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Photo: AP
Trump. Venturing to Israel
Photo: AP
Elite historic factory. To become museum

Trump to build projects in Israel

Realty tycoon to build 70-story tower in Ramat Gan, invests in new hotel in Netanya

A few years from now, the historic Elite candy factory in Ramat Gan will be replaced with a "Trump Plaza Tower," to be built by real estate tycoon Donald Trump. The building is set to become the tallest in Israel.

 

The site's history will be commemorated by a chocolate museum that will be located in the 70-story tower's lower floors, Israel's leading newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth reported.

 

In the past week, Donald Trump signed two huge realty deals in Israel: a partnership in purchasing the Elite building in Ramat Gan for USD 44 million, and a contract to erect a luxury hotel bearing his name on a sea-side cliff in Netanya.

 

The Strauss-Elite company announced on Wednesday the selling of its famous factory, located in the Elite junction in Ramat Gan, to an American group headed by the former Israeli businessman Sonny Kahn.

 

The plan is to build a tower in place of Elite's old factory, which will include offices in the lower floors and luxury apartments above. The apartments' staring price will stand at one million dollars.

 

Trump regularly grants his name to real estate projects in return for a share of the sales, and sources in the construction industry in Israel believe this is one such deal.

 

Manhattan-like skyline?

 

The Elite factory was built in 1934 and became one of the most recognized buildings in the city, even giving the busy intersection beneath it its name. Strauss-Elite's headquarter offices have occupied the building for the last several years.

 

The tower set to replace the old building is planned to be six floors taller than the currently tallest building in Israel, Sha'ar Ha'ir tower (Hebrew for City Gate), which is located right across the busy intersection.

 

While construction plans for the plot on which the tower is to be built limit its height to only 60 stories, the entrepreneurs plan to obtain the necessary permits for a taller building. "The tower will look as if it's in the heart of Manhattan", said the project's architect Sammy Tito.

 

In another real estate deal, Trump and the Mayor of Netanya, Miriam Feyerberg met this week in Miami, Florida and agreed upon building the first Trump hotel in Israel. The hotel will be part of a huge tourism project consisting of eight hotels and three vacation villages planned to be built in Southern Netanya.

 

Overall, the plan is to build 670 vacation units, and although Trump refrained from disclosing the scope of his investment in the hotel, his projects are normally estimated at hundreds of million of dollars.

 


פרסום ראשון: 03.09.06, 11:00
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