Real Estate & Urban Renewal

Our firm’s real estate department provides a full range of legal support for complex real estate and urban renewal transactions and projects in interdepartmental collaborations – from the financing stage through purchase and improvement of the land, handling all aspects of planning, regulation and licensing up to the commercial agreements and marketing of the project.

The department’s teams provide comprehensive and thorough legal support for the initiation and construction of residential, income-generating properties and hotel projects. The projects are accompanied by an interdepartmental team by the project needs and throughout all its stages and aspects:

• Purchase of the land (in sales transactions, combinations, tenders, etc.)
• Initiation, planning and licensing phase, including securing financing (bank and/or non-bank)
• Drafting contractor agreements and agreements with consultants and various service providers
• Preparing all legal documents for exercising rights for the sale or lease of the project buildings
• Reports to the Sales Law supervisor at the Ministry of Construction and Housing and the tax authorities
• Registration of apartment buildings and the rights to register the units in the owner’s name
• Examining the tax aspects of the project
• Marketing and managing negotiations and sales
• Managing the laesed properties

In addition, the department’s attorneys appear before the planning and construction committees, appeal committees, the Court of Administrative Affairs, the Supreme Court, municipalities and the various government ministries.

The department accompanies urban renewal projects in the scope of thousands of planned housing units.

The team acts on all phases of the project, concerning the rights of apartment owners in the land and the nature of such rights, the contractual engagement between the developer and the apartment owners, and many aspects such as feasibility tests for project implementation, legal and preliminary planning surveys, working opposite planning authorities and government ministries, legal representation related to planning and licensing, taxation, registration as well as receiving initial bank or non-bank financing for the entire project.

In addition to representing developers, the firm also represents apartment owners engaging with developers in ‘Pinui Binui’ and TAMA 38 projects, based on in-depth knowledge of the complex issues involved in projects of this type.

The urban renewal practice is led by Ishai Itsikovich, among Israel’s urban renewal pioneers who currently serves as co-chairman of the Tel Aviv / Central District’s Urban Renewal Committee of the Israel Bar Association. Ishai advised on the enactment of the law establishing the Urban Renewal Authority, provided legal counsel and promoted other significant laws in the field.

The department’s clients come from the private sector (entrepreneurs, contractors, land owners and purchasing groups), Israeli and international hotel chains, public real estate companies, professional organizations, public organizations, government corporations, hospitals and HMOs, banks, cultural centers and more.

Agmon’s real estate and urban renewal department is managed by partners Avi Porten, Eyal Mamo, Ishai Itsikovich, Israel Attar and Galia Suessking Spiegel, all of whom have a long track record, are recognized as key figures in the areas of land, properties, planning and construction in Israel.

Avi Porten managed the planning and construction practice at the legal department of the Ministry of the Interior and for years he served as legal counsel to the National Council for Planning and Construction and in a variety of other senior positions in institutions and planning committees.

Eyal Mamo served for many years as the chairman of the Central District Planning and Construction Appeal Committee, and has many years of experience in providing counsel to real estate developers.

Ishai Itsikovich is considered one of the pioneers in the field of urban renewal in Israel. Ishai was involved in promoting the law for establishing the Urban Renewal Authority and provided legal counsel to the Knesset committees that discussed these issues. Ishai also serves as co-chairman of the Urban Renewal Committee of the Tel Aviv/Central District of the Israel Bar Association.

Israel Attar has extensive experience in the practice of planning and construction, land cases and land taxation. Israel acts on large-scale projects and has special expertise in expropriation claims as well as all tax implications related to land transfers.

Galia Suesskind-Spiegel leads the practice of income-generating properties and logistic centers. To date, Galia has handled planning and construction of dozens of new projects, and advises clients with regard to the manner of managing existing projects. Galia specializes in sale and lease transactions for logistic centers and successfully lead one of the biggest transactions of such kind in the Israeli economy, valued at ILS 500 million. At the same time, Galia acts on lease and sale transactions for retail areas, in scope of hundreds of thousands of sqm with a value of hundreds of millions of shekels.