Construction of a 225-meter tall tower to replace the former Hotel Okura South Wing building in Roppongi will start in 2024, with completion scheduled for 2028.
The development appears to have been upgraded from previous plans submitted in 2019 for a 180-meter tall, 43-story apartment tower and a separate 115-meter tall, 21-story office tower. The previous plans had been submitted by Nomura Real Estate Development, but the latest plans have been submitted by Kajima Corporation.
The new 50-story mixed-use building will contain housing, a hotel, and retail, and have a total floor area of around 140,000 sqm (1.5 million sq.ft). The high-rise will be located on the northern portion of the site, with the southern section used as an open, public space.
The 9,924 sqm block is in the Toranomon / Roppongi district – an area that has been seeing some major redevelopment projects in recent years, including the Toranomon Hills district (ongoing), the recent opening of the Toranomon Hills subway line, the redevelopment of the Hotel Okura across the street, and the soon-to-be-completed Azabudai Hills mega-redevelopment. The neighborhood’s transformation has had a positive impact on property values. A government survey site for land values located directly across the street from this project site is home to the most expensive residential land in Japan. The land underneath the Homat Royal condominium had a Standard Land Price of 5.04 million Yen per square meter in 2022, up 3.3% from the previous year and the 9th year in a row to see an increase. Its value has increased by 104.9% over the past 10 years. Meanwhile, newly-built condominiums in the vicinity are currently priced around 3.5 ~ 6 million Yen per square meter (US$2,510 ~ 4,300/sq.ft).
The former Hotel Okura South Wing was built in 1973 as an annex to the main hotel across the street. The main hotel was built in 1962 and designed by Yoshio Taniguchi (his architectural firm also designed the South Annex). It was demolished in 2015, much to the dismay of architectural fans worldwide, and reopened in 2020 as a glass skyscraper with hotel and office space.
Operations of the South Wing ended in September 2020. Between October 2020 and September 2021, the vacant building was leased to the Tokyo Organizing Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Demolition of the old hotel began in November 2021 and completion is expected this December.
Source: The Kensetsu Tsushin Shimbun, December 13, 2022.
