Shoob & Co. Law Office

Shoob & Co. is one of Israel’s leading real estate law, planning and zoning and urban renewal firms Since its establishment in 1957 by the Late Adv. Moshe Shoob, the firm has been providing its clients with the full range of legal services across the entire spectrum of the real estate sector, making it unique it the depth of its expertise in real estate and planning and zoning law. Shoob & Co. has a sterling reputation and its clientele includes many of Israel’s leading public and private real estate and construction development and contracting companies, as well as numerous private clients. 

The  firm includes 22 lawyers, 9 interns, a supportive administrative team and a department that specializes in real estate registration, parcellations (lot merging and dividing proceedings) and multioccupancy houses.

The Firm’s Practice Areas

Representation in Complex and Intricate Real Estate Transactions
the firm represents its clients across all of the transaction’s stages, starting from due diligence and counsel on the land acquisition, the execution of the transaction, negotiation and drafting relevant agreements (including joint ventures and finance agreements, through the process of obtaining approvals for the property’s redevelopment, optimizing the property use, and up to handling matters vis-à-vis the various authorities, including the tax authority.
The firm accompanies clients in transactions vis-à-vis contractors and developers, both in the commercial negotiations if and as required and in the various contracts, both in residential construction and in other uses such as commerce, employment, offices, assisted living etc.

Real Estate Development and Handling Complex Real Estate Matters
the firm specializes in accompanying and assisting the promotion of simple and complex rezoning plans, and also in handling real estate unions and dividing the properties to their rights owners after the land was approved for construction, and in complex proceedings that require working with the tax authorities and the municipal planning authorities. Over the years, the firm has been accompanying the planning of large land complexes with multiple owners in West Rishon LeZion, the 1,000 complex, Bat Yam, Sde Dov, Ever HaYarkon, Pi Glilot, the Summayl Complex, Herzliya Blue Beach, Netanya, The Big Block, H/500, Tel Aviv Central Stations, large complexes in Hadera, Lincoln Slopes in Haifa, Metropolitan Leisure areas in Petach Tikva and Rishon LeZion, and more.
The firm brings together the land owners in order to jointly promote the projects and where necessary also assists in complex partnership liquidation proceedings.

Handling Expropriations, Claims Under Clause 197 and Objections
the firm manages damages claims on grounds of damages due to the approval of a zoning plan (Clause 197) and expropriations damages against the various planning institutes, Israel Roads Company, NTA, the ILA and more. It also represents rights owners in every aspect of the impact of infrastructure such as light rail, metro and more. The firm also accompanies objections to harmful plans, including the representation of objectors and developers.

Betterment Charges and Real Estate Taxation
handling betterment charges including managing proceedings before deciding appraisers, appeal committees and courts, representation vis-à-vis the land tax offices, managing objections and appeals of tax assessments, reducing real estate tax and representation on matters of city tax.

Representation in Courts of all Levels
The firm represents its clients before all of the relevant courts and tribunals in the real estate and construction field, including: local committees, appeal committees, district committees, administrative petitions, the National Council etc., and in civil and administrative courts, including the Supreme Court.

Urban Renewal
The firm specializes in the field of urban renewal and promotes thousands of housing units in the field, also in representing and accompanying residents and also in  representing developers in urban renewal projects, while providing close and comprehensive legal assistance, starting from the general decision on executing the project, through analyzing and selecting the developers’ bids, negotiations, escorting of the planning and up to the project’s completion.

Legal Precedents (Some Examples)

Over the years, the firm has reached numerous precedential rulings in the field of real estate, including, inter alia (this is only a partial list):
• Decision in the “Hamami vs. the Rishon LeZion local committee” case, where the Supreme Court ruled for the first time that, as part of a compensation claim relating to the approval of a city master plan that harms a landowner – a relative portion of 40% cannot be deducted from the amount due for compensation as was customary.
• The Israel Fruit Distribution Co. vs. Kfar Saba Local Council - A compensation claim in which the court defined, for the first time, what constitutes “reasonable” damage beyond which the authorities must compensate the property owners.
• Har vs. the Netanya Local Committee - an innovative ruling about the possibility of compensation due to a building moratorium that was caused by a zoning plan.
• Moshe Shoob vs. Bnei Barak Planning and Zoning Committee - A decision of the District Appeals Committee that included the cancellation of conditions according to clauses 77 and 78 published by the Bnei Barak Planning and Zoning Committee that stipulate Tama 38 earthquake retrofit permits on the allocation of public spaces on the ground floor of the properties.
• Shalom Yerushalaim Divon and others vs. The Petah Tikva Local Planning and Building Committee - A Supreme Court ruling following an additional court session, that determined that a rights owner in a land who built an apartment and he/she or their relatives have been residing in it for at least years after the construction completion, would be exempt from betterment charges, regardless of the number of owners of said land who with to exercise this right.
• Planning and Zoning Committee, Tel Aviv vs. Nof Yam Kahol Lavan Ltd. - The Supreme Court decided that extensive use of a permit is not an independent tax event requiring a betterment charge.
• Savyoni Yavne Ltd. vs. The Local Planning and Zoning Committee Yavne - The court determined that the authorities must compensate a construction company for delaying the planning proceedings in accordance with the calculation of the annual loss of return on the land.