Azorim Demolished 164 Homes in Two Projects

Urban renewal schemes in central Israel kept moving even over the holidays. In recent days 56 older apartments were demolished in Netanya and another 108 older apartments in Ramat HaSharon, in two Azorim projects that will together yield 402 new apartments.

The two projects

In Netanya the project is called N HaHistadrut, in partnership with the Netanya Renewal Company. It will hold 182 housing units in three residential buildings: two towers of 18 floors and a nine floor building scaled to the surrounding fabric, replacing 56 older apartments.

In Ramat HaSharon the project is Azorim Ye’arim, in the west of the city. Four three floor walkup blocks at Yitzhak Elhanan 4 to 10, holding 108 apartments, make way for five buildings of seven to eight floors with 220 apartments.

What the pace tells us

Actual demolition is the most reliable measure of progress in an urban renewal project. Years usually pass between resident signatures and demolition, and many compounds stall along the way. Two demolition events in a single week in the same demand area show that the planning pipeline in central Israel keeps flowing.

For owners of apartments in older buildings this is directly relevant: the more compounds that reach the construction stage, the wider the market gap becomes between a building that is in process and a building that is only being talked about.

Our angle

We are asked often whether it is better to wait for renewal or to sell now. There is no single answer. It depends on the exact stage the compound has reached, on the age of the apartment owners and their need for liquidity, and on the gap between the price achievable today and the compensation expected later.

What can be said with confidence is that a decision like this has to rest on the real planning status of the building, and not on rumor. We check that for clients in Ramat HaSharon and in north Tel Aviv.

Courtesy of ynet · read the original article