If you want to buy a luxury apartment in Tel Aviv, recently named the most expensive city in the world, you can’t find a more charming business executive than Moti Kozahinof, one of the owners and the CEO of Beresheet Towers. On April 5, I traveled from Jerusalem to north Tel Aviv to meet Kozahinof, whose flagship development – the 44-story Beresheet Bavli Tower – is the neighborhood’s tallest residential skyscraper.
Kozahinof chose two words to sum up the luxurious lifestyle offered by the Beresheet Tower: Uncompromised living. “Everything we do is the best of the best,” he says, looking up at the tower under construction. “We had a vision to build the most exclusive tower Israel has ever seen, at the highest level of quality and in a prime location. We are approaching the end of the process and hope to hand over the apartments in a year and a half.”
Surrounded by a 70-dunam park connecting with the famous Yarkon Park, the 174 residential units are shaped in a Y to afford each a Mediterranean Sea view forming what Kozahinof calls “a peaceful green island” near the heart of bustling Tel Aviv.
The spectacular apartments at Bavli are in the high range, with a four-room flat selling for NIS 8 million ($2.5 m.), and about 60% have already been sold. The complex boasts a large business lounge, meeting room and library, an enclosed swimming pool and fitness center, a squash court, Turkish bath and spa, and a wine cellar with designated coolers for every unit.
Born in 1970 and married to Rinat, with whom he has four children, Kozahinof’s great-grandfather emigrated from Bukhara in 1880 and purchased land in Jerusalem, building the entire Bukharan Quarter. His grandfather also dealt in real estate, including the property on which Bar-Ilan University is now built, but his father opened a diamond factory, which he turned into the Beresheet Diamonds empire. Moti later joined the business together with his brothers, Yaakov and Oren.
After his father died, his mother, Nurit Kozahinof, led the family back into real estate eight years ago – and ever since they have been developing and promoting residential, urban renewal and commercial real estate projects.
“Real estate is in our blood,” Kozahinof declares, adding: “I don’t see my job in Bavli as selling a building. I’m selling a lively community that will enjoy living together in Four Seasons facilities.”
The family’s real-estate business started with what Kozahinof calls “a beautiful building in Kiryat Ono,” and they purchased the Beresheet Bavli property in 2014. They are building two more seven-story boutique buildings near the Beresheet Tower, as well as new projects in Ganei Tikva and Petah Tikva.
They recently partnered 50% in the urban renewal company, Next Urban, which is developing 13 pinui-binui (evacuation and reconstruction) complexes of 8,500 units in Haifa – from the sea to the Carmel.
“Our aim is to upgrade everything to top quality,” says Kozahinof. “We are now bringing the exclusive brand we developed in Tel Aviv to Haifa, which is a beautiful city that has not yet flowered.”
Kozahinof is an active philanthropist, serving as chairman of Friends of Anu, the Museum of the Jewish People; an honorary member of the Ambassadors’ Club of Israel; and a major donor to Lehosheet Yad (Lend a Hand), which helps people with cancer.
“We grew up in a home that taught us the value of giving – giving to the family, to society, to humanity,” Kozahinof recalls. “My late father’s motto was: if the Almighty sees you managing your money properly – and being generous with it – then you’ll have money. If not, He’ll take it away from you!”