Stark leads multibillion-dollar development in Israel

http://blog.cleveland.com/business/2007/12/stark_leads_multibilliondollar.html

Posted by Peter Krouse December 17, 2007 15:54PM
Categories: Breaking News

Bob Stark isn't content with just leaving his mark on Cleveland.

The local real estate developer was in Israel Monday discussing plans for a major investment near the northern city of Safed where he owns property.

Reached by phone around 10:30 p.m. Israeli time, Stark said he was at a conference and not able to talk. He did, however, reference a story written in the Israeli daily newspaper Ha'aretz.
It calls Stark an "American real estate mogul" and says he heads a group of investors looking to put $3 billion to $4 billion into "a new university town in the Safed area."

Safed is north of the Sea of Galilee. It's the fourth holiest city in Judaism and base of the mystical Kabbalah movement.
In the recent fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, katyusha rockets from southern Lebanon struck Safed, said Michael Siegal, chairman of Olympic Steel Inc. in Bedford Heights and a long-time supporter of Israel.

The development involving Stark would include a new medical school, along with homes, shopping centers and cultural institutions.
The medical school would be affiliated with Bar-Ilan University and be created with a donation of $500 million also designed to improve hospitals in the Galilee region. In his brief conversation with the Plain Dealer, Stark said he was involved in raising the money for the school from donors around the world.

Bob StarkThe project apparently faces some obstacles. Deans of existing medical schools in Israel object to opening a new one, Ha'aretz states, and government funding has not be secured.
Plans also include a school called a hesder yeshiva that combines service in the Israeli Defense Forces with study of the Torah. Stark has a son serving in the Israeli Army.

"Bar-Ilan officials said Stark and the other investors involved in the project represent a new brand of donors, who combine philanthropy with financial investment," the article states.
Locally, Stark is known for his Crocker Park lifestyle center in Westlake and his plans to revive the Warehouse District in downtown Cleveland. He also has contributed to a variety of Jewish causes.
Siegal said that he knew Stark had something going in Safed but that he's not part of it. "At least Bob hasn't called me, yet," he said.

In one respect, Zafed is not unlike Cleveland, Siegal said, in that it's economically depressed and can use some revitalization to keep the sharp, young minds from moving to places like Tel Aviv.
It appears that Stark is combining his faith, commitment to Israel and business acumen all in one, Siegal said.

"I wish him the best of luck."