New York Real Estate Developer Elected President of $300 Million Project in Eilat
Developers of Israel’s largest and most exciting tourist initiative, “AQUARIA Entertainment City”, have announced that they expect final approval for the project in 2008. In anticipation of this milestone, New York real estate developer Joseph Bernstein of Americas Partners LLC has been appointed as President of Aquaria Ltd. Mr. Bernstein will be primarily responsible for construction of the project and its grand opening in 2012. The 1, 300-dunam project includes themed rides and attractions, amphitheaters, night clubs, arcades, museums, a convention center, restaurants, boutiques, a golf club, and a water park.
Upon his appointment as President, Mr. Bernstein said, “A world class ‘entertainment city’ in Israel will soften the international image of Israel, promote the country as a global leisure destination, and fortify Eilat in its competition with Taba, Sharm-El-Sheikh and Aqaba in Eilat’s strategy to become the ‘Heart of the Red Sea Riviera’. The project will have entertainment for every member of the family, based on popular attractions at Disney World, MGM, EPCOT, and Universal Studios. AQUARIA is intended to spark Eilat and inject more than $1 billion into the Israeli economy by creating thousands of jobs and attracting hundreds of thousands of new vacationers each year. This is a project whose time has come!”
Aquaria’s President was brought up in Israel before emmigrating to the United States. In 1981, together with his brother, Ralph Bernstein, he founded a private real estate concern that has developed over $1 billion in commercial projects in New York, including Americas Tower, US Headquarters to Bank Hapoalim.
Mr. Bernstein saluted Israeli partner, Ran Ronen, “Ran has done an incredible job advancing the project, and I am truly honored to follow Ran’s footsteps in leading the project to construction and grand opening.” Stanley Silverstein, a New York partner, added, “In the same way he faithfully dedicated his life to the Israeli Air Force and fought for the survival of the State of Israel, Ran has made it his priority over the past six years to fulfill the dream of building an entertainment city in Eilat. Ran has shown all of us in the private and public sectors that a highly complex development project can be advanced in Israel at an accelerated pace. It is a great honor and distinction for me to be Ran’s partner and to continue to work with Ran and Joe on this project.” Mr. Bernstein and Mr. Silverstein are developers of another tourist project in Israel, a 5-star, $150 million golf resort and spa to be built on Mt. Arbel in joint venture with Moshav Kfar Hittim. Construction is anticipated to begin in 2008.
