Azrieli buys land for Modi’in’s first hotel

Income producing property developer Azrieli Group Ltd. has won an Israel Land Authority and Tourism Ministry tender for land on which to build Modi’in’s first hotel.

Azrieli will pay NIS 101 million for the 5,300 square meter lot. The plan calls for construction of a 50-room hotel, 80 apartments and commercial and office space in the city’s planned major business center.

The land is in the city center close to the railway station, Anava Park and the Azrieli shopping mall. It is a mixed-use district with public buildings, cultural institutions, offices, kindergartens and much more. The amount Azrieli is paying is five times the minimum price for the tender, which was NIS 20m.

Market sources had expected Azrieli to win the tender because of its proximity to the Azrieli mall as well as the company’s desire to broaden its involvement in Modi’in where it also has its first sheltered housing project, on which it bought land in 2014 for NIS 51m.

The advantage of the hotel’s location, on which there are rights to build 12 floors, is the proximity to the station and the relatively easy access to Jerusalem, Ben-Gurion Airport and Tel Aviv.

As tender winner, Azrieli, led by chairwoman Danna Azrieli, is entitled to a grant of up to 33% of construction costs of the hotel. (Globes/TNS)