High-rise planned for Omotesando former public housing site
The Aoyama Kitamachi Apaato, a city-operated public housing complex located on a prime 40,000 sqm site in the centre of Omotesando, is going to be replaced with a 20-storey high-rise apartment building.
The current site includes 25 public housing blocks containing a total of 586 apartments. They were built between 1957 and 1968 and are now in various stages of ageing and deterioration. The 4 and 5 storey buildings do not have elevators, and some of the earlier buildings did not have bathrooms (in those days the residents would have gone to local bathhouses).
Since 2006, Tokyo City has been slowly vacating the tenants in preparation of redevelopment. Almost half of the apartments are vacant, while remaining residents gradually move out.
Demolition is scheduled to start in 2017, and completion is expected in time for the 2020 Summer Olympics.Read more
Residential yields in Minato-ku - February 2016
According to real estate listing site Homes, the average gross yield on an apartment in Minato-ku in Tokyo was 4.6% in February, showing no change from the previous month but down 0.6 points from last year. The average gross yield across Tokyo was 6.2%, showing no change from the previous month but down 0.6 points from last year.
The average asking price of a second-hand apartment in Minato-ku was 906,757 Yen/sqm as of February 1, up 1.3% from the previous month and up 2.5% from last year. The average asking price for land was 1,385,454 Yen/sqm, up 2.0% from the previous month and up 10.5% from last year.Read more
Kobe to redevelop No. 2 City Hall
Kobe City is considering demolishing and rebuilding the ageing No. 2 City Hall. Demolition could start as early as this year.
The No. 2 Building was completed in 1957. It originally had 8 floors, but the upper floors were removed after suffering catastrophic damage during the 1995 Great Hanshin Earthquake. The magnitude 7.3 earthquake caused the 6th floor of the building to collapse under the weight of the floors above. Rather than demolish the building, the 6th, 7th and 8th floors were removed, and the building went back into use from March 1996 onwards.Read more
Tokyo region’s net inflow of residents reaches 6-year high
According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, the greater Tokyo area (Tokyo, Saitama, Chiba and Kanagawa) saw a net inflow of 119,357 residents in 2015. This is the 20th year in a row to see a net inflow, and is the highest level seen since 2009.
Only 8 of Japan’s 47 prefectures reported a net inflow, while areas such as Hokkaido (-8,862), Hyogo (-7,409), Niigata (-6,735), Aomori (-6,560), and Shizuoka (-6,206) saw more people moving out to other areas. Approximately 76% of Japan’s cities, towns and villages recorded net outflows in 2015, as more and more of the population move to larger cities.
Tokyo’s 23 wards saw a net inflow of 68,917 residents, up 7.7% from 2014.Read more
Tokyo Apartment Sales in January 2016
The following is a selection of apartments that were sold in central Tokyo during the month of January 2016:Read more