Investment in the construction of the new project is estimated at $150 million. Commercial space will be rented at $40 to $80 per square meter.
Famous international brands that are set to open stores in the new complex include Rolex, H. Stern, Ralph Lauren, Bebe, and Tommy Hilfiger. Israeli brands will include Castro, Ronen Chen, Steimatzky and others.
During the 1970's, Teddy Kollek, the late mayor, promoted a plan to turn the slum of Mamila into an upscale residential and commercial area but development was hindered by legal, bureaucratic and Halachic obstacles. Thirty-five years later, it is finally completed.
The open space mall is marketed as a prime shopping district, similar to New York City's Fifth Ave. "It is a bridge between the Old and the new parts of Jerusalem," says Shmuel Ben-Moshe, CEO of the Alrov real estate company, which built the project, "a bridge between the religions."