Guy Nardi, globes.co.il

The urban renewal program for residential buildings on 35-45 La Guardia Street in Tel Aviv includes the demolition of six serial buildings, including 114 housing units. A number of seven-and-a-half-story residential buildings are expected to be replaced, as well as a 14.5-story residential building above commercial ground floor at the intersection of La Guardia and Vigal Alon streets. The plan, which was approved by the local planning and construction committee, is currently in the opposition phase, and the plan's architect is Ivory.

Help and advantage in the role of the entrepreneur

So far, there is nothing unusual about it, however, when examining who is promoting the program, it appears that the case of the La Guardia project is not routine, and even offers a unique outline for promoting urban renewal projects.

The company that promotes the project is "Help and Betrayal," a subsidiary of the Tel Aviv-Jaffa municipality, which in this case is promoting urban renewal. The model for promoting the program is that the municipality, through "help and support", finances the planning and promotion phase. It then accompanies the residents in selecting the developer / contractor and accompanying them during the project, the population until the end of the test year.

VP of Urban Renewal at "Help and Bitzaron," editor Gilia Berger, told "Globes" that "the municipality realized that once a neighborhood was defined as an urban renewal area, jungle begins. She wanted to offer the residents a unique route that is a combination of an entrepreneurial route and a municipal route. On the one hand, an executive arm of the municipality organizes the plan in a fair and transparent manner. On the other hand, the municipality has put money into planning. When I obtain signatures from half of the residents of a certain area and the agreement of the Engineering Administration, the municipal director grants me a million and a half shekels, which allows the promotion of the IA. When there is planning certainty, we go out to an auction with an entrepreneur, which is the stage we are in right now. "

Berger explains that this is not a subsidy for the municipality, but a budget that will be returned down the road to the municipality. “According to the outline, the developers give us back the amount at the end of the process that we paid for the design and we use it for additional plaintiffs. The advantage of this route is for everyone. On the one hand, residents are given a reliable body, which does not make any promises. On the other hand, the developer can come in at a stage that has planning certainty, "Berger explained. It should be noted that this is an outline currently approved for the Yad Eliyahu neighborhood, but not everyone is satisfied.

Review: "Unreasonable Density"

Chair of the Green Yad Eliyahu Association, Stella Avidan, says the municipality may be giving money, but in this way, it is also "taking over the planning," which, she said, results in high density. "The Tel Aviv municipality has taken the entire uneven side of the street, Applied Section 77-78 (freeze planning status. GN) and stated that it was the one planning it. Their plan is catastrophic. They created an unreasonable density here. The entire lower area, between the buildings, which was green, was expropriated from us and the gardens they planned on the roofs, on the 8th floor. They stole our land and ruined our quality of life. "