Timberland Founders Buy Jerusalem Apartment for Record 48 Million Shekels

The highest-priced apartment sale in Jerusalem this year reached 48 million shekels. In March, Sidney and Judith Schwartz, founders of the Timberland fashion brand, purchased a 307-square-meter apartment with an equally sized rooftop and a 74-square-meter balcony. The property is located in the Mishkenot HaTeatron complex on Shopen Street, opposite the Jerusalem Theater, developed by the Hassid Brothers company.

The residential project includes three buildings with 42 apartments and a boutique hotel operated by the MGallery chain, featuring 73 rooms and suites. Apartment owners have access to hotel amenities such as an indoor pool, spa, gym, restaurant, and synagogue. The price reflects a value of approximately 111,000 shekels per square meter when including the rooftop and balcony, surpassing previous transactions in the same project, which averaged around 100,000 shekels per square meter.

According to Israel Tax Authority data, only one transaction in Jerusalem in the past three years was more expensive: a British Jewish couple paid 62 million shekels for a 437-square-meter penthouse on Dubnov Street, near the iconic Villa Sherover. The price paid by the Schwartzes also exceeds the amount the Hassid Brothers paid to the Israel Land Authority for the project land in 2009, which was 36.3 million shekels. Additional costs were incurred due to requirements to build a parking lot for theater visitors, develop a nearby grove, improve a junction, and create pedestrian access to the theater.

Most of the project’s apartments have been sold, with four remaining. The hotel opened gradually in early 2023 but was converted to shelter displaced people during the recent war; it is scheduled to reopen to the public in June 2025. Sidney Schwartz, 90, co-founded Timberland with his father Nathan and led the company until 1998, when management passed to his son Jeffrey. In 2011, Timberland was sold to VF Corporation for $2.3 billion. The Schwartzes have contributed to medical and stem cell research centers at Hadassah Ein Kerem. Jeffrey Schwartz chairs the Israeli leadership organization Ma'oz.