The Jerusalem District Planning and Building Commission has approved for deposit (Monday) the updated construction plans for the US Embassy complexes in Jerusalem.
One compound for the embassy will be located on an area of about 31 dunams, in the compound of the streets through Hebron to the west, Hanoch Albeck to the east and Daniel Janowski to the south, adjacent to the blue line of the Light Rail.
The plan proposes the construction of a 10-story office building and an additional 4-story staff building.
The location of the complex along the Hebron Road was chosen among other things due to the fact that it is adjacent to the Light Rail axis (the blue line), which will be an intensive urban axis, combining housing, employment and commerce.
The second compound for the embassy will be located on an area of approximately 74 dunams, in the compound of David Flusser, Kurtz Street, Kfar Etzion Street and the slopes of the Arnona neighborhood.
In the planned area there is a US Consulate complex that includes office buildings and a building that was previously used by the Diplomat Hotel. The plan offers an extension of the existing 5-story Consulate building, a building for faculty housing and a 4-story multiple uses building.
The plan emphasizes the interface of the complexes with their surroundings, and set out, among other things, instructions for widening the sidewalks, gardening and planting trees, walking paths and bicycle paths.
In addition, the committee set guidelines for changes in construction aimed at preserving the existing mature trees in the complex. In light of the importance and sensitivity of these complexes, the provisions of the plans stipulated that a condition for the permit would be the presentation of the application and the construction plan before the District Committee.
Shira Talmei-Babai, planning director of the Jerusalem District, noted that “Beyond strengthening the city’s status as the capital of Israel, it is a construction that is a lever for the growth and development of thousands of jobs, an engine for promoting diplomacy, visits and travel to the city and encouraging international discourse on the importance of the capital of Israel.”
The central location of the embassy on an approved Light Rail axis, intended for intensive construction, “will add a focus of economic activity and intensify the trend of mixing uses,” Talmei Babai added.
