Tel Aviv planning officials have approved plans to build a 100-story skyscraper that would be Israel’s tallest building.  The approval is the latest of numerous skyscraper projects in Tel Aviv, Israel’s commercial capital, which is changing the city’s skyline.

At 400 meters, the building would be 150 meters taller than the current tallest building, the Moshe Aviv Tower in Ramat Gan, completed 15 years ago. 

Just three and a half meters higher, a new Azrieli Sarona office tower on the eastern border of the Ayalon Freeway in Tel Aviv, is set to assume tallest-in-Israel status.

The planned Bein Arim Tower could be completed as early as 2025, says architect Guy Miloslavsky of Miloslavsky Architects, who designed the building. He estimates the cost of the tower at $500 million.

The proposed building is located on a 10-acre site owned by the city of Tel Aviv.  The city is now expected to begin a tender process to sell the plot and proceed with detailed planning.  The initial plan drawn up by Miloslavsky envisions the two lowest floors of the 165,000-sqmeter building to be used as a lobby and shopping center, the next five floors for public use, and the rest earmarked for office space and a hotel.

The Tel Aviv municipality has been a leading advocate for the high-rise boom that the city is witnessing.  There has been little opposition. Even the Israel Airports Authority, which in the past has objected to high rises in the flight path to Ben Gurion International Airport, located 12 kilometers east of Tel Aviv, has modified its stance, Tel Aviv city engineer Oded Gvuli said recently.