Plan to Expand Israel Diamond Exchange Area Comes Before Council

(IDEX Online News) – A big expansion of business and commercial space, along with homes, hotels and student dorms are part of the plan that will come before the Local Planning and Building Committee next Sunday.

Currently, the complex measures 750,000 square meters but will be expanded to 1.75 million square meters under the plan, with the diamond exchange business district becoming more than twice as large, the Globes daily reports.

This will include 1.4 million square meters to be zoned for business, and extra space for commerce as well as about 1,000 hotel rooms.

There will also be 250 long-term rental apartments, student dorms, business and commercial areas constructed on a plot owned by the municipality and the Israel Land Authority.

The expansion area will be divided into four types of zones: a very-tall building complex, a tall building complex, a complex with dense construction of low buildings, and two 'vacate and build' complexes. Each complex has defined zoning (business, commerce, hotels, student dorms and public needs, or any mixture thereof), a building rights and height key and conditions for their realization.

High-rise buildings will be built at the Israel Diamond Exchange inner area, which includes small plots with low buildings, thereby clearing some of the space and enabling more efficient planning of the area.

The plan will provide the Ramat Gan Municipality with a financial windfall, says the report. Real Estate Appraisers Association in Israel Chairman Ohad Danos estimates that the cost of a square meter in the complex will be NIS 12,000-15,000 for purchase and NIS 800 for rent. According to this estimate, realizing all rights in the plan will provide the municipality with no less than NIS 6.5 billion. Ramat Gan deputy mayor and head of the Local Planning and Building Committee Adv. Avivit Maor Nimrodi said, "The municipal concept in Ramat Gan is that instead of expanding into further areas and using land reserves important for the city's future, we should first enhance existing areas and fully utilize the potential in all city areas," she told Globes.

"The same is true for the diamond exchange complex. The municipality has decided on the objective of fully utilizing the economic and business opportunities in the area, in a way that will also increase the municipality's property tax revenue and return money to residents in the form of infrastructure and development works and more. Opening new entertainment venues at the diamond exchange area, which is far from homes, will enable us to provide the resident with a new entertainment area, which the city has never had before."