The Yael Foundation – focused on providing accessible, high-quality educational opportunities to Jewish children throughout the world – has purchased the former Impalagest building on the busy 1C19 in Ranholas, in the municipality of Sintra, for a reported €8 million.
The purchase is “a fundamental part of the growth strategy of this philanthropic Jewish organisation in Portugal”, writes Correio da Manhã.
The foundation is already present through Chabad, Portugal, in Cascais (which caters for children up to the age of 13).
CM gives some background on the Yael Foundation – created in 2020 by online gaming entrepreneur Uri Poliavich (originally from what he has described as Soviet Ukraine) and his wife Yael, from Kyrgyzstan.
The foundation is based in Cyprus and already acts in 41 countries – principally in Europe – supporting 110 programmes and almost 17,000 students, says the paper.
Its new purchase comprises a constructed area of approximately 15,000 square metres, including a basement, ground floor and three upper floors.
The distinctive premises (with its undulating glass frontage) sits alongside a plot of land that has also been put on sale by the Impala group, which was declared insolvent two years ago with heavy debts.
