Walla! House, Media company headquarters in Tel Aviv, Israel
Walla! House is a four-story office building at the corner of Ibn Gabirol and Pinchas streets in Tel Aviv, with commercial use on the ground floor. Since 2001 it has housed the offices of Walla! Communications and the news site Walla! NEWS. The building is owned by A.R.L. Investments.
The building opened in September 1953 as the 100-room Hotel Castel, built for 700,000 Israeli pounds. It closed two years later over a dispute between its owners, and in 1955 HaPoel HaMizrahi bought it for half a million pounds and moved its offices there from One HaAm Street. After the merger that created the Mafdal, the party made it its main headquarters, and Tel Aviv renamed the street Pinchas in its honour. The Mafdal sold the building in the 1990s when it moved to Jerusalem; since 2001 it has housed the Walla! communications company.
The building opened in September 1953 as the Castel Hotel, and although the hotel closed two years later, its name lives on across Ibn Gabirol Street: a ticket office and a taxi station there still carry the Castel name, and a café in the ticket office building is called Café Castel.
The building is located in an active part of Tel Aviv with good access by public transportation and nearby streets. Visitors should be aware that interior access may be limited, though the exterior and surroundings offer good views of this working media center.
The hotel's name outlived the hotel: two businesses across Ibn Gabirol Street, a ticket office and a taxi stand, still carry the name Castel, and a café in the ticket office building is called Café Castel.
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