Bernstein '74 Elected President of $300 Million Project in Israel

Developers of Israel's 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. Bernstein will be primarily responsible for construction of the project and its grand opening in 2012. The 1,300-dunam (in Israel, a unit of land measure equal to 1,000 square meters) project includes themed rides and attractions, amphitheaters, nightclubs, arcades, museums, a convention center, restaurants, boutiques, a golf club, and a water park.

Upon his appointment as President, 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!"

Bernstein was raised in Israel before immigrating 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.

Bernstein is a co-developer 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.

Press Release/February 28, 2008 

Press Release/February 4, 2008