Globes, Dotan Levy, 30.11.20
After a number of postponements in previous tenders, the Israel Land Authority has once again published the tender for Eilat airport land, this time on the route of Housing Minister Yaakov Litzman's housing program - "Reduced Price", which replaces the price per occupant.
In September, Housing Minister Yaakov Litzman unveiled his new housing plan, which is supposed to replace former Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon's price-per-tenant plan, and will be valid until 2023. Its main point - a discount on the purchase of an apartment NIS
The airport in Eilat was closed in March 2019 after 70 years of operation, the northern part of the field was designated by Rami and the Eilat municipality for the construction of a residential neighborhood that includes about 1,000 units as well as employment areas, about 800 hotel rooms and areas for public buildings. The southern part of the area is designated for an attractions complex as part of the "Terminal Park" complex in an area of about 100 dunams.
The first tender for the living space was published at the end of December 2019 as part of the "price per occupant" program, but was postponed to April 2020, then again to August 2020, and then postponed again to its current date, which was changed to the "reduced price" route.
The published land includes eight complexes in the airport area, the first tender whose closing date is December 14, 2020 is for the saturated construction of 645 apartments in the Field Quarter - Phase A in Eilat, and the second tender that will close on December 28 is for the construction of 361 apartments In the city.
The first tender is for construction in four such complexes, with a total area of 40,000 square meters. 193 housing units out of 645 will be marketed as part of "reduced price housing" and 452 will be marketed on the free market.
The reduced consideration for the land, including development expenses for Rami, amounts to NIS 248 million. The minimum price per apartment square is NIS 8,500 and the maximum price is NIS 11,000.
The first tender brochure has already been published and the brochure of the second tender is expected to be published in the coming days. According to the chairman of the Real Estate Appraisal Bureau - Haim Mesilati, "the prices of the apartments in the project are expected to be around NIS 1.2-1.1 million per apartment."
The "reduced price" route will lead in the final stage to discounts on the apartments but no discounts will be given in areas where the apartments are expensive and the contractors will compete for the price of the land and development. The plan was approved by the Israel Lands Council, but the finance minister has not yet signed it, apparently due to the dispute between the finance officials and the Ministry of Housing over the scope of the discounts. It is estimated that the Minister of Finance will sign the plan soon.
In Eilat, there was relative success compared to tenders published in the years 2019-2020, so out of 22 tenders published for only 3, no bids were received. At the same time, in all the reduced price tenders published so far it is written in bold letters that the development costs are not closed and it is possible that the developer will be required to add money, which may deter some developers.
The Mayor of Eilat, Meir Yitzhak Halevi, said following the publication of the tenders that the Eilat Municipality is currently carrying out infrastructure work for the development of the field, including the training of two transverse arteries that will cross it, as part of the development and construction of the terminal park.