Bnei Brak will become one of the main industrial centers in
the Tel Aviv region upon completion of a huge Dan area
construction project currently in full swing. Municipal
Construction Plan 566 entails building on an area of 500,000
square meters on the Bnei Brak-Jabotinsky area.
The project will extend over an area of 250 dunams
(about 62 acres) bordered by Chashmonaim Street to the East,
Modi'in Street in Ramat Gan to the West, Jabotinsky Street to
the South and Sheshet Hayamim Street to the North. The area
currently contains some industry, but has not been seriously
developed in the fifty years of its existence. Today it
includes garages, sheds, dilapidated one-story structures and
old factory buildings.
That old region of Bnei Brak will be transformed into a major
commercial center, similar to the diamond exchange in nearby
Ramat Gan. It will also constitute an extension of Rabbi
Akiva Street, the main street of Bnei Brak. Ten 22-38 story
office buildings will be erected on the periphery along the
Modi'in and Sheshet Hayamim thoroughfares. The plans include
industrial as well as residential buildings and public areas.
A fifteen dunam park will surround the residential
area, serving as the end of Rabbi Akiva Street which
traverses the city widthwise.
Avrohom Tannenbaum, Bnei Brak Municipal Secretary and
Spokesman, relates that the first stage of the plan has
emerged with the beginning of construction of the Ran Center.
This Center will be 38 stories high, and will take up an area
of 60,0000 square meters (600,000 square feet) atop an
industrial complex. A large Africa-Israel and Concord
commercial center is currently being built and additional
well-known companies will soon begin construction.
Huge buildings are in the works, to serve commercial, office
and mixed occupation. The project offers incentives to
contractors agreeing to demolish the old buildings and begin
work on new structures. Building rights have been increased
from the usual 160% to 300%, constituting an increase of
rights for more than 240 thousand square meters of
construction.
The plan was reviewed from the standpoint of environmental
quality as well as traffic problems. Massive transportation
solutions have been planned by the Department of
Transportation on the Jabotinsky thoroughfare from Tel Aviv
to Petach Tikvah.
The plan synchronizes with the Interior Ministry Tel Aviv
Regional Plan. According to current policy, centers employing
large amounts of workers can be instituted only near main
traffic arteries, and the Bnei Brak region is indeed located
on the Jabotinsky thoroughfare, where a suburban train will
eventually pass. It is also near the Ayalon shopping mall and
the existing train station of northern Bnei Brak.
This plan, as a formulation of the plan for the commercial
development of 1000 dunams in the area of the train
station, coincides with Mayor Rabbi Mordechai Karelitz' aim
of advancement of large projects to improve the city's
economic situation. Bnei Brak has suffered from large
financial deficits over a period of many years, due to the
socioeconomic status of its residents. Mayor Karelitz hopes
that thousands of new places of employment will be generated
through the project, and that the taxes generated by the
commercial space will balance the city's budget.
The plan was drafted by architects Eden Ber and Yochanan Lavi
in conjunction with the Municipal Engineering Department. The
plan has received final approval of the Regional Committee
for Planing and Construction of the Interior Ministry in Tel
Aviv, headed by Mr. Shmuel Lasker after going through
formulation, planning and licensing procedures for the past
ten years.
The project will cost approximately 500 million dollars.
