Israel’s Most Talked about Tel Aviv Tower Prepares for a Sibling Skyscraper

By Hadassa Kalatizadeh

Tel Aviv’s first ToHa Tower delivered an architectural wonder which became the talk of the country when it was completed in Feb. 2019. Now, Israel is bracing itself for part two at the busy intersection.

As reported by Haaretz, ToHa 2 is being unveiled, boasting a whopping price tag of 3-billion-shekel or $965 million. Like the first building, it will be created by architecture firms Ron Arad and Associates and Avner Yashar. Another similarity with its predecessor is the plan to make it striking— another social media star debated and talked about incessantly. ToHa 2, short for ‘Totzeret Ha’aretz’ or ‘Made in Israel’, will have 75 floors and another in-your-face design. The slated completion date is set for 2026.

The aim is not to just deliver an oversized office building, but rather to alter the skyline, to produce a second flashy focal point, to win awards and gain publicity. For developers, Amot Investments and Bayside Land Corporation, the goal is to transcend urban logic, compelling viewers to stop and stare. The developers admitted bluntly that they could have cut construction costs to a fraction by spreading out the desired square footage across four smaller towers. They chose, however, to create a single skyscraper, aspiring to the heavens. It was not done just to lessen the project’s footprint in the crowded city, but to gain acclaim and add its name to the list of elite “world cities”. The Tel Aviv municipality was eager to approve the luxury tower, and shares the ambition to earn the label for their city. The dream is for Tel Aviv to join the ranks of London and New York city, and to attract business, tourism and success.

The first ToHa Tower, with a twisting design, narrow at the base and broad at the top, is 30 floors tall and delivered 610,000 square feet of office space, costing 950 million Israeli Shekels to build. This building had to top it, aiming to reach roughly 978 feet and 75 floors— making it one of the tallest buildings in the city. The developer said it gained approval to create 1,500,000 square feet of office space. The two buildings are located on and named after Totzeret Haaretz Street in Nahalat Yitzhak, in eastern Tel Aviv. They face HaShalom Street in the south and Yigal Allon Street in the west, and are walking distance to the local railway station.