North Tel Aviv, between Yarkon Park and the sea, has been the address people want for as long as most buyers can remember. It has also been finished for almost as long. Plots of any size rarely come to market here, which leaves the same choice it has left for years: an older apartment in the right place, or a new one in a district still waiting for its shops and its neighbors to arrive.
"This is not a new neighborhood still being built. It is a district that already exists, fully developed, with its community services in place," says Dror Toren, CEO of the residential division at America Israel.
He is talking about Muza Residences, going up on the corner of Namir Road and Rokach Boulevard. It is designed for people who have thought about it: couples ready to leave the suburbs once the house has emptied; Tel Avivians trading up without moving away from what they know; and, increasingly, buyers overseas who have decided the time for a home in Israel is now.
The developers call it "A Triangle of Inspiration", and the map backs them up. Three anchors define the location, and each represents a different world: nature, culture and the life of the city.
Yarkon Park lies directly opposite, on the other side of the road. Hundreds of acres of lawns and river, running and cycling paths, playing fields and open ground, close enough that a walk before breakfast or a run at the end of the day asks nothing of you.
The Mediterranean is minutes away. Metzitzim beach, the promenade, the port, the seafront cafes and restaurants, the paths that run the length of the water. Here the sea is simply there, at the end of the street, on a Tuesday as much as a Saturday.
On the third side, the museum row, which is where the project takes its name. Eretz Israel Museum, widely known as MUZA, stands within walking distance, alongside ANU Museum of the Jewish People, the Palmach Museum, the Steinhardt Museum of Natural History and Tel Aviv University. Few places in the country hold this much culture and scholarship in so small a radius.
"We are within walking distance of the cultural centers, of the Mediterranean and of Yarkon Park," Toren says. "That is a significant advantage."
Muza Residences is rising on the site of Kibbutzim College (Seminar HaKibbutzim), which has occupied this corner since the 1950s. The college is moving to a new campus on the eastern part of the same plot, while the western section, the one facing Yarkon Park, becomes residential.
"It stands alone," says Toren. "This is not like the projects you see elsewhere, one here and one there until a neighborhood eventually forms. It is a separate entity entirely."
The plan calls for three towers of 33 floors, with boutique buildings of six floors alongside them, and around 450 residences across the site. The first tower is being marketed now, with 134 apartments.
he project was designed by Moshe Tzur Architects, one of Israel's most distinguished architectural practices. Here, light was the starting point. Their answer was a central atrium at the heart of every tower, rising its full height and drawing daylight in from both sides. The green of the park and the blue of the sea come into the building with it. Nearly every residence has double exposure, and with the surrounding cityscape low, the views are open: Yarkon Park, the Mediterranean, or the Tel Aviv skyline unfolding to the east.
The apartments at Muza Residences run from one bedroom to five, between 78 and 197 square meters, rising to mini-penthouses and penthouses at the summit of each tower. These are not standard proportions for north Tel Aviv, and they are not accidental. They were designed for people who intend to live in them. Terraces stretch from 7 to 17 square meters, wide enough to furnish and to dine on. Most residences come with two parking spaces and private storage, and even the smallest is allocated parking of its own.
At the heart of the project lies a private wellness complex, for residents alone. A semi-Olympic swimming pool, a fully equipped gym, workspaces and quiet lounges, all of it downstairs and all of it open only to the people who live here. A swim before the day begins. A workout that costs nothing more than the walk down from the apartment. A morning of work in a proper setting without leaving the building. The thinking is that health, balance and leisure are not additions to a home but part of it, and that everything a day needs is already here.
Muza Residences is a partnership between The Phoenix Real Estate and America Israel. The Phoenix Real Estate is the property arm of The Phoenix Group, one of Israel's leading financial groups, managing assets of more than $ 200 billion. America Israel brings decades of experience in residential development and thousands of housing units built across the country.
"We already have a building permit in hand," Toren says, "and we expect a work start order very shortly."
"Quiet luxury," he says. "That is what we are building here." It captures what Muza Residences is planned around: privacy, calm and discretion. An address for buyers who want a home that does not need to announce itself, and who know that everything Tel Aviv has to offer is waiting a few minutes' walk away in every direction.
This article was written in cooperation with Muza