Japan Post Insurance is selling their former Tokyo Service Center building and land in Mita, Minato-ku, Tokyo. The potential sale price and date has yet to be confirmed, although it is expected that the property will be offered for sale by tender. With land of this size, the eventual sale price is likely to be in the 10s of billions of Yen (several hundred million USD).

Japan Post Insurance expects to report a capital gain of 30 billion Yen (approx. 270 million USD) on the sale, which, given their very long history of ownership of the property, may be a close indicator of their preferred sale price.

*Update: The property was sold to Mitsui Fudosan Residential in February 2018. Japan Post Insurance posted a capital gain of 85.03 billion Yen (approx. 780 million USD) on the sale.

The property is located along the street from the Australian Embassy and directly across the street from the historic Tsunamachi Mitsui Club – a members only club that was built in 1913 for the Mitsui family.

The Art Deco building was once theMinistry of Communications and Transportation Postal Life Insurance Building. It was constructed by Obayashi Corporation in 1929 at a cost of 4,350,000 Yen. In those days the annual salary of a doctor was around 4,800 Yen.

The 3 ~ 4 storey reinforced-concrete building has a total floor area of 34,500 sqm (approx. 371,000 sq ft) and four internal courtyards. The building’s exterior remains in largely original condition, although earthquake retrofitting was carried out in 2001.  The building itself would make an interesting historic hotel conversion, although the high market value of the land would make this an unlikely choice.

It sits on approximately 26,000 sqm of land, which is a substantial size in central Tokyo. A nearby block of residential land had a Government assessed land value (koji-chika) of 1,660,000 Yen/sqm in 2017, up 5.06% from 2016. A site this large will likely appeal to a joint venture of real estate developers.

In January 2017, the Architectural Institute of Japan sent a written request to Japan Post Insurance asking for the property and grounds to be preserved. The property was previously the site of the Kurume Domain Daimyo’s mansion until the late 1800s. Several Daimyo once owned large and lavish estates in the elevated parts of the Mita address.

Location

1-4-60 Mita, Minato-ku, Tokyo

Sources:
The Kentsu Shimbun, May 16, 2017.
Architectural Institute of Japan, January 30, 2017.

Loading