Bnei Brak to Get 10,000 New Homes

Plans to build 10,000 new housing units in Bnei Brak were filed Monday with the National Planning Commission. The new units will be in a single neighborhood at the edge of the city bordering Petach Tikvah, between Jabotinsky Boulevard and Em Hamoshavot, near Park HaYarkon. The homes are to be built in numerous projects on the allocated land over the next 25 years.

The plan includes provision for new public transportation in the neighborhoods to be built. Eight “mini-hubs” will serve the new area, which will connect with the center of the city and other adjacent towns. Separately, plans for construction of the Purple Line of the Tel Aviv Metropolitan Light Rail have been filed, with the construction to provide several stations in Bnei Brak.

The plans are now subject to public examination and interested parties can file petitions protesting the plans. Bnei Brak is among the most densely congested cities in Israel, and it is expected that numerous environmental and other groups will oppose the plan.

The city hopes to be able to lower the cost of housing in Bnei Brak, provide new housing for young couples who have given up hope of finding a housing solution in town, and halting the ever-growing dense building in the lots that are still available in other areas of the city, officials said.