The Tokyo Metropolitan Government is firming up plans to redevelop the former Tsukiji Fish Market in downtown Tokyo into an international conference and exhibition center. Earlier rumors had suggested the site could become a sports stadium, shopping mall or a food-based theme park.
The last vestige of Hotel Okura’s modernist presence is in line to be demolished as redevelopment plans surface for the Hotel Okura Tokyo’s annex (South Wing).
Karatsu City in Saga Prefecture has purchased a former Yakuza office at a public auction. The city acquired the property at the request of both prefectural police and the prefectural bar association to prevent it from falling back into criminal hands.
A major online bank in Japan has found several cases of mortgage fraud where borrowers have lied on their loan applications in order to obtain low interest rate home loans on investment properties.
On February 5, Aman Resorts International announced that they will open Aman Kyoto on November 1, 2019. This will be the third Aman hotel to open in Japan. Aman had been eyeing Kyoto as a key destination for the hotel brand since 2006.
The average rent for an apartment in Tokyo’s 23 wards saw a 5.3% year-on-year increase in 2018 – the highest annual percentage increase in over 10 years. This was due in part to the fact that over 10% of the listings in the first half of the year were new construction. Newly built apartments tend to command higher rents than older ones, and can pull up the average. Average rents in Tokyo are now up 16% from their bottom in 2012.
Real estate transactions in Japan by institutional funds in the second half of 2018 reached 1.729 trillion Yen (approx.15.8 billion USD), down 34% from the second half of 2017 and the lowest level seen in six years.
The following is a selection of apartments that were reported to have sold in central Tokyo during the month of January 2019:
First Cabin, a Tokyo-based developer and operator of capsule-style accommodation across Japan, announced plans to open a cabin-style hotel in a traditional machiya-style townhouse in Kyoto. The new hotel will open on March 28, 2019.
According to Tokyo Kantei, the average asking price of a 70 sqm (753 sq.ft) second-hand apartment in greater Tokyo was 37,290,000 Yen in December 2018, up 0.5% from the previous month and up 3.2% from December 2017. The average building age was 24.3 years.
