A pinui binui (evacuate and rebuild) plan on Sokolov Street in central Herzliya has received final approval. Under it, 13 older apartments will be demolished and replaced by a 20 floor tower holding 140 new apartments, while the historic building that once housed the colony committee is preserved.
The ratio behind the numbers
Thirteen apartments becoming 140 is an unusually high ratio. In most pinui binui compounds the ratio runs somewhere between two and four times the existing number, and here it is more than ten times. That is possible thanks to the shift to building upwards in an older urban core.
A high ratio is usually good news for the existing apartment owners, because it improves the economics for the developer and allows more generous compensation. It also means the scheme is complex in planning terms and takes time.
What to check when a small compound becomes a tower
The number of apartment owners is small, so each one of them carries great weight. That shortens the process where there is agreement, and lengthens it considerably where there is not.
Questions that need asking: what the offered compensation is in sqm and not only in room count, who represents the residents, what the timetable is from approval to actual evacuation, and what happens to rent during the interim period.
The wider context
This plan was published as part of a review of urban renewal schemes approved in other cities as well. The trend is clear: the older cores of the cities in the Sharon and in Gush Dan are densifying upwards, at times alongside the preservation of historic buildings.
For owners of apartments in older buildings in Herzliya, in Ramat HaSharon and in north Tel Aviv, that means the practical question is not whether the building will be renewed but by which route and when. That is exactly what we check before every deal.
Courtesy of ynet · read the original article
This review is part of Market Reviews and Real Estate Opportunities by RS Nadlan.
