2.2 Traditional machiya houses in Kyoto are demolished each day
Kyoto City is losing its traditional machiya townhouses at an alarming rate, with an average of 2.2 of these symbolic houses demolished each day.
On May 1, Kyoto City announced that approximately 5,600 machiya have been demolished over the past seven years. In 2016, a survey found that there were 40,146 surviving machiya in the city.
Of the surviving machiya, 14.5% are vacant and not occupied by owners or tenants, an increase of 4 points from the previous city survey in 2009. Kyoto City’s vacancy rate across all types of housing was 14% in a 2013 survey.Read more
Construction to start on Foretseine Motoazabu 2 Chome project in July
Mori Trust is developing a luxury apartment building atop the Motoazabu neighbourhood in central Tokyo. Takenaka Corporation, one of Japan’s top construction giants, will start construction on Foretseine Motoazabu 2 Chome in July 2017. Completion is due for the end of December 2018. The 5-storey building will have just 17 spaciously sized apartments.
This project will be part of Mori’s 'Foretseine' brand of high-end residences. Their most recent project was Foretseine Akasaka Hinokizaka near Tokyo Midtown. When sales began in late 2014, apartments were priced between 1.5 ~ 2.8 million Yen/sqm and all apartments had sold off-the-plan prior to completion. Re-sale listings in 2016 have had an average asking price of around 3 million Yen/sqm.
The land is approximately 1,100 sqm in size, while the building will have a total floor area of 3,500 sqm (37,660 sq ft).Read more
Tokyo Apartment Sales in April 2017
The following is a selection of apartments that were sold in central Tokyo during the month of April 2017:Read more
91-yr old condo-conversion in Tokyo blends old with new
Nestled down in a quiet and hidden location in Tokyo’s Hongo neighbourhood is a 91-year old building that was converted into condominium-type apartments several years ago, making it the oldest apartment conversion project in Japan.
The Kyudo Gakusha was built in 1926 as a student dormitory. It was designed by architect Goichi Takeda (1872-1938) and originally had 30 rooms, each about 10 sqm in size, as well as a common area with dining hall and library. The 3-storey building is one of Japan’s earliest reinforced concrete buildings.
The building fell into disrepair in the 1990s, with roof leaks causing serious damage to the 2nd and 3rd floors and rendering them unlivable. In the early 2000s, the owner had considered demolishing the historic building and replacing it with a block of studio apartments.Read more
Floor space ratios may be relaxed for pre-1981 buildings in Tokyo
The Tokyo Metropolitan Government is considering introducing regulations that would relax floor-space ratios when redeveloping old apartment buildings in the city. This would allow for the additional space to be sold by a real estate developer, which would help to cover the costs of redevelopment.
The target of the revision is condo-style apartment buildings that were built to the old earthquake codes (kyu-taishin). The major change to earthquake codes occurred in May 1981, with buildings built after this date meeting the current codes. Due to the time period from construction to completion, there are some buildings from 1982 that may have been built to the old ‘kyu-taishin’ codes.Read more
Historic restaurant in Nagasaki looking for buyer
The owner and operator of the 150-year old Fukiro Restaurant in Nagasaki City will be temporarily closing the restaurant later in the year while they search for a buyer of the historic property.
The owner, who is the 6th generation of the founder, made the difficult decision due to a shortage of staff and not having a successor. Annual revenues have also fallen to about 10% of what they were during the bubble years. The large building and traditional Japanese gardens are costly to maintain, which is putting a further strain on operations.Read more