(Live here with special buildings) - Forget the Mount Carmel hotel - say goodbye to sheltered housing, next to it is an 11-story building • The fight for the Mount Carmel hotel on Sea Road 103 (the intersection of Ilanot and Sea Road) is renewed.
About a week ago, on 06/11/2022, a plan was received by the planning director, according to which a protected housing building will be built on the Mount Carmel hotel, and another building with 11 floors will be built next to the building. The plan renews a long struggle that has lasted over a decade, in the framework of which residents claim that the hotel building is a building intended for preservation and therefore must not be damaged. According to the residents, the developers are trying to get permission to build a building that will be used as sheltered housing, which will change the unique and familiar character of the hotel.
It should be noted that the hotel is a heritage site in Israel. It was established in 1935 and designed by the renowned architect Leopold Krakouer. Over the years the building has been used for several purposes, but in recent years it has been used as a hotel and event center. Since 2013 the hotel has been abandoned.
The plan: sheltered housing of 300 units and an 11-story building next to the main building
The plan for the construction of the Mount Carmel Hotel is referred to as plan 304-1128396, Mount Carmel Hotel - Sheltered Housing Haifa. According to the explanation of the plan, the area of the complex is 10 dunams. A 300-unit sheltered housing will be built in the complex through the addition of building rights and height addition to the building and with reference to the hotel structure. The plan was submitted a week ago.
The plan also states that the goal of the plan is on the one hand to build the sheltered housing structure, but on the other hand to preserve the hotel structure in accordance with the preservation instructions. Again the question arises what does a building for preservation actually mean and whether when a building in Haifa is declared as a building for preservation this protects it from renovation or substantial change. The buildings, which have been determined to be buildings for preservation, are buildings of architectural or historical value and the good of the city and its residents is that we continue to see those buildings and remember the city's glorious past. Opposite the public interest is often the interest of the construction company, which is interested in maximizing profits and is less interested in restrictions on construction due to conservation.
The plan clearly states its main provisions, and that alongside the sheltered housing structure that will be built above the hotel, an 11-story building will be erected.
"2.1. Establishing a protected housing structure while preserving the hotel structure:
- Additional building rights and height.
- Adding main areas and service areas above and below ground
- Adding three floors in a setback above three existing floors
2.2 Construction of a new 11-story wing above a designated entrance."
"We will demand an immediate convening of the conservation committee"
It should be noted, as mentioned, that the fight for what is going to be in place of the Mount Carmel Hotel did not start now, but has been accompanying us for over a decade. In 2012, a compromise was reached following a long residents' struggle, led by the chairman of the Green faction in the city council, Avihu Han, within the framework of which a construction plan was approved that includes two buildings on the condition that they will not be tall, i.e. only 5-6 stories.
"In 2012, after I conducted a long objection process with the residents of Ilanot - Derech Hayam in front of the Haifa District Committee," Han says today, "we reached a compromise under which the construction plan for the Mount Carmel hotel complex was approved, which includes 112 units at heights of only five and six floors. And now, 10 years have passed and the developer is submitting a request to advance a plan that includes 11 floors near one of the most important conservation buildings in Haifa, a plan that will significantly dwarf the conservation values of the building and create a substantial deviation in height compared to the residential buildings on the site.
"I intend to immediately demand a meeting of the conservation committee to discuss the developer's request, to examine the plan in all its aspects," says Han. "In addition, I intend to convene the residents of the area to examine jointly with them, while involving the public ad hoc for an appropriate response to the attempt to deposit this plan without the required coordination."
"It's still congested here, so load more vehicles, damage the beauty of the place and cut down more trees?"
Sara, a resident of West Carmel who is also an environmental activist, was shocked by the intention to build a high-rise that would change the appearance of the place beyond recognition. "There is a fear of additional loading on the infrastructure and the creation of more traffic jams, especially on the Ilanot - Sea Road - Shoshant Carmel route, which is also congested. The construction of 11 floors will damage the urban beauty and the spectacularly beautiful and unique landscape. The danger of cutting down more trees cannot be ignored either. Another issue that bothers me very much , is that the building is intended for preservation and should remain in its original state without change and without additions."
Haifa Municipality: "The recommendations have not yet been formulated"
The municipality stated in response that since the planning process is only at its beginning, the recommendations regarding the proposed design above the building for preservation have not yet been formulated: "A construction plan has not yet been deposited on Sea Route 103, and in any case, it is not about raising the building for preservation to a height of 11 stories."
Western Carmel has become an old man's residence in the last decade
All the young men fled to Kiryat and the Carmel Castle
What remains static are apartment prices,
Once upon a time, whoever lived there was considered a wealthy person
Today it is already more expensive in Neve David and let's not talk about the Carmel Castle which has become a city that attracts young people and families from housing improvements and the prices are at least 20% higher
"From the Western Carmel"
Enough of them
Because of all the various opponents, this is how the city of the "ancestors" looks like
Every project that is supposed to promote and add color to the boring city is met with resistance
That's how Carmel Beach is
So Bat Galim and more and more
I won't be surprised if it turns out that the witch cares about her future and the future of her associates...
How much more sheltered housing is needed in Carmel?
All of Carmel is already a nursing home
Build like in Rishon Lezion - apartments for students or young families of permanently released persons
Who determined that all public land should be given in the Jewish sector to nursing homes?? There are already 50 in Carmel!!
Haifa is a city of elderly people
All the young men ran away
This plan illustrates the difference between right and duty. The promoters have the right to ask for as much as they can think of and dare to do. It is the duty of the municipality to oppose completely and by all means, even if they try to bypass it and submit the plan to the district committee.
This is an addition of 3 floors to the existing building (building for conservation) and in addition to erecting another tower of unusual height nearby. It should be remembered that in the plan that was approved for residences, we obtained, based on the TMA, that the owners of the lot will erect buildings that are 6-7 stories high at the most, as well as a commitment to work to preserve the hotel building that can be used as a hotel or a similar public building. The preservation has not been carried out to this day, and indeed the approved residential buildings are currently under construction. The request The current one is an exception to everything that was decided and the local committee and the conservation committee are forbidden to approve any such exception!