Thursday, October 28, 2010

"Where history meets luxury"

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You have a good view of the sky when the roof is gone.

This incredibly long building on Jaffa Road is called Batei Saidoff, meaning Saidoff Houses.
Isaac Saidoff built the complex in the 1920s, after he moved to Jerusalem from Shanghai.
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The great influx of Jews to Shanghai began in the second half of the 19th century and continued to grow in bursts through the end of World War II. The city was known as a bustling international trade and commerce hub, free from anti-Semitism and ripe with opportunity. At its height during the Holocaust this Jewish community, the largest in China, stood at nearly 50,000.
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In 1919 the Saidoff family sought refuge from the pogroms in Bukhara (in southern Russia). They fled to Shanghai and settled there in search of a new life. A few years later the family immigrated to Israel.
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As you saw in a recent post, the almost-century-old building is being reconstructed.
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Hard to imagine at this stage, but the contractor advertises it as "Your residence in Jerusalem--where history meets luxury."
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This video from Ashdar/Ashtrom Group will help us imagine what it will become.
This photo from a gray day in February shows the beginnings of the foundation for the 23-storey high-rise that will be part of the Saidoff Houses complex.
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The high-rise itself will have ninety 3- to 6-room apartments.
Globes says sales so far include a 270-square meter 6-room apartment for NIS 8.5 million and a 190-square meter 4-room apartment for NIS 6.3 million. At today's rate, that is $2,333,243 and $1,728,850.
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The view of Jerusalem, the Old City, and the Hills of Jerusalem doesn't come cheap!
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I imagine most buyers will be residents of the USA or UK who come to Israel only for the Jewish holidays, a few weeks a year, such as at Jerusalem's David's Village complex, which is a ghost town most of the year.
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Meanwhile, it is fun to follow the stages of deconstruction, reconstruction, and construction.
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21 comments:

  1. A grea and, unusual blog. I loved to visit your blog.

    I hope you will continue coming up with new and novel ideas.

    Thanks

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  2. Shalom Blog from Paris. Thank you for saying so. I am happy that you enjoy Jerusalem Hills topics.
    Now I see from a first look at your blog that you have a lot to share and teach.

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  3. Thank you, Dina! The video looks great. I's always a mystery how architects can imagine and actually create a beautiful building out of a complete ruin. Some people like to buy dilapidated buildings and convert them into the most modern and gorgeous places.
    Thanks for your visit and comment. Well actually I didn't notice much of preparations for Halloween, may be in a big city like Rotterdam they celebrate it, but I doubt it, as one third of the population there is moslim, and they are against Christian holidays.

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  4. I just moved to Yerushalayim and like to go around to view the various places/streets etc, and I'd like to know where on yafo road this is? I love the sky showing thru the window in the first photo.

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  5. Neshama shalom. How exciting that you have moved to Jerusalem!
    You can find Batei Sadoff on Rehov Yaffo, between the Central Bus Station and Shuk Mahane Yehuda.

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  6. Wil, glad you saw and enjoyed the little video.

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  7. I had no idea about such a large Jewish community in Shanghai. Is it still the case?

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  8. Interesting to see how things go over there. I don't think I will buy an apartment right now,I need to think it over first, lol.

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  9. Spacedlaw, good question. I had to investigate. Found a good article in The Atlantic at
    http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2010/09/being-jewish-in-shanghai-photos/62574/
    It says the following:
    Shanghai has 3 synagogues and a fluid population of perhaps 2,000 expatriate Jews.

    Tours now go to the World War II-era ghetto in Hongkou District, where Japan confined 17,000 Jewish refugees for two miserable years.

    By 1960, all but a small handful of the nearly 20,000 Jews who lived in Shanghai during World War II had left. For the next 20 years, religion in China all but disappeared underground.

    In 1998 a Chabad rabbi arrived in Shanghai intending to serve as the first rabbi on the Mainland since the 1950s. He has had success.
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    I suggest you take a look at "Chabad of China" at
    http://www.chabadchina.org/

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  10. Dick, haha, you and me both!

    Bergson, thank you! That scene was just there, begging me to take its picture.

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  11. Nice that there is an effort to preserve the past!

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  12. Beautiful stonework. Looks like the restoration will keep a lot of the original features which is good.

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  13. Rebuild those walls!




    Aloha from Honolulu

    Comfort Spiral

    ><}}(°>

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  14. It looks like it'll be just lovely. That first shot is gorgeous!

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  15. Sounds and looks luxurious indeed. But I'm always sad when developers only target the tiny percentage of wealthy people in any country. I think most of the luxury condos in Manila are owned by the same small group of people.

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  16. I must admit that luxury seems to be a bit into the future here.

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  17. If this is the only way to bring new life to old building, I am happy even for the luxurt residences!

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  18. Glad they are working on the building, it will be fantastic (again)!

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  19. It's amazing to think of a town that is almost empty because it is used mostly for vacationers. Those prices are really steep. Wow!

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  20. An apartment there with the view of Jerusalem, the Old City, and the Hills of Jerusalemis is certainly priceless.

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