(haipo) – The Grand Canyon, which opened to the public in 1999 and is located in the Neve Sha'anan neighborhood, is one of the most popular shopping centers among Haifa residents.
Update and apology: The architectural firm that designed the Grand Canyon is the Haifa firm M. Oren Architects, and not as was mistakenly written when the article was published.
Brief history
Construction of the mall began in 1996, at the initiative of businessman Gad Zeevi. The first phase of the project was built with an investment of approximately $100 million. This phase of the commercial center, with a total area of approximately 165,000 square meters, opened to the public in 1999.
With the opening of the mall, a struggle began over its operation on Shabbat. The mayor at the time, Amram Mitzna, banned the opening of businesses on Shabbat, with the exception of movie theaters, restaurants, and cafes, whose operations on Shabbat are permitted by law. As a result, among other things, the Luna Grand amusement park, which had been operating in the mall until then, was closed in 2002.
In 2009, the Globus Group cinemas closed, when the lease expired. However, in 2016, a Globus Max cinema opened, which changed hands in 2019 and became Hot Cinema, which still operates there today.
During the years 2009-2010, a Ruppin Interchange was built near the mall, serving as an entrance to the Carmel Tunnels, thus expanding accessibility to the mall.
In early 2010, the mall was estimated to be worth about NIS 600 billion, and it was reported that about XNUMX people visit it each month.
In 2012, full control of the mall was transferred to the Melisron company, controlled by Liora Ofer, which also owns the Hotozot HaMifratz shopping complex and the Kiryon in Kiryat Bialik. Accordingly, the mall has since been called the Ofer Grand Mall.
Mall structure
The mall building, designed by the Haifa-based firm M. Oren Architects, includes three levels of shops and approximately 3000 free parking spaces, spanning a total built-up area of approximately 200,000 square meters.
The southern facade of the building, facing Simcha Golan Road, features one floor – the upper level of shops. The remaining floors of the mall are below road level, visible only on the northern facade, facing the wadi.
The mall has high accessibility for the disabled on all levels. The mix of commercial sectors consists of clothing and footwear stores, electronics and computers, optics, jewelry, pharmacies, cafes and restaurants, fast food, books, a supermarket, and more. In addition, it houses institutes and clinics of the various health funds, a fitness center, the Hot Cinema cinema complex, as mentioned, and more.
Gad Zeevi, the entrepreneur
Gad Ze'evi was born in 1939 on Kibbutz Masada in the Jordan Valley, to parents who immigrated from Serbia (then Russia) in 1932. In 1948, during the War of Independence, his family was evacuated to Haifa, and has since settled in the city and lived in the German colony.
Upon completing his undergraduate studies in aeronautics at the Technion, he joined the family company that dealt with earthworks, and was founded by his father, Yaakov. Among other things, the company carried out infrastructure work in Sinai after the Six-Day War.
In the 70s and 80s, he successfully operated in various businesses in Africa. Towards the end of the 80s, he returned to diverse business activities in Israel and in 1997 began building the Grand Canyon. In the early 2000s, he encountered difficulties in repaying debts he had accumulated due to various acquisitions. Zeevi's total debt to banks in Israel was estimated at about a billion dollars at the time. In the following decade, he engaged in raising funds to repay his debts by selling various assets.
Gad Zeevi, the Philanthropist
In parallel with his extensive and complex business activities, Gad Zeevi also engaged in public and philanthropic activities. In 2000, Zeevi received the "Special Humanitarian Award" from the Allies For his various contributions to the community. According to estimates, Zeevi has donated tens of millions of shekels over the years, including to the Technion, the University of Haifa, Hadassah Hospital, the Weizmann Institute, the Philharmonic Orchestra, the Israeli Opera, the Haifa High School, and a scholarship fund for immigrants from the CIS countries and IDF soldiers.
The Grand Canyon – is it really the most popular in Haifa?
An unscientific survey we conducted during the preparation of the article revealed that the 'Grand Canyon' is very popular among Haifa residents and residents of the region, and several main reasons for this can be listed:
Central location: The Grand Canyon is located in the Neve Sha'anan neighborhood in Haifa, a location that makes it particularly accessible for residents of the city and surrounding areas.
Variety of stores: The mall offers a wide variety of brand stores, cafes and restaurants, cinemas, health services and more, a variety that attracts a large crowd.
Diverse activities: The mall hosts various activities and events, such as "Grand Market" and "Grandstar", which also attract many visitors.
accessibilityThe mall is accessible and easy to get to by public transportation and private vehicle, with the Carmel Tunnels passing nearby also making a significant contribution to its high accessibility.
In addition, the Grand Canyon is one of the largest malls in the northern region, which strengthens its status as a popular shopping and entertainment center for Haifa residents and surrounding areas.
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You can often see people wandering around the parking lot, scanning its length and breadth, looking for where they left their car.
Orientation maps should be installed in parking lots just like on commercial floors.
In addition, it is difficult to distinguish between an exit sign for people (escape) and an exit sign for vehicles.
Thank you for your response, there is indeed a lot to improve. Have a good week!
First of all, there appears to have been an error in the article regarding the name of the designer of the Grand Canyon. The Oren architectural firm from Haifa, consisting of the two Oren sisters and another senior architect from the same firm, is the one that designed the Grand Canyon – a brief examination of the signatories to the application form will verify this.
You can add some information about the period when the Grand Canyon was built.
During the construction period, 4 workers fell to their deaths due to poor adherence to safety regulations at construction sites.
Following the latest incident, the police investigated the two senior partners in the project, who had established a joint company called "R-Dar" for this purpose, after the names of the two partners, one of the largest and most well-known building contractors in the country, with a lot of experience behind them, both of whom have unfortunately passed away.
In addition, and without prejudice to the safety of the building, there were 5 incidents of acoustic plasterboard ceilings collapsing in 5 stores in the mall, some before the mall opened and some after, and fortunately no injuries were caused. In one large store, the entire ceiling collapsed 5 minutes after the store closed – the store employees who remained inside heard “strange” noises from the collapsing ceiling and immediately ran outside a second before the entire ceiling collapsed.
Regarding the acoustic problem in public areas - the noise level can be minimized by installing acoustic panels on the ceiling, grading the flat ceiling, and hanging sound-absorbing accessories from the ceiling.
Regarding the parking levels - there is no appropriate signage and no proper direction to the various parking lots, which causes great confusion among drivers, both in the directions of entry, in the directions of exit in the desired direction, and in locating the parking space - professional planning activity by a traffic consultant at an appropriate level is required.
The polymer layer coating applied at a later stage to the floor in parking lots is indeed attractive and even easier to clean, but the oil stains that drip from cars and/or rainwater that penetrates through the openings in the building facades create dangerous "slip surfaces," and there have been cases of falls and broken legs due to these defects.
The lack of staffed information centers for visitors to the large mall is also noticeable.
There is indeed something to improve in the Grand Canyon structure.
Oren Architects I wouldn't run to claim credit for the ugliest building in Carmel.
An inferno of failed planning, terrible acoustics, constant confusion, and external ugliness.
Thank you for your response and especially for drawing attention to the mistake in the architect's name. I would appreciate it if you could send me details about M. Oren Architects (in private). Have a good week!
Everything is true, but what is said is that residents of the city and the surrounding area spend most of their time at the Grand, but what is more accurate is that residents of Haifa, Nosh, Carmel, and Hadar spend their time at the Grand.
This article completely ignores the appalling state of cleanliness of the place.
The entrance is full of dirt. The entrance floor is full of black stains. Cigarettes. Bags, etc.
The walls at the entrance and the escalators are filthy.
Disgusting maintenance at the place. I personally stay away from the place.
A beautiful article about the Grand Canyon and of course about the Grand's developer and founder. Gad Zeevi.
Thanks for your comment, have a good week!
You forgot to write that this is the dirtiest mall in the country. At the time I complained, but nothing helped. The parking lots are dirty. The glass in the elevators hasn't been cleaned in a long time. The toilets are dirty. Maybe Ofer's manager will do something. This is a disgrace.
Thank you for your response, the articles in this section are intended to recount the history of the personal buildings involved and not to criticize them. But your criticism is welcome!
There's only one problem with the Grand Canyon that I don't visit there: it has very strong acoustic reflections, so if the canyon is packed or fully occupied, the volume of people's voices can exceed 100 decibels and be dangerous to the ears.
Thank you for your response. This is an inherent problem in every mall because of the many glass surfaces - the store windows - that reflect sounds in all directions.
You are so right. There is terrible noise there. And the games on the first floor add even more noise. At 11 am you can't walk around there... The third floor is deafening... because of the food and the people sitting there.
Thank you, my friend Hadar David Bar-On, for this article of yours.
Indeed, this information is reliable. All your wonders are not yet finished, as the song says. These days, the Haifa District Committee is considering a proposal to add 4 floors to the Grand, and if approved, the building will become 7 floors. Happy and blessed Shabbat.
Thank you very much for your response, we hope that the district committee will examine the proposal in a professional, non-political manner.
The most disgusting and confusing mall in Israel
I haven't set foot there in recent years, and I even switched health plans from the one that decided to settle there.
Thank you for your response, Shabbat Shalom!