For 13 years it has stood abandoned - the legendary pilots' hotel in Yehud has become a white elephant

The mythical Avia Hotel in Yehud, which operated since the 1960s, has been abandoned for about 13 years. A new plan for the complex is now being advanced, including a smaller hotel and residential buildings, amid a dispute between developers and the Yehud-Monoson municipality over the number of housing units.

The Avia Hotel in Yehud, inaugurated in 1961 as a luxury hotel for air crews and businesspeople near Ben Gurion Airport, has been abandoned for about 13 years and has become a "white elephant" in the well-kept Kiryat Savyonim neighborhood. The hotel has undergone many transformations: an absorption center for Ethiopian immigrants, hosting evacuees from Gush Katif in 2005, and a vacation spot for soldiers. A renewal attempt in 2013 failed. Now a new plan is being advanced, including a smaller hotel and residential buildings, but the municipality opposes building 604 housing units on the 14.7-dunam complex, demanding a ratio of 51% hotel and 49% residential. The developers claim that building 104 housing units is not economically viable. The decision will be made by the District Planning and Building Committee. The Planning Administration stated that no new plan has yet been submitted to the committee. Despite the conflict, the potential of the complex remains high due to its location near the purple line of the light rail, expected to operate in July 2028.

For 13 years it has stood abandoned - the legendary pilots' hotel in Yehud has become a white elephant