Globes, Guy Nardi, 01.06.2020
The municipality of Eilat is auctioning off the paid attraction complex in the new terminal park, which will be built on the old airport's closed area. The area currently under tender is approximately 14 dunams, and is part of the recreation area of the new park, whose total area is approximately 145 dunams. The auction is for the operation of facilities such as a giant wheel, a balloon and more. This is the southernmost strip in the area vacated with the transfer to the activity of Ramon Airport, which is north of the city.
Head of Project Or Or Karniel, clarifies that the exact mix of attractions will be determined later. "This auction comes and tells the developers that they receive a 14-acre plot, which is divided into smaller lots. The developers can develop attractions there at their expense. Facilities in the style of the amusement park in Tel Aviv. Each facility will stand on its own and be a separate business." He said the park is expected to open by the end of 2021.
Alongside the paid attractions area, a free attraction complex will be built, some of which will be built along the former take-off route. The recreation area will include an open park that connects the east and west sides of the city, and will be netted in trails and shaded. In addition, a festival area is planned to be built from old 70-acre containers, including an exhibition complex, camping and lodging, old car museum and more. The old terminal building is also expected to be part of the park and become an urban cultural center. The total planned investment in the recreation area is estimated at NIS 170 million, with the planning of the park entrusted to the firm of architect Derman and Rebkal.
"We are talking about the city's navel, a strategic and prestigious location. Touching distance from the beach. The kettlepick of the kettle. We create a beautiful and diverse area here, with a boardwalk and water games, theater, car museum. We think this place will be a draw." , Told Eilat Economic Company's CEO, Globes, Avi Cohen, who is in charge of the tender.
According to architect Eli Derman, this is not just an amusement park, but during a significant urban event in Eilat. "It's not an amusement park that you pay for, but a public park, open to every visitor, tourist and resident, and you can enjoy a lot of public space with lots of free attractions including elements of water mist, airplane garden and eco-pools. Lots of nice places and full of magic. Today in Eilat you have to go from point to point to find tourist experiences. Here, there is an intense concentration of experience that is a meeting place. "
He said a special element of the park was going to be the former takeoff route. "The matter of preserving the asphalt track is not an obvious point. We see the track as a place full of charm and strength. Imagine kids riding Yom Kippur with bikes on the highway. It was important for us to maintain the track as a continuous and continuous avenue. Of course, the asphalt emits lots of heat during the summer The longest pergola in the country, 380 meters long, will allow you to walk throughout the park in the shade, and we will plant thousands of trees right inside the runway. ".
Freeze residential tenders for long months
The outline plan of the city of Eilat, which was presented to the District Committee in 2013 but has not yet been deposited, designates the former airport area, whose total area is 850 dunams, mainly residential and hotel. There is also a terminal park complex, as mentioned in the southern part of the airport, when it was leased to the municipality by the Israel Lands Authority for an 11-year period. The sale of the residential complex, whose official name is the field district, was frozen due to the outbreak of the Corona virus.
This is a tender that will be launched in late 2019, and which was scheduled to close last April. The auction includes two land divisions on which it is planned to be built as a thousand apartments. The largest of the two auctions is for 645 apartments in the form of a price per user. The new bidding date is June 22, when the auction is expected to close two months later. The second auction, also in the form of a per-user price, includes 361 apartments, and is expected to be published on the day the first auction closes, and closes at the end of October.
How much business people believe in the southern city
The timing of the auction is now of great importance to the municipality and its head, Meir Yitzhak Halevi. This is in light of the corona damage that has brought about an almost complete disruption of Israel's tourism city. The success of the tender is also expected to testify to the confidence of business entities in the city's economic power, which according to the CEO of the Eilat Hotel Association, Saturn (Shavei) Shai, suffered an economic injury of about half a billion shekels.
"What happened around March 15 is a situation in which Eilat was knocked down. What does it mean? Life in Eilat has not stopped, but the pace of the city has been compromised. "People do not come to Eilat for a day, from morning to evening, but come with Helena. People did not arrive, so life stopped. The entire hotel area is based on over 2.5 million tourists a year, probably not 60,000 residents," he explains.
Do you have any estimates of the extent of the damage?
"This is a huge loss of revenue. The average revenue per accommodation in Eilat, according to the CBS, is about NIS 400, when in April of last year there were 600,000 nights. In April this year there were no overnight stays. This is a quarter of a billion shekels. Think of every shekel that the tourist spends, he spends between one and a half shekels on services around. He buys, he dines, takes a taxi. This means that together it is about half a billion shekels. April is a fantastic month for us. Loss of revenue revenue is astronomical. "