US ambassador residence in Israel sold to Sheldon Adelson
The sale was approved after Adelson had offered the highest bid.
By DANIEL NISINMANA general view shows the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv(photo credit: AMIR COHEN/REUTERS)
The US State Department finalized the sale of the ambassador’s residence in Herzliya, according to a statement by the US Embassy in Israel. The sale came after a bidding process.The property will be vacated next spring, since there are no standing plans or agreements regarding its future use. Sheldon Adelson, the casino magnate and Republican Party donor close to President Donald Trump, won the right to purchase the house with the highest bid. There were two other lower offers.After Trump announced that the Embassy in Tel Aviv would move to Jerusalem in 2018, the US began evaluating all real-estate assets that were owned or leased by the State Department.The lofty five-bedroom residence, built on a cliff overlooking the Mediterranean Sea, has been the home of US ambassadors since the 1960s.The original price tag that was set for the property was $87 million, the highest for a property of its kind in Israel, according to Globes. The actual sale price is thought to be somewhat higher than that.The property was put up for sale in January.
