Starbucks opens store in historic former home in Aomori
On April 22, Starbucks will open a store in a heritage listed building in Hirosaki City, Aomori Prefecture. This is the first Starbucks store in the city, and the first Starbucks store to be located in a local government owned property. Starbucks Japan operates over 1,000 stores across the country, including four in Aomori Prefecture.
The Hirosaki Koen-mae Store will open in a building that was built in 1917 as the official residence of the Commander of the 8th Division in the Imperial Japanese Army. It was designed by Hikosaburo Horie, the eldest son of Sakichi Horie who was a carpenter that worked on many of the western-style residences built in Aomori during the Meiji period.Read more
APA Group breaks ground on latest luxury condo
On April 7, APA Group held the groundbreaking ceremony for their latest luxury condominium project in central Tokyo. The Conoe Mita Tsunamachi is located on a prime corner block along the same street as the Australian Embassy and the members-only Tsunamachi Mitsui Club.
The 9-storey building will contain 45 one and two-bedroom apartments ranging in size from 73 ~ 216 sqm (785 ~ 2,313 sq ft). Completion is expected by July 2017. Bathrooms will be designed to feel like those found in luxury hotels overseas, with natural wood and stone finishes.Read more
March 2015 rental data - Tokyo Kantei
According to Tokyo Kantei, the average monthly rent of a condominium in greater Tokyo was 2,613 Yen/sqm in March, down 0.5% from the previous month but up 0.5% from last year. The average apartment size was 59.77 sqm and the average building age was 18.8 years.
In the Tokyo metropolitan area, the average rent was 3,106 Yen/sqm, up 1.2% from the previous month and up 0.9% from last year. The average apartment size was 57.17 sqm and the average building age was 17.4 years.
Details of Akasaka’s 44-storey condominium announced
Details on Park Court Akasaka Hinokicho The Tower (previously the Akasaka 9 Chome Tower Project) have just been released. The 170m tall, 44-storey condominium, which was designed by Nikken and famed architect Kengo Kuma, is currently under construction on the northern side of Tokyo Midtown.
The high-rise will contain 322 apartments, of which just 163 (50%) will be available for sale. The remainder will go to landholders and participants of the development. The two and three-bedroom apartments will range in size from 57.61 ~ 203.96 sqm (620 ~ 2,195 sq ft). Layouts are cleverly designed and do not contain any windowless bedrooms that you may find in cheaper developments. The largest apartment, a 203 sqm penthouse, includes two full bathrooms, while the rest of the apartments have 1 bathroom.
Sales will begin in September October November 2015 . Prices have yet to be announced, but with apartments in other recent high-rises in Akasaka selling for around 2,000,000 Yen/sqm, it is likely that we will see comparative pricing in this new project. There have been rumours that apartments could be priced as high as 3,000,000 Yen/sqm.Read more
Meguro Station high-rise residential development draws huge interest
The large redevelopment on the eastern side of Meguro Station is garnering a large amount of attention with the sales office overwhelmed with inquiries. Tours of the sales showroom are now booked solid for the next two months. The sales office received 18,000 requests for property brochures, three times the number they had anticipated. Many of the inquiries were from prospective buyers in their 30s and 40s. A third of the inquiries were from residents in Shinagawa, Meguro and Minato-ku.
The model room opened in early April, and the first round of sales is scheduled to start in early June. Apartments will be offered for sale in stages, with almost 40% of the apartments being offered in the first round. Interested buyers will be required to submit applications during the sales periods, with lucky buyers selected via a lottery-type system.
The 80 billion Yen project includes two residential towers containing 940 apartments and a 27-storey office tower. Tokyo Tatemono, Daiichi Life Insurance, Taisei Kensetsu and Takenaka Corporation are the four developers.Read more
Transactions and luxury sales continue to soar in central Tokyo
According to REINS, 3,728 second-hand apartments were sold across greater Tokyo in March, up 13.2% from the previous month but down 6.7% from last year. This is the 12th month in a row to see a year-on-year decline.
The average apartment sale price was 29,230,000 Yen, down 0.1% from the previous month but up 9.7% from last year. The average price per square meter was 453,100 Yen, up 0.7% from the previous month and up 8.7% from last year. The average building age was 19.47 years.
1,843 second-hand apartments were sold in the Tokyo metropolitan area, up 17.2% from the previous month but down 7.1% from last year. The average sale price was 35,580,000 Yen, down 2.3% from the previous month but up 10.6% from last year. The average price per square meter was 601,900 Yen, down 0.7% from the previous month but up 11.1% from last year. The average building age was 18.58 years.
In central Tokyo’s 3 wards (Chiyoda, Chuo and Minato), 230 apartments were sold, up 23.0% from the previous month and up 0.4% from last year. This is the highest level for March seen since record keeping began in 2008.Read more