In historic housing deal, American Jews buy two full apartment buildings in Jerusalem

Some 200 apartments are being marketed to New York-area Syrian Jews ‘from the community’ in a deal believed to be worth around NIS 1 billion ($270 million)

A US-based Jewish community has purchased two entire residential towers under construction in central Jerusalem in a deal believed to be one of the largest private real estate transactions in Israel’s history.

A company called OP Jerusalem, based in Brooklyn, New York, has acquired 200 luxury apartments under construction near the Mahane Yehuda market, in order to market them to the Syrian Jewish community overseas.

The total value of the deal could be worth as much as NIS 1 billion ($270 million), according to one estimate given in Hebrew media.

“The idea of the project is to create a hub in Israel for our community,” which consists primarily of Syrian Jews from Brooklyn and Deal, New Jersey, Elliot Shelby, OP Jerusalem’s co-head of sales, told The Times of Israel.

The target market includes other groups of Sephardic origin, such as Moroccan and Persian Jews, as well as Syrian Jews in Panama and Mexico, Shelby said. But sales are open to everyone, including Ashkenazi Jews, and about 25% of apartments are being purchased by people from “outside the community,” he noted.

“The only rule is, no gefilte fish allowed,” Shelby joked.

The Syrian Jewish community, believed to number about 100,000 people, is considered one of the most cohesive Jewish groups in the US, known for a number of wealthy, high-profile entrepreneurs and a disinclination to marry outside its network.

Centered primarily in the Brooklyn neighborhoods of Gravesend and Flatbush, as well as Deal, New Jersey, the community developed from waves of immigration from Aleppo (Halabi Jews) and Damascus (Shami Jews) in the early 20th century. Community members tend to be fiercely loyal to their ethnic traditions, and maintain their own set of religious schools and organizations alongside participation in broader Jewish and American life.

“I’d say two things about our community,” Shelby said. “We give a lot of charity, and we take care of each other. Whenever people have problems in life, with health or anything else, we have organizations to help.”

The OP Jerusalem project is designed to bring members of the community together in Israel in a complex designed to the highest standards of luxury, Shelby said. The two buildings, part of a four-building complex under construction just adjacent to the Mahane Yehuda “shuk”, will include a full-time doorman, synagogue, gym, mikveh (ritual bath), children’s area, communal halls, and large rooftop terraces.

Apartments start at $1 million for one-bedroom apartments of about 500 square feet (46 meters), and four-bedroom apartments of some 1400 square feet (130 square meters) cost around $3.7 million, Shelby said.

About 70% of the apartments have already been sold, Shelby said. The buildings are expected to be completed in approximately five years.

OP Jerusalem purchased the apartments from JTLV, the buildings’ developers, at a discounted price that has not been disclosed, Shelby said. The complex, designed by architect Ian Bader and being built by Ashtrom Construction, will also include shops, cafes and a boutique hotel.

Most of the buyers plan to eventually split their time between Israel and the US, maintaining ties with both communities, Shelby said. He estimated that about 30-50% of the apartments will eventually be occupied at any given time, going up to 90% occupancy during the Jewish holidays.

That is likely to irk those who are concerned about the growing number of ghost apartments in the nation’s capital. As many as 15,000 homes in Jerusalem are believed to be unoccupied for most of the year, often owned by Jews who live abroad and use them as vacation homes. Critics say these homes serve to reduce the housing supply and drive up prices in a city where demand already outstrips availability.

News of the project comes at a delicate time for the Israeli real estate market. After years of rapid growth, sales have cooled somewhat in recent months under the shadow of the war-related uncertainty, sky-high home prices, and high interest rates. Prices have fallen more than 2% since the beginning of the year, and total housing sales in October reached one of the lowest levels in decades, according to government data.

“At a time when many contractors are struggling to sell new apartments, it’s impressive that these guys have been able to sell two whole buildings in one shot,” one agent told The Times of Israel.

Meanwhile, demand for homes is rising from Jews in the Diaspora as crushing antisemitism leads more people to consider immigrating to Israel. Many of these are prepared to pay top dollar for luxury properties that will allow them to maintain the lifestyles they had abroad, agents say.

Some are hopeful that OP Jerusalem’s model will inspire other diaspora communities to organize similar strategies in Israel. OP has already successfully marketed a large residential complex in the Ir Yamim neighborhood of Netanya, with 120 apartments in a 33-floor luxury tower to the beach. Construction of that project was recently completed, and residents are now starting to move in, Shelby said.