Haifa Bay changes its face: Complexes 3 and 4 in the massive plan approved - "Another significant step"
The National Council for Planning and Building has approved the guidelines for environmental impact reports for complexes 3 and 4 in TAMA 75. The plan includes over 4,750 apartments, millions of square meters for employment and industry, a huge metropolitan park, and a new arena.
The National Council for Planning and Building approved on Tuesday the guidelines for preparing environmental impact reports for complexes 3 and 4 in TAMA 75 - the "Bay Gate" plan promoted by the Israel Land Authority. The approval allows for the continued advancement of the two complexes, which together include more than 4,750 housing units, millions of square meters of employment, industrial, and commercial areas, a vast metropolitan park, and a new multi-purpose arena.
These are two of the four planning complexes of the National Outline Plan for Haifa Bay. Complexes 1 and 2 were already discussed about two months ago, and now the planning of the two remaining complexes is moving to the next stage.
TAMA 75 is intended to extensively change the Haifa Bay area, among other things by clearing the existing industrial areas in the oil refineries zone, establishing new residential and employment areas, developing open spaces, and improving the transport connection between Haifa, the Krayot, and the nearby settlements.
Complex 3: About 8 million square meters for employment, industry, and commerce
Complex 3 spans an area of about 5,800 dunams in the heart of the Haifa metropolis and includes the area of the oil refineries being vacated, Chutzot HaMifratz, and the employment area within the jurisdiction of Kiryat Ata. The plan proposes about 8 million square meters of built-up area in the complex intended for advanced industry, employment, commerce, entertainment, and leisure.
In the area of the oil refineries being vacated, about 3 million square meters of advanced industry, crafts, employment, and commerce are planned. According to the plan, plots of various sizes will be determined in the place to allow the entry of companies and industries of different types.
In addition, a "metropolis heart" is planned - a public hub for entertainment and leisure with a scope of about 1.1 million square meters, which will include, among other things, a fair and exhibition center, an urban square, office buildings, and centers for community activity.
Alongside the built-up complex, an open urban axis is planned that will connect the parts of the area from north to south and will include sports and leisure facilities as well as a post-industrial park, where reuse will be made of some of the industrial facilities existing today.
In Chutzot HaMifratz, industrial and employment renewal is planned on a scale of about 2.8 million square meters, alongside the regulation of the urban network, the addition of open spaces, and the increase of building rights. In this area, the construction of about 3,000 housing units is also enabled.
The plan is promoted by the Israel Land Authority in cooperation with the Planning Administration. The editors of the plan are the firm "Bar Levy Architects" headed by architect Eden Bar, and the project management is entrusted to the company AVIV.
Complex 4: A park of more than 5,000 dunams and 1,750 apartments
Complex 4 spans about 10,000 dunams and includes the renewal of the Check Post area, the establishment of a new logistics park with a rail branch in proximity to the Port of Haifa, and a metropolitan park with an area of more than 5,000 dunams around the Kishon River. Within the framework of the complex, leisure and recreation areas and a new multi-purpose arena are also planned.
The plan also includes a new integrated transport complex at the Yagur junction, where several mass transit means will connect, and it is supposed to serve as a southern gate to the new Haifa Bay space. In addition, two regulation sites for managing runoff in the Kishon River basin are included in the planning - near the Yagur interchange and within the metropolitan park.
In total, the plan proposes in complex 4 more than 5.8 million square meters for industrial, employment, and logistics uses, alongside about 1,750 housing units in mixed-use within the framework of the renewal of the Histadrut Street area. The street itself is expected to undergo an upgrade with the goal of turning it into a more accessible and walkable urban space. The planning and project management are led by architects Ari Cohen and Irad Shomroni from the firm "Cohen Wind & Co. Architecture and Urban Planning".
Next stage: Environmental reports and detailed planning
The approval of the National Council marks the continued transition from the strategic planning of TAMA 75 to more detailed work on the complexes. In the last two years, the editors' committee has completed work on the planning skeleton of the space and on locating the areas needed for infrastructure. Now, detailed planning and environmental impact reports are expected to advance, alongside professional meetings on the various issues. After that, the plan is expected to return for a summary discussion in the editors' committee.
Acting Director of the Israel Land Authority, Yehuda Eliyahu, said that the plan is expected to "change the quality of life in Haifa Bay from end to end," and defined the clearing of polluting industry from the oil refineries area and its replacement with innovation, leisure, and residential hubs as an "environmental and urban revolution."
Director General of the Planning Administration, Rafi Elmaliach, stated that the approval of the guidelines for complexes 3 and 4 is "another significant step" in promoting the plan, which is intended to combine urban development with environmental rehabilitation and create a new space for housing, employment, commerce, logistics, and open spaces.
Director of the Senior Division for Planning and Projects at the Israel Land Authority, Einav Ringler, noted that the approval of the guidelines reflects the continued promotion of the plan as a new urban, economic, and employment hub, and that the goal is to create thousands of housing units, workplaces, and commercial hubs in the Haifa Bay area.
