This is how Nissim Assage, the neglected child in Or Akiva, became one of the leaders of the urban renewal
"Tenants don't drift by names and brands"
Produced by the Special Additives Department
Rochelle Assage, 84, was a Baron de Rothschild sage until about 13 years ago. Every evening when she got home the smells of the kitchen would fill her little house, a 3-room apartment in Or Akiva, not far from the Caesarea estate.
When Miriam Assage Jr. (57) walks around the derelict neighborhood in Or Akiva today, he points to a large sign in the train housing that says, "Here's built by NSA." The boy who grew up in the neighborhood owns this company, and he was the one who managed to lure two huge companies, Shikun and Binui and Tidhar, to demolish the housing for 1,750 high-rise apartments.
The Or Akiva Boardwalk Project will be set up as an evacuation-construction flag neighborhood where it grows. "For me, it is closing a circle," he says excitedly. "Not only my family, but the families with whom I grew up and have lived in a hurry will return to new apartments facing the sea. I am proud to be the one who fulfills a dream."
Nissim, who is married with +3 children and three grandchildren, lives in Rishon Lezion in the Nahalat Yehuda neighborhood. Since his release from the Army at the rank of Colonel as Deputy Commander of the Armed Forces and Chief of Staff (Organization and Human Resources), he has become one of the pioneers in the evacuation-construction. There are dozens of projects in progress, but he is particularly proud of the fact that to this day no tenant has claimed as a refusal.
"I instill in tenants confidence in my ability to fulfill their dream," he says. "Projects promoted by signage contractors will never succeed because people only sign with those who can fulfill their dream. Tenants do not drift by names and brands. I bring the person in me to every meeting with a tenant."
Asage started working on the revival as early as 12 years ago. More than 50 projects went under his hands, and he has partnered with the largest companies in the economy.
Life as a gift
During the Lebanon War, Assayag served as a company technical sergeant in the tank division. In "The Safari Disaster," which occurred in March 1985, he was the only survivor to emerge physically unharmed. Life was given to him as a gift, and he feels that way to this day.
The car bomb exploded near a convoy of four Safari trucks, traveling south toward Lebanon. In the attack, 12 IDF soldiers were killed and 14 others were injured. "I was the commander of the caravan, so I sat in the lead vehicle," he recalls. We ordered him to stop and go down the road. He swerved slightly to the edge, waited for the safari truck to approach and then exploded. I was the only one not injured. Kind of a miracle. Maybe my name miracles, given to me because of the difficult birth, a little helped. "
Contrary to expectations, Assage cut himself off from the incident by deciding not to go to the cemeteries or hospitals, where the injured were hospitalized. "The families were angry with me, but I received a backup from then-chief of staff Shaul Mofaz," he says.
It was not until 2003, after 17 years of disconnection, that he resumed contact with the soldiers and families live on the Friday program, which was filmed in Or Akiva. "I was told that my mother was supposed to go up from the audience to the stage. Yehoram Gaon approached me and asked me to come up too. Suddenly the screen opened, and all the soldiers from the caravan were there. It was hard for me to hold back tears. This event will be a part of me, That I was, and mostly made me sensitive to people. "
The big break
In 2008, after his release from the army, Assage entered the urban renewal field with a specialty in the government's evacuation plan - demolishing old buildings for new construction. He said that even then, he recognized it as the only alternative to the growing land shortage and protection needs.
After opening the NSA, he came to a tenant meeting in Tel Aviv to persuade them to enter the demolition process as part of the evacuation. He did not know that a journalist was present.
"The day after the article was published, I received a phone call from Nochi Dankner, who was then in his prime. We met, and that night I signed my first big contract with the IDB Group - NIS 3 million down payment for land search, tenant stamping and urban renewal."
The plan was to find a neighborhood to demolish in four years, for a nice bonus. "It took me a year and 10 months to demolish the Josephsberg neighborhood of Petah Tikva. In November 2009, a contract was signed with the tenants' representative, and as early as September 2011, the project was completed. The project was chosen as an outstanding evacuation building in 2011. I became one of Nochi's loved ones in a second."
That year, Asage felt that he wanted to break free and go free. "Something bad was going on in this group then and I asked to leave. Nochi was more than okay, and although company executives told him he was making a mistake, he agreed to release me without hurting me financially. Despite his entanglement, I will always remain a noble man. "
What does the future hold? Asage believes that with the cancellation of TAMA 38, only a few companies will survive in the area of urban renewal. He has no doubt that he is among the few who will continue to be among the country's leaders over time.
Produced by the Special Additives Department