Jul. 01 –  The long-awaited Jerusalem Waldorf Astoria Hotel project will soon be underway after the Jerusalem Regional Planning and Building Committee authorized the Jerusalem municipality to issue building permits. The $107 million project, which has been 10 years in the planning stages, is to be built by IPC Jerusalem, owned by Paul and Joseph Reichmann. It will have 180 rooms and 40 suites, and an eight-story residential building with 28 units is planned next door. The new hotel, a brand of Hilton Hotels Corporation, will be built on the site of the Palace Hotel and the historic customs house between Agron Street and King David Street, not far from the Old City of Jerusalem. The site of the new hotel is listed for preservation and developers have been told to design the façade in keeping with its listed status.