New business district to scrape Jerusalem’s skies

A proposal to build a new business district, complete with 12 skyscrapers, at the entrance to Jerusalem was approved on Monday by the Jerusalem District Planning and Construction Committee.

According to an Interior Ministry press release, the proposal will now be opened to the public for objections.

The new compound, which was designed by the Farhi Zafrir architectural firm, carries with it an estimated cost of NIS 8.5 billion, and is expected to add approximately one million square meters of office space and 40,000 new jobs to the city.

The compound, sitting near Shazar boulevard is intended to provide a fresh center of business, culture and leisure, including an expansion of the International Convention Center (Binyanei Hauma), a complex for the district and magistrate courts and some 2,000 new hotel rooms.

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All government ministry offices currently located in downtown Jerusalem will also move to the new area, and extensive underground parking is included in the plan as well. The proposed skyscrapers will be 35 stories high.

Committee chair Dalit Zilber emphasized that, with the train station and bus terminal right near the proposed location of the complex, the plan will ease the traffic congestion inside the capital city.

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