It was once understood that as a professional making Aliyah you would probably need to travel to Tel Aviv to make a living, but all that is changing today.
All the rage in Jerusalem the last few years has been with residential buildings replacing old worn down industrial areas (think Romema for example). These spanking new and refurbished buildings attracted affluent buyers, so it begs the question, where will they all work for a living?
Currently there are 340,000 people working in Jerusalem, with 75% being local residents. Jerusalem currently has two hitech parks, Har Hotzvim and Malkha with business centers in the center of the city, Givat Shaul and Talpiot. Then there is the Knesset and its surrounding government buildings that round out the major employment areas in the city.
These areas are bursting at the seams of its three million square meters of employment space, with roughly two third being offices and stores. One third is industrial workshops. More telling, most of Jerusalem’s office space is for businesses servicing local consumption.
Mayor Moshe Lion wants to change all that. His vision is to make Jerusalem an exporter of business. He wants Jerusalem to be the capital of hitech in Israel, but would probably settle for it being a major player. Despite having a handful of big name companies, Jerusalem today is far from being a hitech powerhouse. But as it gets closer to the Mayor’s goal, and it will, many important professional industries will explode around it from financing to legal. What’s more, the locals will become more affluent creating an upward spiral of opportunity.
Currently Jerusalem has approved and is building an additional one million square meters of employment space. The biggest project is the Shaar Ha’ir project which hunkered down right near the entrance of the city near Binyanei HaUmah convention center. This massive project will include 24 buildings of offices, hotels and leisure areas. It is perfectly positioned right near the intercity train line and the Jerusalem light rail. Other projects include three 30 storey towers in Har Hotzvim which will add an additional 150,000 square meters and almost double its current capacity. There are also projects planned for East Jerusalem. as well as Pisgat Ze’ev.
Moshe Lion wants to make Jerusalem a bustling business city. He is doing his part. Now he just needs you to bring your talents and fill an office in one of his new glittering office buildings!
