Building project gets off the ground

Residents of Ra'anana's Kiryat Sharett are discussing a plan to tear down three old apartment buildings and build several apartment towers instead.

By MIRIAM BULWAR DAVID-HAY (TRANSLATED)
Residents of Ra'anana's Kiryat Sharett are discussing a plan to tear down three old apartment buildings on Rehov Geula and build several apartment towers instead, reports www.local.co.il. The plan would see some 400 residential units being built in buildings of up to eight stories tall, with current residents to be given apartments in the new buildings. According to the report, the plan has the agreement of some 87 percent of residents, but some are concerned that they would not be able to meet the higher municipal taxes and house committee costs in the new buildings. Some residents said the city had promised not to raise taxes for five years, but was now saying it would freeze taxes for only one year, and this would cause them significant financial hardship. Some residents also complained that they had been promised ground-floor garden apartments in the new buildings but were now learning that they would be relegated to the third floor. A municipal spokesman said the project was in the early stages of discussion, and the entrepreneurs had been given the city's requirements regarding building standards and permitted density.