[Elkhanan1]

Taken 2 days ago from Yehudit bridge, the stripe pattern was surprisingly visible and quite interesting

View attachment 788340

View attachment 788355

Looks great except for...

 

[FelixMadero]

ps: I'm so sad with what they are doing in the Midtown Residential Tower: CLOSING BALCONIES! We'll have 180m tall shikunim????

 

[Snoy]

For a second I didn't see any, and hoped you are wrong, but there they are at the top levels. Pretty ugly...

 

[matrix2020]

WeWork will soon move in to the tower.
They will occupy 9 floors.

מנכ״ל WeWork בישראל: "עזריאלי היו שמחים לו ביקשנו לצאת מהחוזה"

הקורונה החלישה את שוק המשרדים, אך בנג'י זינגר דבק בתוכנית להתפרס בקרוב על 9 קומות בשטח 15 אלף מ״ר בעזריאלי טאון בת"א: “קיבלנו תנאים טובים ולא נוותר עליהם. השינוי שעשינו הוא להתאים את השטח לחברות גדולות"

www.calcalist.co.il

 

[Saturn]

ps: I'm so sad with what they are doing in the Midtown Residential Tower: CLOSING BALCONIES! We'll have 180m tall shikunim????

It's a major problem with tall buildings facing west in Israel. Same thing is happening at Gindi. People want the sea view, but forget there's a cost of direct sunlight during most of the day.
So instead of closing balconies like in older times, they find "creative" solutions in the shape of permanent shades fit onto a fixed frame that covers the whole balcony. It's a disgrace.

 

[matrix2020]

It is also stupid.
Aren't apartments with a sea view more expensive?
So they are paying for something that can't use anyway and even have to pay extra to block?

 

[matrix2020]

On a practical note, I think a good solution could be some kind of a "smart glass".
You know the kind that can change transparency.
If you are already paying so much for an apartment in a tower with a sea view in Tel Aviv center, surely you can pay a bit extra if you want to enjoy sunrise and not to suffer from too much sun during summer.

 

[Elkhanan1]

A good solution is for building management at Midtown, Gindi and other buildings, to have a uniform solution that's enforced on all unit owners so that if people do enclose their balconies, at least the enclosers all look the same.

In my building in Toronto, for example, all window coverings must be white to give the building a uniform appearance. This rule is written into the condo agreements that owners must sign before they move in. It's standard practice throughout the city, especially for condo towers.

This is another example, like Park HaMesila, where people just don't give a sh*t about common space, and I consider views of major, hi-rise towers as "common space." In Israel, it seems like it's every person for themselves and f*ck everyone else. Well, maybe it's like that everywhere but in Israel, it seems like there are no rules in place to keep that selfish impulse in check.

 

[matrix2020]

I don't know about building management, but I am pretty sure Gindi, Azrieli and other developers who build those towers are interested in selling apartments in those towers before anything else.
Enforcing buyers into some sort of regulations is pretty low in their list of priorities.
Also I am pretty sure, demanding such a thing from a buyer is illegal and the court would view it as an attempt to force buyers into purchasing something for the apartment from a particular business with whome the developer has business dealings.
The general rule is, when you buy a new apartment and need to do some modification, never use the contractor offered by the developer, because developers and those contractors have a common interest and that interest doesn't align with your interest.
What you offer would strengthen the bond between the developers and the contractors and would most certainly harm the consumers.
The courts in Israel take a dim view of such practices.

 

[Elkhanan1]

I don't think you'd run into legal problems by specifying that balcony enclosures must be white or have certain dimensions, for example. No one should be forced to use specific contractors. They should be forced to conform to specific, uniform requirements if they choose to build enclosures, no matter which contractor they go with.

It's probably impossible to ban the enclosures outright. The best that can be done is to regulate them so the buildings don't end up looking like towering favelas.

 

[matrix2020]

That could work, but it can't be done on developer's level.
At the very least it should be a citywide regulation.
And it can't apply just to some towers, as it woud be viewed as selective and unfair practice.

 

[Elkhanan1]

In Toronto, it's just widely accepted that window coverings must be uniform and white. There's no citywide law. What is law is that condo buildings must be managed by condo boards made up of members who are residents in the building. The board members are elected by the other residents on an annual basis. (Owners, not renters) It's the condo boards that make and enforce these types of rules and the residents are bound by them. So, if you were to put up red window blinds, for example, you'd be forced to remove and replace them with white ones at your own expense.

When you see condos buildings in Toronto with different coloured window coverings, it usually means that the building is very new and a condo board hasn't been installed yet by the residents. Once that happens, the crazy colours disappear and the building ends up looking uniform and presentable. I see no reason why this wouldn't work in Israel with enclosures.

 

[ILLES]

In Toronto, it's just widely accepted that window coverings must be uniform and white. There's no citywide law. What is law is that condo buildings must be managed by condo boards made up of members who are residents in the building. The board members are elected by the other residents on an annual basis. (Owners, not renters) It's the condo boards that make and enforce these types of rules and the residents are bound by them. So, if you were to put up red window blinds, for example, you'd be forced to remove and replace them with white ones at your own expense.

When you see condos buildings in Toronto with different coloured window coverings, it usually means that the building is very new and a condo board hasn't been installed yet by the residents. Once that happens, the crazy colours disappear and the building ends up looking uniform and presentable. I see no reason why this wouldn't work in Israel with enclosures.

By how can they enforce it. What does the laws in Canada grant the members board?
In israel, you have a such borads. the most common in small buildings are "Vaad Bait" which is a board of residents of the building. In high rises there are companies who does that. The problem arises primeraly becuase not everybody wants to pay' or pays in time, and you cannot get all the residents to sign on huge renovations (such as the ones we talked about earlier, with 20k investment from every resident).

 

[matrix2020]

In Israel it would never work.
You can't just force the residents to shell out the hard earned cash to make the building look pretty.
Neither management companies, nor resident's councils have the necessary power written into the law.
If a resident refuses to pay for whatever project not included in the basic maintenance fee, it has to be resolved in court which can drag on for months and years.
You would need at least a citywide law and even then, it would most likely be challenged in courts up to Bagatz.

 

[Elkhanan1]

By how can they enforce it. What does the laws in Canada grant the members board?
In israel, you have a such borads. the most common in small buildings are "Vaad Bait" which is a board of residents of the building. In high rises there are companies who does that. The problem arises primeraly becuase not everybody wants to pay' or pays in time, and you cannot get all the residents to sign on huge renovations (such as the ones we talked about earlier, with 20k investment from every resident).

In Toronto, condo boards can take legal action if residents don't comply with the rules after reasonable warnings have been given and a reasonable amount of time has passed. In extreme cases, a resident can be removed/forced to sell but the problem would have to be much more serious than just the colour of window coverings.

There are ways a condo board can make life very miserable for a non-compliant resident short of forced removal though, like repeated written warnings, escalating and compounding fines and legal proceedings. Things almost never reach that stage though. Canadians tend to play fair.

Also, if I wanted to install a balcony enclosure, I'd have to get approval from the condo board after submitting the specs to them. I couldn't just put one up without telling anyone. If I did, I'd risk having to take it down at my own expense if it didn't meet the building's standards. (Balcony enclosures aren't allowed here anyway so I'd never get approved for one.)

 

[Elkhanan1]

In Israel it would never work.
You can't just force the residents to shell out the hard earned cash to make the building look pretty.
Neither management companies, nor resident's councils have the necessary power written into the law.
If a resident refuses to pay for whatever project not included in the basic maintenance fee, it has to be resolved in court which can drag on for months and years.
You would need at least a citywide law and even then, it would most likely be challenged in courts up to Bagatz.

No one here is forcing anyone to shell out hard-earned cash to make the building look pretty. If you choose to put up a balcony enclosure, for example, it has to meet certain standards and you have to get written approval from the condo board to make sure those standards are met. Whether you spend $1 or $100,000 is your business. As long as the enclosure meets the building's standards. (I think balcony enclosures are illegal in Toronto anyway.)

 

[matrix2020]

How can I trust the members of the condo board, that they disapproved mine, because I chose the "wrong" construction guy.
In other words, that by "accident', they only approve projects for which an uncle of condo board head is chosen as construction contractor?
I would never trust them, or their decisions and I would never accept their authority for that.
Not just me, but pretty much every Israeli that I know.

 

[Elkhanan1]

Members of the condo board are residents of the building elected by a majority of the other residents once a year. If you don't like them or trust them, you can vote them out or put yourself forward as a candidate for the board the following year. If you think something fishy is going on, the board is obligated to provide you with a report on the building's financials, budget, etc., year-over-year.

But, yeah, no system is foolproof. There's always got to be a certain level of trust. If Israelis just assume that everyone's out to screw the next guy over, well, that's pretty sad. Hard to have a functioning democracy, at either the micro or macro level, with such ill will and acrimony.

 

[FelixMadero]

Opening soon:

 

[matrix2020]

Wait, have they removed the fence and the temporary pedestrian passageway with the roof along the site?