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Jordache Enterprises Israel bought the abandoned property next door to the hotel for about $5.7 million.
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Sources inform ”Globes” that Jordache Enterprises Israel Ltd., owned by the Nakash brothers have bought the unused hotel opposite Eilat’s underwater observatory for $5.7 million .
The hotel, next door to the Nakash’s Orchid Hotel, has stood empty since it was built in 1990s, and is known as a local white elephant.In the 1990s, Derech Ha’arava Ltd., owned by contractor Yehuda Katav and partners bought an abandoned two-floor commercial building on the site, with the idea of redeveloping it into commercial center and 160-room hotel.
The Eilat Planning and Building Commission approved the plan and rezoning of the lot in 1999, as part of a plan to develop Eilat’s southern beach. However, the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel and Israel Nature and Parks Authority filed objections on the grounds that the plan would damage the environment of the corals at the adjacent beach, and that the city’s tourism development should be concentrated on the north shore. After the Regional Planning and Development Commission approved the plan in 2008, despite the objections, the public protest reached the Knesset. In 2011, then-Minister of the Interior Eli Yishai approved the plan, with the support of then-Minister of Tourism Stas Misezhnikov, over the objections by then-Minister of Environmental Protection Gilad Erdan.
The Nakash brothers bought the property from Katav after years of negotiations, and will use the lot to expand the Orchid Hotel.
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Orchid Hotel in Eilat, Israel
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The Eilat Municipality told “Globes” today that, since the local planning commission approved the plan, the abandoned building is an eyesore and environmental hazard. “For these reasons, the local commission believed at the time to recommend to the regional commission to approve the developer’s request to add floors, ” said the municipality. “The fact that, many years after the local committee’s recommendations, the building is still abandoned, justifies the commission’s decision. The decision was taken in part because the lot is already zoned for a hotel and it is adjacent to the Orchid Hotel, which also has additional building rights.”
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news – www.globes-online.com
