After many years of planning and delays, Givat Hamatos is finally moving forward as the newest neighborhood in central Jerusalem. Givat Hamatos, which means Airplane Hill, was named in memory of pilot Dan Givon, who was killed when his airplane was downed on this hilltop in the 1967 Six Day War.
Located west of Derech Chevron in southern Jerusalem, between Gilo to the south and Talpiot to the north, Givat Hamatos is infused with Jewish history, as archaeologists have discovered remains of buildings and relics from the period of the Second Temple, which stood from 516 BCE until 70 CE.
After its liberation in 1967, Givat Hamatos remained vacant and neglected for almost 25 years. In 1991, the site was outfitted with 400 caravans and housed Ethiopian immigrants who were airlifted to Israel in Operation Solomon.
Givat Hamatos will have 2,600 apartments. Another 2,400 residential units will be built adjacent to this neighborhood along Derech Chevron, plus 5,000 units are being planned in Amat Hamayim, on the eastern side of Derech Chevron next to Kibbutz Ramat Rachel. This 10,000-unit community will be Jerusalem's first modern urban-planned neighborhood, and will feature large parks, a wealth of public buildings - such as schools, community centers and shuls - plus shopping centers, office buildings and hotels. We are thrilled to watch this corner of Jerusalem roar back to life as a large and flourishing center of activity.
The new neighborhood will have excellent public transportation via the Light Rail’s Blue Line, which is under construction. The line will start in Gilo and have multiple stations along Derech Chevron. The trains will stop at a large station to be constructed next to the First Station, where the high-speed train to Tel Aviv will begin. The light rail will then wind its way through the City Center, past the Har Hotzvim high-tech hub, and end in Ramot.
In addition, Derech Chevron has numerous bus lines, offering access to all sections of Jerusalem and beyond. Finally, a new road from Givat Hamatos will be built to access nearby Begin Boulevard, offering residents a quick getaway from the city.
We feel fortunate to be involved in the beautifully designed Givat Hamatos project called Aderet Yerushalayim. It will be built to extremely high technical specifications, and offer a host of modern amenities, including underfloor heating pumps and VRF air conditioning systems.
This situation harkens us back to 2012, when we did the presales at nearby Savyoney Arnona located in the southern tip of Arnona. Savyoney Arnona, a 10-minute walk from Givat Hamatos, was the first project built in a new 800-unit community. Our clients, who yearned to buy in Jerusalem but were priced out of the market, were able to purchase an apartment at half the price of new projects in the capital's fanciest neighborhoods. Today, the southern end of Arnona, which was literally a meadow when we commenced sales a dozen years ago, is a thriving community and has attracted many Anglo families.
We are delighted to replicate that story and offer buyers this relatively affordable Jerusalem opportunity. The first apartments will be priced at just under 30,000 NIS per sqm, or half the price of apartments being sold in Jerusalem's most fashionable neighborhoods.
The combination of location, communal infrastructure, superb building amenities, excellent public transportation, outstanding demographics, and reasonable pricing leads us to believe that Givat Hamatos will be the next big success story in Jerusalem real estate.
Gedaliah Borvick is the founder of My Israel Home (www.myisraelhome.com), a real estate agency focused on helping people from abroad buy and sell homes in Israel. To sign up for his monthly market updates, contact him at gborvick@gmail.com.