100 plans currently being promoted are set to dramatically change the city centers of Gush Dan. These are plans for Metro stations and their surroundings, the subway system that will pass beneath the Greater Tel Aviv metropolitan region, which will include 300,000 housing units in the most densely populated area in the country.
One of the most advanced such plans, on Ahuza Street – the main thoroughfare in Ra’anana, will increase the number of housing units around the planned station by hundreds of percent. Anyone trying to understand the magnitude of the revolution that will take place here in a decade or two can look at the numbers for Ra’anana city center.
The plan in Raanana is being promoted around the M1 metro line, which will reach Tel Aviv, via Glilot and Herzliya, and cross Raanana beneath Ahuza Street. The station will be built at the corner of Ahuza and Ben Gurion Streets.
The area currently has 3,177 housing units in buildings ranging in height from old ground-level houses to individual seven-floor buildings (most of the latter have passed TAMA 38 earthquake strengthening). Most of the residential buildings in the area are old 2-4-floor buildings. The area also has about 46,000 square meters of commercial space. Currently, the area does not operate as an urban main business center.
The plan proposes transforming the area with a comprehensive urban renewal plan based on demolishing existing buildings and rebuilding much biggest structures. The number of housing units will increase by 160% and reach almost 8,400 apartments, in buildings of 8-16 floors; The area will also have 45,000 square meters of office space, and 40,000 square meters of commercial space.
An increase of hundreds of percent
This is an increase in construction by hundreds of percent, which will of course also affect the number of residents in the area, which is currently about 5,100, most of whom are elderly. In the future, with the implementation of the plan, the number of residents will increase to about 20,000.
A private company on behalf of the National Planning Commission, which is promoting the plan, held information conferences for residents of the area, and has even conducted a social survey among local residents. The survey revealed, among other things, that there is uncertainty among residents about the benefits they will receive. Some prefer to wait for the plan to mature, some look to the future and believe that the ownership of the apartments will change (probably heirs who will take their place), while others who rent out apartments fear that tenants will be deterred in the coming years, knowing that the area is going to undergo a very long process of demolition and reconstruction. The National Planning Commission, which is handling the plan, held roundtable discussions last month to focus on solving existing problems in order to continue promoting the plan. The timetables for promoting the plan are considered very fast by Israeli planning standards, and it is expected to be approved by the end of next year.
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“Many rights holders”
Will all this happen? Real estate professionals working in the area are warning of the complexity of the plan. Kobi Arditi, CEO of RMA from the Ram-Moghrabi-Arditi Group, which operates in two areas in the Ahuza Street area, explains that the complexity of the renewal in the Ahuza area stems from the scope of the plan, and in particular from the current situation on the ground.
He says, “We are talking about a plan that extends over an area of about 2 kilometers along the metro, with many rights holders. In the current situation, there are apartments, shops, offices, parking lots, warehouses, halls and other areas with a unique designation in the area. The plan must provide a solution for all of this.”
Adv. Yaron Shlomovitz of the Shlomovitz-Sorkine & Co. law firm, which represents rights holders in the area, emphasizes the compensation and benefits that will be provided to the owners. “There are property owners on Ahuza Street and on the nearby streets who own significant portions of the common property, such as parking lots and commercial stores. They enjoy stable income from rents or user fees, while the plan could harm their income. At the same time, the apartment owners are expected to deal with the consequences of increasing density and the number of neighbors.” If all of this is not taken into account, Shlomowitz warns, there will be a lot of objections that could delay the plans.
The Ahuza Street station are is, as mentioned, just one example of 100 plans currently being promoted in the cities surrounding Tel Aviv. In the coming years, dozens more plans will move forward, each of which will involve a local transformation, and it must be assumed that all of them will also be accompanied by local struggles and legal proceedings.
The planned Metro includes three lines, with a total length of 145 kilometers and with 109 stations, in 24 municipalities in the Tel Aviv area. The target date for the opening of the Metro is still 2037, but it is clear to everyone that it could be later. The national outline plan TAMA 70, which supports the Metro lines, defines areas of influence around the Metro routes and stations, which are supposed to undergo a radical change, which will be reflected in a very large addition of housing units, commercial, public and office space.
Published by Globes, Israel business news – en.globes.co.il – on July 28, 2026.
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