A residential complex on HaGalil Street in Haifa, damaged by an Iranian missile during last year's war, has taken a major step toward urban renewal. The developer, RENEW, said this week that it secured the required majority of apartment owners, only a week after the first resident signed, allowing the project to advance with planning authorities.
The site includes two aging apartment buildings with 15 homes in total. They are slated to be demolished and replaced with a new eight-story building containing 29 apartments. The development plan was submitted in May, after one of the buildings was hit last year and was deemed uninhabitable.
Since the strike, the displaced residents have not been living in the building and have been provided with state housing solutions. The second, neighboring structure is also included in the plan and is awaiting demolition as part of the overall redevelopment. Residents were said to have been convinced by the war that new construction with modern protective features was essential.
RENEW said it is already moving the project toward a building permit. Company CEO Avi Peretz said, "Urban renewal has taken on a completely different meaning following the war events," adding that the damaged old buildings exposed the gap between old construction and today's required protection standards. He said the company is working closely with authorities, professionals, and the apartment owners so residents can return to "a new, safe, and higher-quality environment" and, for them, "this is not only the renewal of apartments and buildings, but a return home."
