Nara Dreamland for sale for 730 million Yen

Nara Dreamland 2

On September 25, Nara City announced that they are putting the long-since closed Nara Dreamland site up for sale with an estimated price of 730 million Yen. Bids will be opened on November 11 with final payment due on November 18.

The sale includes 297,519 sqm of land with 75 buildings including a hotel, training centre, retail spaces, the amusement park buildings and rides, and offices. The park closed in 2006 and is largely overgrown and in a state of disrepair.

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Singapore developer buys Seiko Estate, plans to build luxury residences

Seiko Corporation Shirokane 1

Singapore-based City Developments (CDL) and an US investment firm have purchased the historic and expansive estate of Seiko founder Kintaro Hattori in Shirokane for approximately 30.5 billion Yen (279 million USD).

CDL plan to develop luxury condominiums on the 16,815 sqm site and also plan to conserve the historic residence of Mr. Hattori which was built in 1933.Read more


Kenzo Tange-designed gymnasium in Kagawa at risk of demolition

The Kagawa Prefectural Gymnasium in Takamatsu City faces possible demolition after the sports facility was closed to public at the end of September. The brutalist building was designed by famed architect Kenzo Tange (1913 ~ 2005) and completed in 1964 - the same year that the Yoyogi National Gymnasium, another design by Tange, was built.

The 3-storey building has an arena with 1,300 fixed seats, a gym and conference rooms.Read more


3-Bedroom apartment for sale in Roppongi Hills

Roppongi Hills Residence 9

Become part of the exclusive Roppongi Hills Tribe.

Price: SOLD Size: 121.93 sqm (1,312 sqft)

*This apartment sold in early December 2014 and is no longer available. It was listed for 67 days and sold at a 0% discount*

A 3-Bedroom apartment on the 41st floor in Roppongi Hills Residence B was listed for sale yesterday. This is a rare corner apartment located on the north-west corner of the building. The estimated rent on this apartment is approximately 1,100,000 Yen/sqm*.  It is currently occupied by the owner and inspections are available by advance appointment only.

At the moment this is the only apartment available for sale in Residence B. Since 2012, there have only been 6 apartments listed for sale in this building and only 3 of them were over 100 sqm in size. The most recent sale was a 3-Bedroom 150 sqm apartment on a lower floor which sold for approximately 371 million Yen (2,473,000 Yen/sqm) earlier this year.

While we have recently seen prices skyrocket in other high-rise buildings around central Tokyo,  apartment prices in Roppongi Hills have remained at consistently high levels for the past 10 years.Read more


Osaka Waterworks land near Lake Biwa drops to just 2% of original value

Lake Biwa landAccording a recent valuation, forestry on the western side of Lake Biwa purchased by the Osaka Waterworks Bureau in 1988 for 917 million Yen has dropped in value by almost 98% to just 22 million Yen.

To date, the Bureau has spent 18 million Yen managing the land.

Starting this year, regional public enterprises will switch over to private corporate accounting systems which require the reporting of asset values and losses.

In 1985, the Bureau had made 1 billion Yen on the sale of land and were looking to acquire additional land as a way of storing the money. After considering several offerings from real estate agents, they settled on the land near Lake Biwa. The supervisor at the time said they believed the purchase could provide some positive PR since the land was a natural water source and acquiring the land meant they could protect the water quality. Despite the publicity efforts, the Bureau actually had no specific plans for the land.Read more


Secondhand apartment prices in August 2014 - Tokyo Kantei

According to Tokyo Kantei, the average asking price of a 70 sqm (753 sqft) second-hand apartment in Tokyo’s 23 wards was 41,930,000 Yen in August, up 0.5% from the previous month and up 3.9% from last year. The average apartment age was 22.4 years.

In central Tokyo’s six wards (Chiyoda, Chuo, Minato, Shinjuku, Bunkyo and Shibuya), the average apartment asking price was 58,570,000 Yen, up 0.9% from the previous month and up 8.7% from last year. The average apartment age was 24.4 years.

The average price across greater Tokyo was 28,140,000 Yen, down 0.4% from the previous month but up 0.9% from last year. The average building age was 21.7 years.Read more


Chinese fund developing private golf course and resort in Hokkaido

Ittatsu Kokusai Private Golf Club Kimobetsu HokkaidoBeijing-based fund Ittatsu Kokusai are developing an 18-hole private golf course and resort in Kimobetsu, Hokkaido.

Located about 30km east of Niseko, the resort will include 380 vacation home sites designed for wealthy Asian buyers. The project is estimated to cost around 10 billion Yen. The golf course has already been completed and sales will begin on the vacation lots from mid-October.

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