The Jerusalem District Planning and Construction Committee has approved the program to expand the Hamashbir building in the capital, which includes the addition of 98 apartments. WeWork, which currently rents two floors of office space in the building, is expected to rent the apartments and operate the WeLive system.
The preparations for the first residential complex in Israel have been made. The Jerusalem District Planning and Construction Committee had approved the plan of the Israeli Land Development Company to add construction rights to the Hamashbir building of the company in Jerusalem, where the main tenant is WeWork. As part of this plan, the building will be constructed from four to ten floors and will include 2,200 m² of office space, 4,300 m² of commercial premises, and 98 housing units. The offices will double.
The old Hamashbir building in Jerusalem is one of the most well-known buildings in the city. The building was constructed in 1970 and is considered to have an outdated and opaque design that does not characterize the commercial areas of the downtown. The new plan will therefore completely change the design of the building. The area of the plot of land on which Hamashbir is located is 1.7 dunams. It is situated in the downtown area, at 20 King George Street, near the red line of the tram.
WeWork announced in 2016 its intention to open its first workspace in Jerusalem in the Hamashbir building in 2017. The new complex offers space for 400 users and includes offices designed to serve as a study place for Haredi women in the high-tech sector. WeWork states that the new complex includes a variety of tenants that reflect the mix of the population living in the city.
It is estimated that WeWork will rent the additional offices to be added to the building, as well as an additional 2,200 m², which will double the existing offices, along with the planned residential area, which will include 98 small apartments, of which 80 will be studio apartments of up to 45 m².
The complex is expected to allow WeWork to build its largest space to date in Israel, covering an area of over 12,000 square meters, and will include for the first time a cooperative residence. The WeLive collaborative housing project was first launched in 2016 in Manhattan, New York, and then opened in Arlington, Virginia. Additionally, the Tel Aviv municipality had given the green light to WeWork and the Azrieli Group to promote a project to build a cooperative residential project in a 17-story tower located on Begin Road.
The cooperative residential model is primarily aimed at young people, allowing them to rent an apartment and benefit from the accompanying services that characterize the company. Common spaces are offered, including a kitchen and a shared meeting space, a laundry room, and a gym. Furthermore, residents are invited to enjoy events and community life. The residential complex will be built within the offices so that tenants can work and live in the same place.
The rental model is similar to that of workspaces, whereby the tenant does not commit for a long period. The model aligns with the Jerusalem municipality’s policy for small apartments in the downtown area, as part of the trend to transform the downtown into an area characterized by a mix of commercial, hotel, professional, and residential uses, especially for young people housed in small apartments.
In order to encourage housing in the downtown area without burdening the infrastructure, the municipality allows the construction of small apartments with a maximum area of 45 square meters, without the need to create additional parking spaces.
WeWork is an international company founded in 2010 by Israeli entrepreneur Adam Neumann and Miguel McKelvey. The company currently has work centers in Beer Sheva, Haifa, Herzliya, Tel Aviv, and Jerusalem. The company has 77 branches worldwide and employs 268,000 people.
The building was designed by the architects Kolker-Kolker-Epstein.
