Azrieli Group Ltd. (TASE: AZRG) announced this morning the start of work and marketing of the Azrieli Center's fourth tower. Located on the former site of the Yediot Ahronot building, to the north of the existing three Azrieli towers, the spiral tower will have 91-floors and will be Israel's tallest building when completed.
The project will cost NIS 2.5 billion and contain 150,000 square meters of commercial, office and residential space - as much as the other three Azrieli towers put together. The iconic square, circular and triangular towers, which were completed between 1998 and 2007, each have 50-floors and 50,000 square meters of commercial and office space.
Unlike the other three towers, the 'spiral' tower will have residential apartments - totaling 27,000 square meters as well as 65,000 square meters of office space, 15,000 square meters for a hotel, 15,000 square meters of commercial space and 1,150 underground parking spaces.
At ground level, 13,000 square meters of space will be built to connect the 'spiral' tower to the other three Azrieli towers. The main entrance to the light railway station on Begin Street will be through the new expanded mall, which Azrieli estimates will bring foot traffic of over 100,000 people daily.
At the top of the 'spiral' tower will be a garden and chef restaurant.
Azrieli Group chairperson Danna Azrieli said, "In 1998, we opened the Azrieli Center, which included a shopping mall and offices and changed the location of Tel Aviv's business district. When we built the Azrieli Center they thought we were crazy because we didn't even have any leases signed with tenants, and we undertook it with the absolute understanding that Israel's business sector was growing so that there would be a place for the project. After a decade in 2008, it was completed and became a symbol of Tel Aviv. Ten years after that we launched the Azrieli Sarona Tower, which is 265 meters high, and the spiral tower will be 350 meters high."
She added, "The architecture of the spiral tower is a reflection of the boldness and creativity that embody the Azrieli Group, which redefines Tel Aviv's skyline with each new project. The exceptional financial investment in the project constitutes yet another testament to our great confidence in the Israeli economy and its growth, and a continuation of the strategy that has lead us in building the country for over three decades."
The project has been designed by US architects Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates ( KPF ), which has designed five of the world's ten tallest skyscrapers, in collaboration with Israel's Moshe Tzur Architects & Town Planners Ltd.
The tower's design takes inspiration from the twists of a snail's shell, and also symbolizes ancient biblical scrolls and the way they unfurl upwards. The building will be completed within six to seven years.
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on December 19, 2018
© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2018