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Tzur Hadassah is one of the larger communities in the Jerusalem Corridor.

By JOHN BENZAQUEN
tzur hadassah 521 (photo credit: Nadlan-Top)
tzur hadassah 521
(photo credit: Nadlan-Top)
Jerusalem, the country’s largest urban entity, has a sizable population, but its geographical boundaries are somewhat limited. It is also a very expensive city from a real-estate perspective, which means that not all those who would like to live there can afford to do so.
Consequently, during the past two to three decades, many Jerusalemites have moved to satellite cities such as Beit Shemesh and Ma’aleh Adumim.
Many of the residents of these towns work in Jerusalem, but cannot afford the real-estate prices in the capital. Still, they have essentially exchanged one urban environment for another.
This is not the case in a number of what are known as communal settlements, which offer residents country-style residences at prices the middle classes can afford.
In this column, we will look at the communal settlement of Tzur Hadassah.
In the capital, a single-family home with a 500- square-meter plot – which in this country is considered a “large garden” – goes for millions of US dollars; in Tzur Hadassah, the price is in the millions of shekels. So while it’s mostly millionaires who own such homes in Jerusalem, in Tzur Hadassah being merely affluent is more than enough.
Tzur Hadassah, which means “the rock of Hadassah,” is nestled in the Judean Hills some 12 kilometers to the southwest of the city. Although it has a population of over 8,000, it is still part of the Mateh Yehuda Regional Council.
The settlement started life in 1960 as a sort of commercial and service center for the moshavim in the area – Mevo Betar, Ness Harim, Mata and Bar-Giora. It was named after the Hadassah organization because of its proximity to the hospital in Ein Kerem. In subsequent years, it grew constantly, and today it is one of the most populous communities in the so-called Jerusalem Corridor.
For real-estate purposes, the settlement is divided into three areas: Hayishuv Havatik (the veteran community), Mount Kitron and Emek.
While many of the dwellings in these neighborhoods are single-family homes or semidetached houses, there is a not-insignificant number of apartment buildings, which were built in the late ’60s when the Construction and Housing Ministry started promoting homes in Tzur Hadassah.
Furthermore, last year the Israel Lands Authority sold land for the explicit purpose of constructing 1,500 apartment buildings with three, four and five stories. This means that Tzur Hadassah will have approximately 13,000 inhabitants, 40% of whom will live in apartment buildings when the project is completed in five years.
Assaf Aviv is the general manager of the M. Aviv Construction and Development company, which has built single-family and semidetached houses in Tzur Hadassah and is building some 90 apartments in fivestory buildings.
“Tzur Hadassah has many attractions,” he tells In Jerusalem. “It is practically a green suburb of Jerusalem, and it attracts professionals such as the staff at the Hadassah Medical Center [in Ein Kerem], teaching staff at the Hebrew University, high-ranking government civil servants, etc. It has an excellent education system and it is very near the Beit Shemesh railway station, which means it has easy mass public transportation to most of the leading employment centers in Israel. In our opinion, Tzur Hadassah is a winner.”
A committee of volunteers administers the settlement, because it is part of the Mateh Yehuda Regional Council. Committee chairman Benny Granit is upbeat about his settlement.
“Tzur Hadassah is a very pleasant place to live,” he says. “It is uncrowded, [it has] lovely views and pure, cool, dry mountain air. Since we have 8,000 inhabitants, we have most basic services. And we will soon have our own country club. In the near future, we will have over 10,000 inhabitants, and this will entitle us to have our own municipal council.”
And how do the settlement’s central location and healthy climate affect the real-estate there? According to Ofer Lavian, the proprietor and general manager of Nadlan-Top, Tzur Hadassah is much in demand, and the real estate sector reflects this.
“Demand is influenced by the current downturn in the real-estate market in Israel as a whole, but it is much less marked than in other places – Jerusalem, among others,” he says.
In this context, the Vatik neighborhood is greatly in demand relative to other areas of Tzur Hadassah. The oldest neighborhood in the settlement, it has small two- or three-room apartments built in the ’60s, measuring 60 sq.m. to 70 sq.m.
Demand for these dwellings is high among investors, who buy these small apartments and rent them out to medical students at Hadassah University Medical Center, among other tenants.
The first residents of the settlement could buy relatively small apartments, but they could also buy modest single-family houses with large plots of land, some as big as 2,500 sq.m.
Such large plots are unusual in this country, and when they come into the market, they sell quickly at prices of over NIS 3 million. The buyers usually tear down the old houses and build something new according to their needs. Currently new developments of semidetached dwellings have plots of 350 sq.m. The same holds true for new single-family homes.
Lavian notes that the area has a well-developed rental market.
“Some 400 dwellings have an extra residential unit with a separate entrance that is rented out,” he says.
“Furthermore, many Foreign Ministry staff have bought residences in Tzur Hadassah, and when they are posted overseas, these dwellings are rented out.”
Today, the most expensive real estate is in the part of the Vatik neighborhood called Shechunat Hamea. It is here that single-family homes fetch well over NIS 3m.
On average, a semidetached dwelling in the settlement costs NIS 2m. A three-room apartment costs just over NIS 1m., and an average four-room apartment costs NIS 1.2m., while a large garden apartment with a relatively large garden can cost from NIS 1.4m. to NIS 1.5m.
Recent transactions in Tzur Hadassah
• A large single-family house with a total built-up area of 350 sq.m., including a separate 110-sq.m. unit and a separate studio unit of 20 sq.m., on a 520-sq.m. plot of land sold for NIS 3 million.
• A single-family dwelling with a 220-sq.m. built up area on a 520-sq.m. plot with magnificent mountain views sold for NIS 2.25m.
• A semidetached, 210-sq.m. dwelling on a 350- sq.m. plot sold for NIS 1.8m.
• A five-room, 120-sq.m. garden apartment with a 230-sq.m. garden sold for NIS 1.55m.
• A four-room, 98-sq.m. apartment on the first floor sold for NIS 1.175m.