Dona Engineering and Construction Company Ltd.

Dona is a development and contracting company in the field of Real Estate, with the highest classification given to contracting companies by the Ministry of Construction and Housing. Dona Group is one of the largest Real Estate companies in Israel and is involved throughout the process, from land purchases and tenders to initiation and planning of projects to execution, delivery, inspection, and customer service.
The company was founded in 1991 by engineer Shalom Shai, a contractor, and entrepreneur with decades of professional knowledge and experience in the construction industry, and its current executives are Shalom and his wife Natela. Since its inception, the company has won tenders for the construction of housing units in projects in many localities throughout the country, including Modi’in, Ashdod, Ashkelon, Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Rosh Ha’Ayin, Petah Tikva, Harish, Afula, Kiryat Gat and others. Dona has built and is building a variety of projects, including thousands of residential housing units, shopping centers, office buildings, and public buildings. Various cities and towns around the world are adorned with housing neighborhoods and structures built by the Dona company. With over 30 years of experience, Dona has designed and built about 16,000 housing units across the country at the highest level of safety and quality.
Mr. Shalom Shai won the “Man of the Year in the Real Estate Industry” award at the “Duns 100 Real Estate awards, 2022”, for his many years of hard work and his contribution to the building of Israel.

Company That Caters to Everyone

Building high-quality residential apartments at a variety of price levels is Dona’s mission. Every Israeli will be able to find the most suitable project for him, at a fair price. The company builds and markets apartments all over the country, from Afula in the north to Ashkelon in the south and employs the best planners, engineers, and professionals with the aim of building apartments with a quality and practical design, and in order to meet the needs of the customer in the best way possible. The company’s employees are proud of their ability to give a personal and warm treatment to each customer, while providing maximum attention, accompanying the tenant over the years, and ensuring excellent service. Its reputation for providing a family-oriented, pleasant atmosphere, reliability, professionalism, and uncompromising quality of construction, all while meeting deadlines, places Dona in a class by itself. Tens of thousands of its satisfied customers over the years will testify to this.

Financial Stability

Dona is a housing company with solid financial backing, which enjoys constant economic growth thanks to the stable management style that characterizes it. The company maintains exceptionally minimal levels of leverage, and its high equity gives its customers peace of mind every step of the way. A total of 1,219 housing units were sold by Dona in 2020 at a value of about NIS 1.7 billion. About 2.5 billion NIS worth of housing units were sold by in 2021.

Agility in the World of Construction

Although Dona operates in the traditional construction world, it uses an advanced agile method that enables it to identify and adapt itself to new trends in the market. In this way, Dona was one of the first companies to identify the “Mechir LaMishtaken” route as the next thing in the field, and it has built and continues to build many apartments to this day. In addition, Dona identified the strong demand for rental apartments in advance and is considered a national leader in “apartment for rent” projects, with thousands of units for long-term rental. The company has recently entered the field of Urban Renewal and is currently in negotiations with tenants’ and developers’ representatives throughout Israel.

Group Structure

Dona Group includes the main company Dona Engineering and Construction Company Ltd., which carries out residential projects for sale as part of the “Mechir LaMishtaken” program, as well as four subsidiaries: Dona Shai Properties - which handles the group’s commercial properties throughout the country; Dona Dom - a development and executive company that centralizes all the apartments rented by the group and builds for the government company “apartment for rent”; Kal Chen Holdings - manages commercial properties and common areas, and Dor Amal - a manpower company that provides foreign workers to the Israeli construction industry. In 2012, Dona began international operations in Europe, primarily in Romania and Georgia. Among its construction projects is the impressive construction project “Dona Palace” in Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia.

Recent Prominent Projects

Currently, Dona is building and executing about 5,000 housing units simultaneously, both for sale in the free market and for long-term rental auctions. Among other things, the company is currently building 2,170 housing units in the Moreshet neighborhood in Modi’in (to date, it has built the most housing units in the city), 1,080 housing units in the Psagot Afek neighborhood in Rosh Ha’Ayin, 1,700 housing units in the Carmei Gat neighborhood in Kiryat Gat and 1,680 housing units in Harish, and 102 housing units in “Dona Hadrim Shoham” project. These days, the company is building the “Donna Exclusive” project - luxury residences in Ramat Beit Shemesh A. “Dona TOP” project in Ramla and a project in Pisgat Zeev neighborhood in Jerusalem, 247 housing and commercial units, on the light rail route. In addition, the company is building several other projects for long-term rental - among others in Ashdod and Ashkelon.

Urban Renewal

In addition to specializing in construction on vacant land, Dona has recently expanded its activities to include Urban Renewal. Dona brings to this important field its experience in planning, executing, and delivering thousands of housing units throughout the country, significant financial stability, and of course, a personal commitment to the wishes of each and every tenant. Among Dona’s responsibilities are locating, planning, and licensing Urban Renewal complexes throughout the country as well as assisting tenants’ organizations by accompanying them from the contract signing to receiving a key to a new apartment. It offers full transparency to rights holders throughout the project, tailored solutions for each tenant, and a single point of contact for planning, execution, and occupancy, all under one roof. Dona’s Urban Renewal projects are of advanced construction standards and feature rich specifications. Dona recently hired Amit Pony Kronish, former head of Urban Renewal at the Jerusalem Municipality, to lead its Urban Renewal division.