jerusalem | As Jerusalem streets are being widened, with sewage systems and water pipes relocated to make way for the city’s future light rail system, many residents are suffering from extra traffic, fewer parking spots, lots of noise and a lack of sidewalks.
But one future benefit of the commuter rail system could be a possible rise in property values, particularly for those living on the right side of the tracks.
“It’s a million-dollar question,” says Limor Bozo, a real estate agent. “If it doesn’t create more noise or inconvenience than there is already, then prices will stay the same. But we can’t know that until they’re finished. And who knows when that’ll happen?”
The light rail, scheduled to be completed in 2008, will run from the northern neighborhood of Pisgat Zeev through the city center to Sderot Herzl and up to the western neighborhoods of the capital.
Some residents are concerned about the noise level and the rail’s proximity to their homes. According to http://www.rakevetkala-jerusalem.org.il (the light rail Web site), the plan is to increase the buffer zone between the tracks and people’s homes with planted green areas, with bike lanes and wider sidewalks to create better access for wheelchairs and baby strollers. As for noise, the light railway itself is supposed be silent, as it will operate on electricity.
In the meantime, the city is aware that the people of Jerusalem are suffering from the construction process, said project spokesperson Shmuel Elgrabli in a recent interview with The Jerusalem Post.
“The traffic is horrific. We do understand and sympathize with everyone’s suffering, but this project has to be implemented.”
For those living next to the project, however, the process is more than unpleasant, says Bozo. She compares it to the process of building the Begin Highway, when residents of Rehov Habanai in Beit Hakerem were living in houses that abutted the new road.
“They really suffered,” says Bozo. “They’re unaware of the highway today, but before the road opened, no one wanted to buy over there.”
It’s a similar story on Derech Hebron, where ongoing construction has snarled traffic and upped the noise level, making it harder to sell real estate on this street. And with the light rail scheduled to start operating at 5 a.m. daily, it’s hard to imagine the added transportation having a positive effect.
“Derech Hebron has always been a problem,” says Bozo, who has lived on the street for five years. “I got used to the noise, but when I am on the phone with clients, telling them about a local apartment and they hear the noise in the background, they always say ‘forget it.'”
While she did recently sell a garden apartment, it was located a few blocks from where the train will enter the street. Prices were always lower on Derech Hebron, says Isaac Levy, a realtor for Ambassador Real Estate.
“The light rail could really benefit local real estate, but we’ll only know when the work is done. No one can know yet if the rail will reduce traffic pressure or make matters worse.”
According to a Minnesota council report on rail transit boosting property values in the United States, property values increased significantly for commercial and residential properties near rapid transit systems, with rent for retail spaces close to three times more than in other areas.