Tel Aviv Court Orders Refusing Owners to Sign Givatayim Pinui-Binui Project
The Tel Aviv District Court ordered four Givatayim apartment owners to sign a pinui-binui project agreement within 30 days, rejecting claims of unfair compensation and ruling their refusal unreasonable.
The Tel Aviv District Court recently ruled in favor of a lawsuit filed against the owners of four apartments in Givatayim who refused to join an urban renewal project. Judge Limor Bibi determined that although an error occurred regarding the apartment areas stated in the agreement, it does not justify the refusal. She ordered the opponents to sign the agreement within 30 days and ordered them to pay 41,000 shekels in legal costs.
At the center of the case is an aging apartment building constructed in 1974 on HaMa'avak Street in Givatayim, comprising 32 apartments. In 2016, the apartment owners began promoting an urban renewal project, initially planned under TMA 38 and later converted to a demolition-and-construction (pinui-binui) project, involving the demolition of the existing structure and the construction of a residential tower with up to 96 apartments.
In January 2022, owners of 28 apartments signed the urban renewal agreement, while the remaining four refused. In November 2024, a lawsuit was filed asking the District Court to authorize the project's execution without their signatures. The four argued they do not oppose the project itself, but rather the compensation offered, claiming they are disadvantaged. According to them, their actual apartment area is about 68 square meters, whereas the agreement stated 60 square meters. They added that they were not adequately compensated for unused building rights for apartment expansions, estimating cumulative economic damage at half a million shekels per apartment.
Conversely, project supporters argued that compensations were determined equitably and that increasing them could undermine the project's economic viability. Judge Bibi rejected the opponents' claims, relying partly on an opinion by a court-appointed appraiser. She noted that while an error existed in the agreement listing small apartments as 60 square meters instead of 68, the owners are guaranteed new apartments with a fixed area of 78 square meters, rather than an addition calculated based on the old apartment size. She dismissed the demand for larger apartments and ordered them to sign within 30 days, or else project lawyers will be authorized to sign on their behalf.
