One Hundred Hills is an American-style gated residential estate developed by Tokyu Land in Midori-ku, Chiba City. Sales began at the peak of Japan’s economic bubble in 1989, but the developer is still selling vacant lots in the subdivision.

When sales first began, the average home ranged in size from 429 ~ 495 sqm (4616 ~ 5326) and was priced between 500 and 1.5 billion Yen. Tokyu planned 60 lots, but only built 49 homes. Of those homes, they only managed to sell 24 before the bubble burst. Some buyers purchased the homes as weekend retreats, while others purchased them in company names for tax write-offs.

Television programs that featured the neighborhood would call it “Chiba-ly Hills” as a play on the Beverly Hills name. The neighborhood was plagued by visitors hoping to catch a glimpse of the tree-lined avenues and enormous mansions.

With the collapse of the bubble, and the relatively distant and inconvenient location of the estate, home prices plummeted and many were put under foreclosure. At one point the area resembled a ghost-town with rows of “For Sale” signs and weeds growing on the once manicured lawns. Gangs of noisy bikers (bosozoku) targeted the area and terrorized residents with their loud motorbikes. This led to the neighborhood enforcing strict entry requirements that only allow local traffic.

Although the maintenance has improved, the subdivision is now thought of as a disastrous symbol of the former bubble economy and resembles an open-air museum of Japan’s glory days.

Want to buy in One Hundred Hills?

In the spring of 2000, Tokyu began re-advertising unsold blocks of land for less than 30% of their prices from the bubble era.

Today, the land is priced at approximately 48,000 Yen/sqm (55 USD/sqft). Current blocks of land for sale range in size from 1664 ~ 3307 sqm and are priced from 85.04 ~ 148.72 million Yen (1.05 ~ 1.83 million USD). Under the purchase agreement, the buyer must construct on the property within 3 years of purchase, the house must be at least 165 sqm in size (1775 sqft), and no Japanese-style homes are allowed to be built. New buyers must also pay a gatehouse fee of 1,200,000 Yen, a one-time landscaping fee of 1,000,000 Yen, and monthly management fees of 90,000 Yen.

 

Home for sale. Price: 160,000,000 Yen (1,970,000 USD). House: 444.93sqm. Land: 2299.79sqm. Built: 1990

Location:

6-3 Asumigaoka, Midori-ku, Chiba City, Chiba Prefecture

A sign asks visitors to refrain from ‘sightseeing’

Sources:
Sales Page
Wikipedia page

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