Mitsubishi & TBS to redevelop office towers above Akasaka Station
On January 30, Mitsubishi Estate and Tokyo Broadcasting System Holdings (TBS) announced the formation of business agreement for the redevelopment of the Kokusai Shin-Akasaka Buildings (East, West and Annex). These office towers are located just above Akasaka Station and across the street from Akasaka Biz Tower and the TBS TV Studios.
New owner for long-abandoned temple in Kyoto
On December 7, 2018, the Shinshu Otani-ha Buddhist movement announced that they were acquiring the former Ryotoku-ji temple in Kyoto City free of charge, and looking to find a new use for the property with the cooperation of Kyoto Prefecture.
New apartment supply in Tokyo drops for second month
According to the Real Estate Economic Institute, a total of 2,323 brand-new apartments were released for sale across greater Tokyo in February, up 22.3% from the previous month but down 6.7% from last year. This is the second month in a row to see a year-on-year decline in supply.
New housing starts down 2.3% in 2018
According to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT), there were 942,370 new housing starts across Japan in 2018, a 2.3% drop from 2017 and the second year in a row to see a decline.
40% stake sold in The Ritz Carlton Kyoto
The Sekisui House Reit has acquired 40% joint ownership of the trust beneficiary rights to the The Ritz Carlton Kyoto for 17.8 billion Yen (approx. 160 million USD). The sale took place on January 31 and the seller was the Reit's sponsor, Sekisui House.
Shinjuku’s 65-storey twin tower apartment project gets town planning approval
On March 15, Shinjuku ward issued town planning approval for the Nishi Shinjuku 3 Chome West District Redevelopment. This project includes two 65-storey, 235 meter tall apartment towers that will be the tallest purely-residential towers in Japan based on total floor count and the second largest development based on total unit count.
Regional residential land prices increase for first time since 1992
Something that is on every local investor and real estate agent’s calendar is the announcement of the koji-chika assessed land prices by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT). This year’s results came as no surprise to those in the industry, with average land prices increasing for the fourth year in a row. A 1.2% increase nationwide was reported in 2019, a 0.5 point increase from 2018.