To make way for it, Beit Amir , widely known as “Shufersal Agron”,  will be demolished. The distinctive modernist building was designed by Israel Prize-winning architect David Resnick in the 1960s and has been a recognizable, if divisive, part of central Jerusalem’s skyline ever since. Its demolition has been debated for years, with preservation advocates pushing back against those calling for denser development in the heart of the city. The Jerusalem District Planning and Building Committee rejected all objections and gave the project the green light.

There is an unusual personal thread running through the project. The new tower is being designed by New York architect Ian Bader together with Anat Eilon and Baruch Resnick — the son of the architect who designed the building being torn down. Earlier discussions called for elements of the original building’s architectural language to be carried through into the new design rather than simply erased.

The approval reflects a clear direction in Jerusalem’s planning policy. Authorities are increasingly concentrating high-density residential, hotel and commercial development around the city’s major public transportation corridors, including the expanding light-rail network that runs through this area. The Agron Tower fits squarely into that vision.

For anyone who knows central Jerusalem, the change will be hard to miss. A low-rise piece of the city’s 20th-century history is making way for a tower that will reshape one of its busiest and most central corridors.