Last update - 00:00 25/02/2008
There goes the neighborhood, courtesy of Leviev
By Ranit Nahum-Halevy
Lev Leviev is making moves that would change the very character of Savyon, and the residents of the well-to-do community don't like it one bit. They fear that Leviev's development program, which he's handling through his company Africa Israel, will - to be blunt - ruin the neighborhood.
A group of residents who fear that Africa Israel's plan to market 290 dunams, zoned for the establishment of 200 houses (not apartment buildings) will lower the value of their properties, not to mention their standard of living, are suing for compensation. Leviev and company managers take the allegations as an insult at best, and as extortion at worst.
Savyon is considered to be one of Israel's most affluent towns. It has a population of 3,500, many of whom are household-name business tycoons and celebrities. Life is good in Savyon.
It's also true that the spiking luxury-property prices in the last couple of years largely passed it by. "Savyon was affected by the upswing in prices, but to a lesser degree compared with other high-class areas," says Guy Leshem, a real estate consultant at the Tuvia Leshem Real Estate Agency.
A 500-square meter house on a 1.5-dunam lot with a swimming pool will run to $2.5 million in Savyon (based on $4,300 per square meter), while land in the town sells for $800 to $1,500 per square meter.
Moving on to next-door Herzliya Pituach, for example, prices per square meter of land run at $2,000 to $3,000, while in nearby Kfar Shmaryahu and Arsuf you're going to pay even more. That's before you've laid down a single brick. Real estate experts say that Savyon's weak points compared with these expensive sisters are its distance from the sea and the relatively low demand by foreign residents, who had been to a large degree responsible for the spiraling prices in other well-to-do areas.
In short, what you have in Savyon is the opportunity to build a house in a classy town for rather less than it might cost next door. Moreover, Africa Israel is selling the land, not an organized, completed project. You buy the land and build the house on it as you please, at your own pace. Africa Israel does offer construction and architectural services if you want them, but if you feel like taking 10 years to build, so be it. And therefore what you have in Savyon is a town where people came for the standard of living, only to find themselves in (potentially) a perpetual construction site.
A group of families living right next door to the 290-dunam area in Savyon's south-east, where some works are already in progress, has been desperately fighting Leviev's plan. Each lot for sale is half to one dunam in area, which is tiny compared with the rest of the town, where each house sits on 1.25 to 5 dunams. Leviev is hawking the land for $1,500 per dunam.
Some 20 families, say 800 people, will be moving into the town and living at a different standard from the rest of the residents. In other words Africa Israel is increasing Savyon's population by about 20% to 25%, with less prosperous people.
"We were the first to move to Savyon," says one woman who's suing via the local planning council for compensation (in this respect, planning council appeals committees have the powers of a court).
"We wanted a quiet place with fresh air. Back then this was an uncultivated field, wildflowers, birds, hedgehogs. But in the last four months our lives have been destroyed. They're selling 200 lots. Who knows when it will end? I'm not even talking about the loss of value of our property. I'm talking about real impairment of our standard of living."
"I left Savyon two-and-a-half years ago," says Zalman Shmerling, who moved to Kiryat Ono. "After 30 years of living in rural village conditions, quiet, pastoral, with a view of the Judean hills, one morning we woke up to find ourselves on a construction site. They built a road right next to my bedroom. Bulldozers and heavy machinery were constantly passing. Life became intolerable. All we wanted was to get away."
Shmerling sold his house, which sat on a 1.25-dunam lot, for $930,000, despite an appraisal of $1.2 million. Why? Because nobody would pay its true value, he says, and his family decided that their quality of life was more important than money.
Twenty-three families live in the homes bordering on the project area, on Hatomer, Hahadas and Shalva streets. They have sued in court and their case is pending at the district planning committee. Their main claim is that when the plan was approved four years ago, the value of their properties plunged by about 15%. The reason for the fall, they claim, is that the new development would block the view, not to mention impair their privacy, create traffic congestion and safety hazards, and cause ecological damage. Erez Cohen, an assessor acting on their behalf, estimated the compensation for 10 families at $1.7 million, ranging from $100,000 to $232,000 each.
They knew full well that expanding Savyon was a matter of time, says Hillel Merari, who lives on Hatomer street. "But it was agreed that construction wouldn't create a nuisance for the residents. They aren't fulfilling their part of the agreement so we demand compensation. You can't stop development, but on the other hand, Africa (Israel) is making millions at our expense. The company has land for 300 lots, which it's selling for $700,000 to $1.5 million. The compensation we're asking for is peanuts to them."
The residents sued for compensation at the local planning committee in 2005, then at the district planning committee, under Article 197, which is based on impaired property value. Both committees rejected their claims, arguing that the projects actually better the town, mainly as far as infrastructure is concerned.
If anything, the committees saw an increase in value, and didn't agree that the works created ecological damage or a hazard. There is a nuisance from the construction works, the higher appeals committee wrote, "but that's part of the price of living in modern society."
Shmerling wonders if the committees weren't quailing before the might of Africa Israel. "You have to understand that in Savyon, there are a lot of powerful people and politics," he says. "Scratch my back and I'll scratch yours. Savyon is a mini-Israel."
Savyon-Ganei Yehuda council chieftain Romemia Segal-Halevy rebuts that it took Africa Israel 10 years to get approval for its plan, and added that the council has no political agenda.
"Africa Israel tried to frighten Savyon and say that if the project wasn't approved, high-rises would go up. It's all nonsense," says Merari. "We were told that the heavy machinery would come through the entrance by Yehud, but the council isn't making sure that happens. Smadar Street is the main road and it's been blocked off. Why? Maybe because two council members live on the original route. A lot of vested interests are involved."
Not so, says Segal-Halevy: Africa Israel did bring the heavy machinery via the Yehud entrance and when it didn't, it was fined and sometimes locked out.
Both sides, Africa Israel and the residents, are armed to the teeth with lawyers. The residents tried their luck at the district court, which in mid-2007 simply batted the case back to the planning council.
Africa Israel says that it has no idea what all the fuss is about. Crowding? Nonsense. "We asked for units of a dunam or more but were forced to adapt the plan to the policy of the planning bodies, which require a density of five units per dunam," the company explains, adding that it would be more lucrative for them to sell less but bigger plots.
Impaired value? "The company stipulates a high standard of public development and requires all purchasers to build quickly," the company goes on, to refute the claims that the residents will suffer the heavy machinery and banging for years on end. It started marketing the lots a month ago and has sold 35 so far. It's considering designating certain areas, for example creating one for ex-ambassadors, another for Savyon residents who want another home in the town. If anything, Africa Israel argues, it will be bringing in quality people who will raise value, not lower it.
Ecological problems and safety hazards? Pooh: Africa Israel says it's building a central sewage system in Savyon and will hook up the residents to the regional sewage system. At present the system in the town is septic tanks.
In short, Africa Israel sums up, the residents have no grounds to sue and are being petty, if not blatantly extortionist. They're trying it on.
What's sure is that the project is going to happen, and the only question that remains is how it will affect the community. Africa Israel says for the better. The residents fear the worst. Only time will tell.