The cornerstone ceremony this week for Pardes Heights and the new home of Beit Keren, the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies, marked much more than the start of construction of a new building. It symbolized the beginning of a bold new chapter for Jerusalem’s Talpiot district – a neighborhood long known for its industrial past, now poised to transform into a vibrant, mixed-use urban hub.
The Pardes Heights building is a joint effort between the institute and developers NBS and Mimushim. It is part of the city’s reimagining of the Talpiot neighborhood as a dynamic center of residential, commercial, and cultural spaces. The 32-story building will be home to premium apartments, public spaces, and the new campus of Pardes. Pardes Heights is poised to become the new model for integrated urban development in Talpiot.
The Talpiot Industrial Zone, established in the 1960s, long functioned as an industrial area of the capital. However, in recent years there has been a strategic push to repurpose the 120-hectare area into a dynamic mixed-use urban center.
Redefining Talpiot for years to come
The ambitious Talpiot Master Plan is spearheaded by the Jerusalem city planners and supported by Mayor Moshe Lion, who has been a vocal advocate of urban renewal policies across Jerusalem. It will spawn more than 8,000 new housing units, as well as commercial space, public and cultural amenities, pedestrian-friendly walkways, and connections to the upcoming light rail lines. With the city’s master plan envisioning high-rise apartment buildings, cultural centers, and green public spaces, mixed-purpose Pardes Heights emerges as a flagship project, embodying the renewal and energy that will redefine Talpiot for decades to come.
Rising at 31 General Pierre Koenig Street, Pardes Heights is designed by Jerusalem-based Matti Rosenshine Architects. The tower is primarily residential, with the Pardes Institute extending across 5,500 square meters on the first five floors.
NBS chairman Yehuda Berzon opened the cornerstone-laying ceremony by saying: “There are moments in life when a single stone symbolizes far more than itself. Today, the stone we lay here is not just the start of a building – it is a cornerstone for a new future: a future for this neighborhood, for the entire city, and for the emerging community here. We, the developers and partners, NBS and Memushim, accept this responsibility with humility, pride, and full commitment – and with reverence.
“We have not come here just to build – we have come to create lasting change,” he said, “change rooted in meticulous planning, advanced architecture, and urban renewal born of a deep respect for Jerusalem’s roots, history, and core values.”
'This project truly symbolizes Jerusalem's policy'
IN HIS address at the ceremony, Mayor Lion acknowledged that this was one of the first projects to get underway. “This is why I came here – because this project truly symbolizes our policy, the policy of the Jerusalem Municipality, for this area.”
For more than five decades, the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies has transformed Jewish education worldwide, equipping generations of educators with the tools, passion, and vision to inspire diverse communities. Through its pioneering blend of rigorous text study, innovative pedagogy, and a deeply pluralistic ethos, Pardes has nurtured a global network of teachers, rabbis, and educational leaders who are shaping classrooms, campuses, and congregations across the Jewish world.
In addition to the beit midrash (study hall) in the new Beit Keren campus and a host of state-of-the-art classrooms integrated for hybrid and online learning, there will be a tranquil learning garden and open spaces, as well as the first 250-seat auditorium in the area. While construction is now well underway, fundraising for the building is ongoing.
Leon Morris, president of the Pardes Institute, emphasizes that “This building, located in the heart of Jerusalem, stands as a symbol of Pardes’s deep commitment to this city – not just as a physical place of learning but as a living center of Jewish identity, meaning, and dialogue. Beit Keren represents more than a physical expansion; it is the heart of our mission made visible.
“This beautiful new home will house not only classrooms but the next generation of Jewish leaders. It’s a promise to the Jewish people that the beit midrash remains a beacon of learning, rooted in Jerusalem and open to the world,” he says.
Joel Weiss, executive director of Pardes in Israel, underscores the centrality of Beit Keren to Talpiot’s redevelopment. “The Pardes Institute, through its new campus, will be an integral part of the daily life of Jerusalemites. Beyond the classrooms, which will always be open to the city’s residents, the new auditorium will host cultural events for the neighborhood, and the gallery – dedicated to Jerusalem artists – will turn Pardes into an open public space: a cultural hub that invites the people of this city to come in, see, and experience the beauty within these walls.”
As the Pardes Institute, NBS, and Mimushim marked the laying of the cornerstone for this landmark project, they are contributing to more than just the city’s physical renewal. They are anchoring a bold vision for Talpiot and Jerusalem itself – one that integrates education, community, and urban vitality, and reflects the aspirations of Jerusalem in the future.