Flat in Herbert Samuel project sold for NIS 47m

Days after we heard of the most expensive flat transaction ever in Israel (on a price per sqm basis), we learn that Ofer Investments Ltd. has sold an apartment in its Herbert Samuel project in Tel Aviv for NIS 47 million ($13 million) to businessman Gabriel Tamman. The 400-square meter apartment with a 60-square meter balcony is on the building's 19th floor, just below the penthouses. The sale was made at NIS 102,000 per square meter which translates to almost $29,000 per square meter. While this price is well below the record obtained by David Promenade Residences earlier this month at $37,000 per sqm, it's still way above the average price that similar flats have fetched recently. Especially if we keep in mind that the apartment was bought in shell condition, and that the buyer will have to make substantial investment in interior design.

10 Herbert Samuel starting to sell

With rumors of the market slowing down, Ofer investments has started marketing the Ofer tower also known as 10 Herbert Samuel to outsiders including foreign buyers. The web site is now up at www.10hs.co.il and it is very nicely done, especially compared to the one of  White City Residence which even in version 2 is still quite poor.

With just 21 stories the building offers 41 apartments, two per floor, with the option of purchasing adjoining apartments to own the entire floor. All apartments, including the 7 lofts and the penthouse on the 21st floor have a sea view terrace and are designed for maximum interior flexibility with high ceilings and floor to ceiling windows.

Apartments are 200 sqm each not including the 31 sqm terrace and purchasing two adjoining apartments can provide with an amazing full floor home of 400sqm with a 62sqm terrace. The building offers also 7 lofts of 188 sqm each with a 27 sqm porch facing the sea and a 24 sqm back garden. Lastly he two top floors offer an enormous 728 sqm penthouse overlooking the Mediterranean with a 104 sqm terrace. But this one was snapped by Eyal Ofer for a cool $30 million last summer.

The regular apartments start at just NIS13 million, i.e. $3.8 million. Still, at more than $19,000 per sqm, they are not for the faint of heart! But if you are still interested, or if you are just curious, just check the video below:

Ofer Tower construction has now started

Construction has now started on 10 Herbert Samuel, also known as the Ofer tower as the picture above shows. The building will have 21 floors as well as a lower section adjacent to the tower. Each floor will be 520 sqm gross and 400 sqm net. There will be about 30 residential units on 20,000 square meters. The design and distribution is similar to the G-Tower that was also designed by Rani Ziss Architects. Ofer Tower had made the news last summer when Eyal Ofer bought the top flat in the project for a cool NIS 115 million.

Dolphinarium to be razed at last

The seaside space occupied by the neglected remains of the Tel Aviv Dolphinarium will be developed into a new boardwalk, the city decided yesterday. The Tel Aviv Planning and Building Council reapproved the plan to renovate the site into a public space but the city will need to buy out an 18.5-dunam area from a private lease-holder, Yossi Buchman.

In exchange, Buchman will get a 12-dunam area near the Hassan Bek Mosque on Hayarkon Street, on which he can build two residential towers and a hotel: 48,000 square meters in total built-up area, according to approved rights for the spot. Buchman is being asked to pay 31.5% of the difference in value between the land by the mosque and the land on which the remains of the Dolphinarium are situated. An appraisal dating from 2008 priced the land by Hassan Bek at NIS 500 million, while the value of the Dolphinarium land was priced at NIS 80 million. Buchman will have to pony up more than NIS 120 million, not including betterment tax.

The plan to develop the defunct Dolphinarium has been held up for more than 10 years, in part because the municipality, Buchman and the Israel Lands Administration couldn't agree on money issues. As similar plan won approval in 2002, but was torpedoed by continued haggling. Observers in the real estate sector think it may take around two years for the land deal to go through. During that time the city will continue to negotiate with Buchman over evacuating and razing the Dolphinarium.

The Dolphinarium began its life as a dolphin-centric aquarium, but was abandoned in the mid-1980s as the company running the venue stumbled into financial trouble. It was acquired by Buchman's company, Sha'ar LeYisrael. The Dolphinarium building consists of one underground story and two above ground, some of which is used for entertainment venues and some of which has been abandoned. The city of Tel Aviv wants to create a continuous boardwalk from Bat Yam to Herzliya. The Dolphinarium building was the only obstacle after certain buildings belonging to the Gordon Swimming Pool and the Reading Power Station were razed. Peer Weisner, deputy mayor of Tel Aviv and acting chairman of the local Planning and Building Committee, said he opposes the deal. "The city of Tel Aviv should revert to its previous resolution and expropriate the land from [Buchman]," Weisner said.

The Dolphinarium has an infamous reputation in Israel, after a suicide bomber attacked a line of party-goers outside a club there on June 1, 2001, killing 21 and injuring 132. Most of the casualties were immigrant teenagers from the former Soviet Union.

Source The Marker

Fancy a penthouse in Tel Aviv?

Penthouse sales have reached new levels in the last few years in Tel Aviv. Last year, for example, the penthouse in the Sea One project was sold for NIS 110 million. Even more recently, Eyal Ofer bought the top flat at Ofer Tower, also on Herbert Samuel Street, for a cool NIS 115 million.

If you fancy a penthouse too, here is a sample of what's available on the market...

NIS 33 million - USD 9 million

Location: Koifman Street

Floor: 4

Flat Size: 800 sqm

Terrace Size: 120 sqm

Landscape panoramic sea view

Maintenance: NIS 8,000 / month

The apartment's ceiling is about six feet tall, has no external walls and is surrounded by a glass wall overlooking the sea. The apartment is on one level and includes, private indoor pool, sauna and Jacuzzi. Penthouse is owned by a foreign resident who bought the apartment a few years ago and uses it as his holiday apartment. He recently bought another apartment, no less prestigious, and has therefore put this one on the market.

NIS 25 million - USD 7 million

Location: Dubnov Street

Floor: 7

Flat Size: 460 sqm

Terrace Size: 130 sqm

View: 360 degrees of full cityscape

Maintenance: NIS 300 / month

The apartment is located in the city center, but in a quiet area and close to cultural and entertainment centers. It has seven bedrooms, four bathrooms and a shower, high ceilings (3.40 meters), central vacuum and heating-floor. Apartment building has three parking spaces. 

NIS 5.5 million - USD 1.5 million

Location: Alexander Argov Street 

Floor: 2-3

Flat Size: 170 sqm

Terrace Size: 80 sqm

Landscape: a neighborhood park

Maintenance: NIS 2,200 /month

The apartment is a duplex penthouse renovated last year invested at a cost of one million shekels. It includes four bedrooms, high quality flooring, with a mosaic ceiling in the bathroom and has a living room window which provides light all day long. The apartment building  includes an Olympic pool, a jacuzzi, a sauna, a steam room and 24 hour a day maintenance. 

NIS 11 million - USD 3 million

Location: Hamelits Street

Floor: Fifth sixth floors

Flat Size: 250 sqm

Terrace Size: 70 sqm on the top floor

View: 360 degrees

Maintenance: NIS 550 / month

The apartment is in a new building next to Meir Garden in Tel Aviv. The penthouse was designed and built for a couple, so it includes only two bedrooms. All accommodation services are located on the first floor, the second floor includes two rooms, a kitchenette, a bathroom and a 360 degree balcony. The flat has two parking spaces and an private lift. The design was done by an architect specializing in the design galleries, and includes a mosaic bath, a raised black parquet in the bedroom, parquet floors, windows and closets throughout the apartment with Chinese designs in all baths. 

NIS 7.5 million - USD 2 million

Location: HaGanim Street in Ramat Hasharon

Floor: 16

Flat Size: 200 sqm

Terrace Size: 100 sqm

Landscape cityscape of Tel Aviv, Petah Tikva, Ramat Gan, Netanya Sea

Maintenance: NIS 500 / month

The apartment is the highest in the region, as all the buildings in the neighborhood are up to ten stories only. The penthouse is on one level, it has high ceilings and a design made of bright shades of metallic purple mosaic. There is is a huge 50 sqm bedroom, two additional bedrooms and a study. Building has two covered parking spaces.

NIS 9.6 million - USD 2.6 million 

Location: Isrotel in Hayarkon Street 

Floor: 22

Flat Size: 194 sqm

 Terrace Size: 50 sqm

Landscape panoramic sea view, from Jaffa to Herzliya

Maintenance fees: about NIS 2,400 a month

The apartment was designed so that it includes only one bedroom with a balcony area of 10 sqm, the rest of the apartment being the living room and kitchen. The building includes a gym, a swimming pool and a convention hall lobby. The adjacent penthouse is also for sale so you can purchase both flats for a total of 316 sqm and USD 3.4 million.  

NIS 100 million - USD 27 million

Location: Corner Nehardea  & Barry 

Floor: 30-31

Flat Size: 1,000 sqm

Terrace Size : 80 sqm

View: State Square, Central Tel Aviv to the sea

Maintenance: NIS 14,000 / month 

Almost impossible to find an apartment this size in town. The penthouse was built on two floors and was designed by architect Moshe Tzur. The building is the heart of Tel Aviv and includes a swimming pool, gym, a residents club and 24 hours security.

NIS 76 million - USD 21 million

Location: Yitzhak Elhanan Street - White City Residence

Floor: 40

Flat Size: 578 sqm

Terrace Size: 115 sqm

Landscape: panoramic sea view

Maintenance: NIS 8,000 / month

The project is currently under construction. The apartment is on one level and located in the picturesque neighborhood of Neve Tzedek, about 300 meters from the beach. The apartment design is done by the Italian designer Giorgio Armani. It includes a Jacuzzi for ten people on the roof overlooking the sea.

NIS 3.6 million - USD 1 million

Location: Montefiore Street 

Floor: 4-5

Flat Size: 100 sqm

Terrace Size: 15 sqm on the lower level, 55 sqm on the top floor

Scenery: Sea

Maintenance: about NIS 450 / month

The project is currently under construction. A boutique located in the heart of the historic fabric of the White City, minutes away from the cultural center, recreation and shopping. This duplex penthouse has four rooms on the lower floor and a spacious suite on the top floor. Granite porcelain flooring, electric roller shutters equip the flat. Included in the price is an underground parking.

NIS 39 million

Location: Herbert Samuel Street - Sea One Project

Floor: 20

Flat Size: 300 sqm

Terrace Size: 30 sqm

Landscape: the sea and along the promenade - Jaffa, Tel Aviv Marina

Maintenance: NIS 4,400 / month

The project is currently under construction. The apartment includes three bedrooms, each room with a sea view. Apart from panoramic views, high ceilings are planned at a height of six meters. The residential building will also house a hotel, but with a clear separation of the two - a separate parking, separate elevators and separate entrance lobby. However, tenants will benefit from services of a five-star hotel.

Source The Marker

Eyal Ofer buys Israel's most expensive apartment

Eyal Ofer, the son of Sammy Ofer and the brother of former Israel Corporation chairman Idan Ofer, has bought Israel's most expensive apartment. He paid NIS 115 million ($30 million) for a duplex penthouse in a 20-story seafront building in Tel Aviv owned by his family's firm, Ofer Brothers Properties.

The building is at the corner of Daniel Street and Herbert Samuel Street, opposite Tel Aviv's seafront promenade.

Eyal Ofer broke the record for Israel's most expensive apartment, which was held by Russian oligarch Valery Kogan, who bought a project in the Sea One seafront project down the street in Tel Aviv in 2009 for 110 million ($28 million).

Eyal Ofer handles Ofer Holdings Group's international real estate business. He has been involved in a number of projects in recent years, including the purchase of headquarters of drug company Alteria LLC in 2007, and the construction of residential high-rises in Manhattan.

Eyal Ofer's family resides in London, and he splits his time between London, New York, and Israel, though he spends little time in Israel. He owns a number of homes, including in Herzliya Pituah, New York, and London.

Source Globes