Tel Aviv District Committee Moves Amos Maimon's Bat Yam Tower Project Away from Coastline
A hotel tower planned by real estate developer Amos Maimon in Bat Yam will no longer be built near the shoreline as originally designed. The Tel Aviv District Subcommittee for Objections decided to transfer the building rights to another plot owned by Maimon in the western part of the city, farther from the coast and cliff. This unusual move in the planning system aims to protect the coastal environment.
Maimon owns 14.5 dunams of private land on Bat Yam's cliff edge, part of an old master plan approved before Israel's Coastal Law was enacted. Current regulations prohibit new construction within 300 meters of the shoreline, making the original plan for a 46-story residential tower unfeasible. The district committee altered the project to a 24-story hotel tower with two residential floors, approving it for deposit in September 2022. The Coastal Environment Protection Committee surprisingly approved the height in 2024 despite environmental concerns.
The environmental group Adam Teva V'Din (ATD) filed further objections, leading to the rare solution of transferring building rights from the coastal plot to another site at 101-103 Ben Gurion Street. There, Maimon can build a 24-story residential tower, while the original coastal site will host a three-story commercial building open to the public, preserving sea views. ATD praised the district committee's decision but criticized the Coastal Committee for approving the plan without significant efforts to reduce public and environmental harm.
ATD emphasized that legal and planning obstacles to transferring rights were overstated by planning bodies, and this case proves that balanced solutions protecting both developer rights and public interests are possible. Attorney Ortal Snaker from ATD highlighted the importance of preserving public coastal areas amid climate change and rising sea levels. Yaal Dori, ATD's planning head, expressed hope that this decision will encourage planning authorities to adopt more creative approaches to outdated plans that damage the environment and public access.
