Tel Aviv Port
Bustling Nightlife
Photo: Michael Kramer
Tel Aviv Port to be expanded
Atarim project development company to rent port's neglected warehouse area for NIS 35 million. Apartment buildings, restaurants and pubs to be built on territory
The month of June will see all fences and walls at the Tel Aviv Port removed, making the entire compound one unit from north to south, in what is expected to mark the end of one of the biggest and most complicated real estate deals in the city of Tel Aviv.
Atarim, which operates large parts of the port, as well as Tel Aviv's beaches, is owned by the government and the Tel Aviv Municipality. The company will purchase the area from the Tel Aviv Development Company, which is jointly owned by the Jewish National Fund and the Jewish Agency, and will thus merge the company into it.
As part of the deal, the neglected warehouse area of the port's old exhibition grounds – located around the mythological Montana ice cream place – will be purchased by the Atarim company and turned into a compound of apartment buildings, restaurants, pubs and clubs, as a natural continuing of the port's bustling area.
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At the first stage, Atarim will pay some NIS 35 million (about $8.4 million). The rest of the amount will be determined and paid only after seven to 13 years, according to an actuarial assessment conducted after the city construction plan is completed.
Atarim officials explained that in order for the deal to be fair for both sides it was decided, following a demand by the JNF and Jewish Agency, to determine its price in accordance with the completion of the city construction plan: If the plan designates the place for hotels and large commercial centers, which will greatly increase the land's value, the price for completing the deal will be as high.
In addition to the initial payment, Atarim will invest NIS 30 million ($7.1 million) in the construction works at the compound.
'No towers in the port'
"We have already begun the infrastructure work, and within a year and a half the compound's warehouses and hangars will be merged into the port's nightlife with new restaurants, pubs and clubs," said Atarim CEO Itamar Shimon.
Tel Aviv Municipality Director-General Menachem Leiba confirmed that the deal was about to be finalized. "Up to now, the area of the Montana ice cream place has been neglected, in spite of its huge potential," he said.
"We've reached agreements with all parties that the Atarim company will buy the neglected port areas and the development plan will be launched. We commit to one thing: There will be no towers in the port." The number of apartments slated to be built has yet to be determined.
The Tel Aviv Port is currently split between three companies: Atarim, which is owned in equal shares by the municipality and the State; the Tel Aviv Development Company, 92% of whose shared are jointly owned by the Jewish Agency and JNF, and 8% by private shareholders; and the Marine Trust Ltd., which is owned by the State (84%), private shareholders (15%) and the Tel Aviv Municipality (1%).
The parties are negotiating uniting the three parts of the port, after first attempts to do so in the 1970s failed. The first step will be launched in June.
Yedioth Ahronoth has learned that the program includes plans to close the historic Montana ice cream place, which is about to celebrate its 50th anniversary this year, in exchange for a pecuniary compensation agreed upon with its owners.
Yehoshua Lichtenstein built the place in January 1960 together with several partners, and still visits the ice cream shop every day. He was extremely surprised by the news.
"Evacuate us? I haven't heard about it. No one spoke to me," he said. "They have tried to confiscate the area from me 20 times and have failed. I've overcome Auschwitz, I have five children and 15 grandchildren and the spirit of an 18-year-old. I won't let them evacuate me."
The Tel Aviv Development Company does not approve of the deal. Company officials say it was finalized between the Jewish Agency, the JNF and Atarim without informing them.
The agency said in response that the Jewish Agency, along with the JNF, is currently holding negotiations aimed at advancing the sale of the Tel Aviv Development Company to Atarim.
