The Marker, Adar Horesh, 02.03.2020
"Many municipalities are trying to revamp the city's commercial center - realizing that it can be a focus and lever for increasing business activity - but are giving architects the renovation work to plan for the street renovation and physical renovation," says Dr. Rina Degani, a partner at the Geocartography Research Institute that provides Consulting services for cities and entrepreneurs trying to revitalize commercial centers.
"In one of the big cities, a proposal was made to build commercial towers at both ends of the street. I warned that it would kill the street because buyers would be attracted to shopping and entertainment at the towers."
"If you look at the city center only as an architectural problem, the economic aspects are missed and could be redeveloped to improve the appearance of the buildings, but will not turn the center into an attraction." Degani notes that bustling commercial streets have lost their vitality because of shoppers' move to malls or the development of new and more interesting focal points .In recent years, malls have been threatened by the move to online shopping, but that doesn't necessarily mean shoppers will return to the abandoned centers . The increasing difficulty in private car traffic is also expected to dictate new trends. The latest fashion among real estate professionals is to develop neighborhood shopping centers.
Buyers dictate
The planners usually know how to place the residential quarters in the city and offer the location of the square (main business center). The location of the business center is dictated by the residents and not by the planners. For many years Allenby Street was considered the business center of the big city of Tel Aviv. The planners tried to establish a center New and modern beachfront business in the Manshia area, but the city decided to work eastward, and in the 1980s there was no choice for planners but to flow with life and design the new center precisely in the east, along the Begin and Ayalon Road.
It is reminiscent of Ashdod, Israel's first planned modern city, whose business and commercial center is located in the city center according to planning rules."The city did not grow at a predicted rate and did not reach the center designed for it so quickly. In the first neighborhoods to be built there were neighborhood centers that later joined and formed the commercial center we know," she says.
Degani, who advises the municipality of Netanya on urban renewal, notes that the city is expected to undergo a dramatic change if a municipal renewal program is implemented, which includes an additional 20,000 apartments. As part of the plan, the city wants to renew Herzl Street in the city center.
"If everyone is given increased construction rights all at once, there will be inflation of commercial space that will kill the street. The priority should be given to the first."
"Obviously, it is impossible to renovate the entire street with an urban budget. It is expensive and inefficient. It was clear to us that one must start from one point, and if we create one corner of a street that is pleasant and appealing to the public, the entire street will gradually become an audience - more businesses will want to be there, the rent. Will go up and the whole area will be upgraded, ”says Degani. "The municipality of Netanya started renovating Independence Square, near the sea, assisting shops with renovations. We organized occasional city shows and people started coming and we see today a rising revenue and a small store turnover."
Street events are a business lever?They are usually held in places where there is buyer traffic anyway.
"Depending on where they are held. The events do not help if they are held where people have nothing to do anyway. They come, enjoy the show, go and nothing happens. It reminds me that in one of the places they offered to bring a Zappa club to clean up the commercial area. "It doesn't contribute anything to the business environment. People come to the show, spend time in the hall, eat there and go straight home. But if there is a performance on the street where there is already social activity and seating and entertainment, it helps expand the clientele and accelerate the commercial development."
The TLV mall in central Tel Aviv brought top artists and nothing happened
"We used to be mall advisers and the problem is a little different. In the end, the mall is expected to be a big success. His main problem is that the developers refused to put in a supermarket, and it hurt the buyer's movement. The supermarket Knesset was a demanding move. Above the mall there is a captive population of thousands of tenants in the market project. The wholesale, which can be a captive audience of the supermarket that they have just under the house. "
What should an ideal shopping center look like?
"It should be wide enough for many people's traffic, but not too wide. It can't be too long because people don't usually walk more than one mile. It should be accessible by car, on foot and by public transport. 90 stores are about the number of stores needed for a good shopping center.
"Where urban renewal is done, it is better to choose streets that do not have tall and multi-tenant buildings because it makes it easier for developers to reach renewal agreements. It is easier to get along with a building that has 8-7 tenants than a 30-apartment building.
"Residents of Ramat Hasharon do not usually go shopping on public transport. If a private vehicle cannot be reached, they may have to make a shuttle line that will take people to the street."
"In order to encourage homeowners to renew them and build the necessary commercial fronts, they must be given increased building rights, but this priority should be given only to the first to pioneer and increase the demand for street business. If everyone gives the increased rights at once, inflation can be created Of commercial areas that would only kill the street instead of picking it up.
"In one of the big cities, a proposal was made to build commercial towers at both ends of the street. I warned that such construction would kill the street because buyers would be attracted to shopping and entertainment at the towers and not on the street. Planners should also look at where the city's wealthy population is.
"Destroying several buildings"
One of the streets that Degani was called to examine is the old Rothschild in Rishon Lezion. A small part of the street has become a small pedestrian mall that runs downtown, but the other parts are a rather shabby mix of residential buildings, small businesses, a crowded mall and a few cafes.
"The traditional downtown of Rishon Le Zion is great," says Degani. "The site where the center needs to be rebuilt should be located. A good portion of the businesses along the street are veteran and not modern. There is no modern office on the street. In my estimation, the center will not advance unless an entrepreneur is found to demolish several buildings and build a new complex, including residential, commercial and office space. "For statutory reasons, the process is not progressing fast enough. It is important to give the first entrepreneur privilege, to begin the process that has been delayed for years."
How can we save Haifa and the mall in Hadar?
"I know the city because I was born there, but we didn't do any work there. Care for the citrus has to be very careful, and here, too, you can't start renovating the whole area, but start small steps: find the spot from which you want to start and create an attractive corner. Movement and young people, is the creation of shared work spaces. Recently, we saw this happen at the Tel Aviv Garden Mall: WeWork spaces have changed. Where there are shared work spaces, there is an immediate need for cafes and meeting places and it can live in abandoned centers. "
There are even harsher places from Haifa. Where is the center of Eilat?
" Eilat apparently has a commercial center, but no one comes to it because everyone goes to the seafront mall, which is the most successful in the country. The traditional commercial center that used to be in the city, near the central bus station is not functioning. The planners are aware of this and think that following the evacuation of the airport can be built A commercial area that will be the new center of the city. "
Ramat Hasharon's Main Street, Sokolov. The city functions as a traffic jam between Herzliya and Tel Aviv.The municipality plans to renovate it as a pedestrian street. Will it work?
"If the street becomes a pedestrian with reduced traffic, accessibility problems can arise. In a city like Tel Aviv, people are clear that they reach the shopping center on foot or public transport. Sokolov Street serves commercial residents of Ramat Hasharon and is not part of a large city. Go shopping on public transport, so the municipality will have to find a solution to the problem. If it is not possible to reach a private car parking lot, they may need to do a shuttle line that will take people to the street. "