Actor and environmental activist Leonardo DiCaprio has agreed to invest in Hagag Group Real Estate Development's new eco-certified hotel in Herzliya, Israel.
Architect David Rockwell will design the hotel with 180 guestrooms, 130 of which are timeshare vacation homes. These guestrooms will be spread across two six-story buildings.
The Hagag Group said DiCaprio, now a partner in the hotel project, will promote the new hotel and ensure it is developed in line with the highest hotel and environmental standards. "Green environmental development is a significant part of building communities that work in partnership with nature and not against it. As we seek to create a future that heads off the most severe effects of climate change, we need projects that push for new developments in environmental design," DiCaprio told Israel 21c.
Hagag Group will develop the hotel in compliance with the U.S. Green Building Council. The property will also be Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certified. The LEED green building rating system is globally recognized symbol of commitment to environmental responsibility and sustainability.
The new hotel coming to Herzliya Marina follows the several other LEED-certified projects in Israel, the first being Intel's Development Design Center in Haifa. The design center, which was developed in 2010, received LEED Gold ranking. Some other LEED-certified developments include the Azouri Eco-Tower, Tel Aviv's first eco-friendly office building, Tel Aviv University's Porter School of Environmental Studies building, Israel's first LEED Platinum-certified building, Google’s LEED Platinum-certified Tel Aviv headquarters and the LEED Silver-certified HP Ink Plant2 at KG.