A new subway station for Toranomon
On October 14, Tokyo Metro and the Urban Renaissance Agency officially announced plans for a new subway stop along the Hibiya Line between Kasumigaseki and Kamiyacho Stations. The station will be located in the Toranomon district and will be just to the west of the recently completed Toranomon Hills.
Construction is scheduled to begin in 2015 with the new station expected to be open by the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, and an underground passageway to neighbouring buildings, including Toranomon Hills, ready by 2022.
The Toranomon area has been undergoing major redevelopment with new hotels, offices and residences. There are plans for a bus terminal to be located nearby the new station which could possibly serve as a transport link between the Olympic facilities in the bayside islands and central Tokyo.
This will be the newest station to be added to an existing subway line by Tokyo Metro since Tameike-Sanno Station was opened in 1997.
Sources:
NHK, October 14, 2014.
The Yomiuri Shimbun, October 15, 2014.
Hotel and office development for Tamachi Station area
Tokyo Gas, Mitsui Fudosan and Mitsubishi Jisho announced plans for the redevelopment of a 2.8 hectare site behind Tamachi Station in Minato-ku.
The TGMM Shibaura Project will include:
- Office Tower (A): 180m tall; 31 floors.
- Office Tower (B): 185m tall; 36 floors.
- Hotel: 65m tall; 9 floors.
- Welfare Center: 35m tall; 6 floors.
Construction is expected to start in 2015 and should be completed by 2019. Read more
Apartment transactions down for 6th month
According to REINS, 2,938 apartments were sold across greater Tokyo in September, up 38.7% from the previous month but down 5.9% from last year. This is the 6th month in a row to see a decline from one year prior. The average apartment sale price across greater Tokyo was 27,500,000 Yen, down 2.5% from the previous month but up 3.6% from last year. The average price per square meter was 424,600 Yen, down 2.8% from the previous month but up 3.7% from last year. The average building age was 19.81 years.
1,425 apartments were sold in the Tokyo metropolitan area, up 42.1% from the previous month but down 8.6% from last year. This is the 6th month in a row to see a decline from one year prior. The average apartment sale price was 33,780,000 Yen, down 3.1% from the previous month but up 5.7% from last year. The average price per square meter was 568,200 Yen, down 3.3% from the previous month but up 7.6% from last year. The average building age was 18.72 years.Read more
Sumitomo Forestry announces new luxury home plans
Sumitomo Forestry announced a new luxury home design and construction service aimed at wealthy clients who are seeking meticulously designed and well-appointed residences.
A model house in the Komazawa Koen Housing Gallery in Setagaya-ku is scheduled to open on October 17, while pre-inspections are currently available by appointment only. Another model house will open in Nagoya City. Both homes were designed by Design Partner Group.
The Komazawa model house was designed to reflect contemporary and traditional Japanese styles in an urban setting. All rooms open onto a central courtyard which provides light, air flow and a spot for greenery. Interior designer Yukio Hashimoto was in charge of the interiors, with special touches including traditional Japanese plaster, lacquering, gold and silver leaf and shoji sliding doors. Read more
Earthquake-retrofitting an unpopular choice despite government assistance
Not far from Shin Osaka Station is a 11-storey, 40 year old apartment building that was built to the older earthquake codes (called kyu-taishin). A member of the building owners’ association said that the building has been carefully maintained over the years with new flooring in the common areas and re-painting of the exterior walls. However, no efforts have been made to retrofit the building for earthquakes. They are also yet to conduct any official earthquake-resistant building diagnosis, although they did consult with an architect several years ago. The architect’s opinion was that retrofitting was absolutely necessary and could cost around 100 million Yen.
The building, with 100 apartments, has 90 million Yen in the repair fund. If they were to carry out retrofitting, the building management and repair fees charged to each apartment owner would have to double. The issue about retrofitting is brought up each year at the owners’ association annual meeting, but those in favour are in the minority.Read more
Residential yields and vacancy rates in Minato-ku - October 2014
According to real estate listing site Homes, the average gross yield on an apartment in Minato-ku in October was 5.0%, down 0.6 points from the previous month and down 0.8 points from last year. The average gross yield across Tokyo was 6.9%, down 0.1 points from the previous month and down 0.8 points from last year.
The vacancy rate remains unchanged at 9.9% in Minato-ku and 11.0% across Tokyo.
The average asking price of a secondhand apartment in Minato-ku was 797,243 Yen/sqm as of October 1, down 0.9% from the previous month but up 15.9% from last year. The average asking price for land was 1,278,181 Yen/sqm, down 0.07% from the previous month but up 22.4% from last year.Read more