After the Israeli government signed eight umbrella agreements with the cities of Rosh HaAyin, Modi'in-Maccabim-Reut, Kiryat Gat, Kiryat Bialik, Ramla, Rishon Lezion, Beer Sheva, and Ashkelon, the ninth agreement with Herzliya is slated for signing on Tuesday by the Ministry of Finance, Israel Land Authority (ILA), and the Ministry of Construction and Housing.
The agreement with Herzliya is designed to allow marketing of 8,000 housing units. It appears that all of the housing units will be part of the buyer fixed price plan. The agreement involves three sites in the city: Galil Yam, Apolonia, and Kiryat Hashchakim. The first marketing for a tender expected to get under way is in Galil Yam for 1,700-2,700 new housing units under the buyer fixed plan.
In the framework of the roof agreement, it was also decided to include rental construction on some of the sites. The state will finance construction of two huge traffic interchanges: Apolonia Interchange, at an estimated cost of NIS 300 million, and Harav Mecher Interchange, at an estimated cost of NIS 410 million. The agreement also provides for the marketing of 250,000 sq.m. in additional commercial and business space in the city.
The agreement between Herzliya and the state was scheduled for signing a long time ago, but the Herzliya municipality, ILA, and the Ministry of Finance had difficulty reaching agreement on all issues. Now that an agreement has been formulated and the agreement has been brought before the Herzliya City Council, the road to signing the agreement is clear.
The agreement says the state will finance infrastructure and undertake to provide money for new neighborhoods. The aim is to avoid both having the new neighborhoods constructed before the infrastructure is ready and having construction being prolonged because of delays in development work. For its part, the municipality is undertaking to promote the plans and grant building permits within three months.
The plan began during the previous government's term, led by then-ILA director general Bentzi Lieberman and then-Minister of Finance Yair Lapid and then-Minister of Construction and Housing Uri Ariel. The current government decided to go ahead with the plan.
The 2014-2015 target for umbrella agreements is 100,000 housing units. At its most recent meeting two weeks ago, the housing cabinet, headed by Minister of Finance Moshe Kahlon, approved a new target of 75,000 housing units for 2016-2017. In many cases, this involves plans that have made no progress. The aim in the roof agreements is to push ahead with them in an expedited procedure with a commitment by the municipalities with which the roof agreements are signed to grant permits and put aside objections.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on January 17, 2016
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