At 800 meters above sea level, Arnona’s selling points are its topography, rural ambience and location.
By JOHN BENZAQUENBuildings in Arnona are limited to six floors.(photo credit: ADI BENZAKEN)
Demand for real estate in the southern neighborhoods of Jerusalem, especially in Arnona, is robust – and it may become more so if immigration from Western Europe increases, because Arnona is a favorite location among newcomers from there and from North America.Situated between the neighborhoods of Talpiot and Ramat Rahel, Arnona has a rural ambience despite being in a bustling urban area. It is a family-oriented community with religious, traditional and secular families. It is also a modern area, catering to those who would love to live in the nearby Baka neighborhood but cannot afford the hefty real-estate prices. Many of the new immigrants from France and other Western European countries who are seeking a haven from rising anti-Semitism are purchasing in the area because they can get more for their money.This is especially true for the area called “Arnona Hatze’ira” (Young Arnona), a complex of residential buildings constructed about 15 years ago. These were built to high standards, with elevators, private parking and terraces. Many of these properties are now being resold, and real-estate agents report high demand for them.“There is a marked increase in the number of foreign buyers, primarily families from continental Europe, who are acquiring properties in Arnona,” Orli Raz, the Arnona agent at RE/MAX Vision, tells In Jerusalem. “They are impressed because of the proximity to Baka, the pastoral, green surroundings, and the prices, which are up to 20% less than in neighboring Baka. An average three-room apartment can cost NIS 1.5 million, while a duplex semidetached dwelling on average can cost NIS 3 million.”Of course, the increased demand is driving prices up. Prices are creeping up in Jerusalem as a whole, but in Arnona they are creeping slightly more.Arnona is a true suburban neighborhood, with houses of diverse styles and sizes. Many of the apartment buildings are designed to allow many apartments private entrances, while others have taken advantage of the hilly country to create terraced apartments. A number of new projects have gone up in the area, and more are being built all the time, because the farmlands of Kibbutz Ramat Rahel have been rezoned as urban residential land – making for a large reserve of space that developers are using for new residential building projects.Though quiet and pastoral, Arnona is still within walking distance of the commercial and leisure areas of Baka, the Greek and German colonies, and Old Katamon.For those with a religious orientation, it is also within reasonable walking distance of the Western Wall and the ancient synagogues of the Old City.When it was founded in the 1920s, Arnona, like Ramat Rahel, was planned as an agricultural settlement in the Jerusalem hinterland. In the late ’20s and early ’30s, the Yishuv in Mandate Palestine was busy planning new neighborhoods in Jerusalem itself, such as Rehavia, and agriculturally oriented neighborhoods where residents would make a living by growing food and raising livestock to sell in Jerusalem. Renowned German city planner Richard Kaufmann planned most of these areas, based on the Bauhaus architectural principle of clean lines. The dwellings boasted large windows that offered lots of light and a free flow of air, together with plenty of greenery.Also like Ramat Rahel, Arnona was something of an isolated border outpost at the time. Consequently, during the War of Independence, Arnona was on the front lines. In May 1948, it came under attack from strong Egyptian, Jordanian and local Palestinian forces, and the Hagana troops retreated from the area, which the enemy temporarily occupied. Some time later, a combined Hagana-Palmah force retook the area. The 1949 ceasefire agreement with Jordan placed the cease-fire line at the eastern border of Arnona. With the outcome of the Six Day War in 1967, Arnona was no longer an isolated border outpost, but part of the urban boundaries of Jerusalem.Until the 1990s, the neighborhood remained undeveloped.All this changed in 1993, when the municipality decided to upgrade the area. This led to a virtual spree of building activity and a rise in prices. Arnona was converted into a popular midscale neighborhood, though it retained its rural nature because the municipality put a cap of six on the number of floors allowed in the area’s buildings.As such, one of the major selling points of the neighborhood is its topography. At 800 meters above sea level, it is one of the highest points in Jerusalem. On clear days, one can see as far as the Dead Sea and the hills of Jordan to the east, Bethlehem and the Judean Desert to the southeast. There’s biblical country in every direction – including the Arnon River, which gave the neighborhood its name.
