Israel Reaches for the Sky with Record-Breaking Towers

Ramat Gan and Tel Aviv, Israel, have record-breaking towers in the works, including a 111-floor, 444-m-tall office building in Ramat Gan near the Diamond Exchange that will be the tallest in Israel, Globes reported, crediting Yediot Ahronot. Designed by Israeli architect Avner Yashar, the Ramat Gan plan includes a 77-floor high rise, with the buildings together boasting 400,000 m2. Ramat Gan officials OK’d the scheme only three months after the Tel Aviv Planning and Building Committee increased the approved height of the “Between the Cities” project, located several hundred meters south of the proposed Ramat Gan tower, from 75 to 100 floors. The moves reflect a decades-old friendly rivalry between the cities. At press time, Ramat Gan had Israel’s tallest building, the 68-story, 233-m-tall Moshe Aviv Tower, also in the Diamond Exchange. That was soon to be surpassed, however, by Tel Aviv’s 73-story, 238-m-tall Sarona Azrieli (ELEVATOR WORLD, September 2016), which, in July, was close to completion.