteen months ago, the group sold for $57.5 million land it bought four months previously for $34 million, slated for the Galleria Mall project in Uptown Houston, planned to be a $550 million residential and commercial project. It is now about to construct a prestigious residential project comprising two towers, at an investment of $200 million, in Memorial, and to build in accordance with the standards of the US Green Building Council.
The two towers will each be 28 floors high, and the project will include an 1,800 sq. m. spa. The project will be constructed on 5.25 acres of land that Azorim bought for $22 million in December 2006. Apartment prices in the new project are expected to start at $1 million.
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