The Real Estate Group at Yigal Arnon & Co. is one of the oldest, largest and most experienced teams in Israel.

Our practice—which is consistently top-ranked by both domestic and international publications—represents some of the most prominent real estate development and construction companies in the country. We have also played a part in many of Israel’s largest real estate projects and transactions, whether undertaken by commercial companies or high-net-worth individuals from Israel or abroad.

For decades, we have represented clients in the full range of real estate transactions. This includes deals involving residential projects, public buildings, commercial projects,  shopping malls, hotels, office buildings and joint ventures. It also includes acquiring real estate companies in Israel and abroad, purchasing groups, and planning urban renewal and other complex projects on private land or on Israel Lands Authority properties.

Our Real Estate team’s client list—which runs the gamut from local and multinational real estate companies, development companies and private developers to construction companies, building management firms and investment firms—includes buyers and sellers, tenants and landlords, and Israeli and foreign banks.

Because Yigal Arnon & Co. is a full-service firm, when appropriate, our tax and capital markets attorneys, as well as our litigators, can also provide relevant advice.  

Registration of Real Estate Rights

Almost all real estate deals require the formal registration of rights with the appropriate authorities. We manage all these requirements for our clients:

• Providing assistance in connection with the planning and property rights aspects on which parcel planning is based, and in connection with actual registration in the Land Registry of the agreed planning or zoning
• Registering condominiums and subsequent rights of unit buyers
• Handling complex registration issues (for example, locating assets within the Land Registry, managing first-time registration, amending measurements and boundaries, and settling real estate rights issues) 
• Handling registrations in Judea and Samaria, using our in-depth knowledge of relevant Mandatory British and Jordanian law

Real Estate Litigation

Yigal Arnon & Co. has extensive experience in real estate litigation—from pre-litigation negotiations through court proceedings—in all venues.

For example, we represent clients in myriad contractual and title disputes, including in real estate disputes, client-contractor conflicts, client-contractor disputes, collateral liquidation processes, insolvencies, dissolution of real estate partnerships, claims against minority parties blocking urban renewal (pinui binui and Tama 38), construction defect claims, landlord-tenant conflicts, disputes between rights holders in residential buildings, disputes regarding realtor services, administrative planning and building disputes, real estate-related torts, improvement levy (hetel hashbaha) processes, levy procedures, proceedings involving the Israel Land Authority, proceedings before the Supervisor of Batim Meshutafim (condominiums), land tax disputes.

We also represent local authorities and land owners in eminent domain procedures, in the courts and before land assessors.

Real Estate Tax

Yigal Arnon & Co. is one of the only law firms in Israel whose real estate practice is able to provide a full range of advice on tax-related matters. Our tax counsel begins in the pre-deal stages—when we help our clients weigh all the alternatives and plan the best tax structure—and continues through pre-rulings from the tax authorities, performance of the deal, and preparing and filing the necessary reports with the Land Tax Authority. We also assist in negotiating with the government to set tax rates in large-scale projects.

Our Real Estate Tax Group:

• Advises and drafts legal opinions on the tax implications arising from and ancillary to real estate deals, such as betterment and purchase tax and VAT, including tax calculations and reports to the applicable tax authorities
• Provides tax planning and consultation with regard to complex real estate purchase and development deals, and the ancillary financing transactions (including international tax, if relevant)
• Represents clients in assessment processes vis-à-vis the land tax authorities, including during the assessment process, drafting and management of appeals in case of ‘best judgment’ assessments by the government, and negotiations with the tax authorities toward a final assessment
• Prepares clients for and represents them in appeals before appeals committees and the courts
• Represents clients before the tax authorities with regard to the tax implications of complex urban renewal projects such as pinui binui and Tama 38

International Real Estate

Yigal Arnon & Co. has a very active cross-border corporate real estate practice. We work with Israeli, foreign and multinational clients to identify and maximize their commercial real estate opportunities outside of Israel, focusing on the hotel industry. We also negotiate and draft asset management contracts and joint venture documents, including in highly complex cross-border transactions. Thanks to our global network of contacts, which includes local real estate lawyers, we quickly assemble the experienced, multidisciplinary teams our clients require.

Urban Renewal

Urban renewal is one of the primary growth engines of Israel’s real estate sector. Given the scarcity of available land in city centers, as well as the aging of buildings and neighborhoods, these projects will become even more important in future years.

Yigal Arnon & Co. has the multifaceted expertise required in urban renewal matters, which are complex by their very nature. First, they involve real estate law, planning and building issues, tax matters, banking and finance law, and litigation. Second, they are multi-party transactions, with each party having its own financial and other interests. Third, each project has its own attributes and requires solutions tailored specifically to them.

We understand the financial and legal concerns and interests of key players in urban renewal deals. We also have a long and successful track record with transaction planning, and in representing clients in discussions with planning authorities, tax authorities and banks. In fact, Yigal Arnon & Co. assisted in forming the regulatory framework for bank financing of Tama 38 renewal projects.

Although most of our clients are developers and contractors, we also represent many homeowners in regard to urban renewal projects.

Representative Matters

Yigal Arnon & Co. is a leader in urban renewal law. We:

• Assist the Housing, Community and Law Clinic at the Tel Aviv University’s Faculty of Law in the renewal project that the clinic conducts together on behalf of the Yafo Gimel neighborhood in Jaffa; the project, which includes six residential buildings, is aimed at renewing the compound, reinforcing the buildings against earthquakes, repairing infrastructure and positioning the project as a good place for students to live in
• Represent developers, homeowners and contractors in dozens of Tama 38 transactions in Ramat Gan, Tel Aviv, Givatayim, Hod Hahsaron, Petah Tikva and Jerusalem—including hundreds of housing units—in which existing buildings were demolished and new ones built
• Represent developers in financing agreements with major Israeli banks for Tama 38 projects (in additional construction programs and in demolish-and-rebuild programs), and in 'Pinui Binui' financing projects
• Draft financing agreements for 'Tama 38' projects with non-bank lenders

Since urban renewal is a relatively new area, many lawyers in Israel have experience in drafting the contracts but not implementing them—especially not in regard to large-scale projects. Yigal Arnon & Co. has invaluable hands-on experience, having been involved in several projects where construction has already begun.