Hiroshima to have tallest apartment building in region
Sumitomo Realty & Development announced the launch of a condominium in Hiroshima that will be the region's tallest apartment building when complete. City Tower Hiroshima will be 192 meters tall and contain 514 two, three and four-bedroom apartments.
Residential apartments will be on floors 13 to 52, with a lobby on level 12. The majority will be 3-bedroom apartments with an internal area of 75 sqm (807 sqft). Read more
The Parkhouse Grand Minamiaoyama Takagicho to be demolished and rebuilt
Mitsubishi Jisho Residence announced that they will be demolishing and rebuilding The Parkhouse Grand Minamiaoyama Takagicho* apartment building after serious construction faults were discovered prior to completion. The construction company, Kajima Corporation, is expected to bear most of the reconstruction costs.
Apartments in the 7-storey condominium in Minato-ku were initially priced from 85 ~ 350 million Yen with an average price of 1,400,000 Yen per square meter. 83 of the 86 apartments were already under contract by December when online message boards began to report rumours of some structural issues with the building. Read more
Tokyo bayside apartment bubble to burst after Olympics?
There are currently 149 large-scale apartment buildings (those with a total floor space of over 10,000 sqm) planned in Tokyo's 23 wards. Of those, several projects located in the bayside area are of a major scale with a floor space of over 100,000 sqm.
What impact could this future supply have on the apartment market on these manmade islands in Tokyo Bay?Read more
Nara Dreamland foreclosed
Before Tokyo Disneyland there was Nara Dreamland - a Disney-themed park in Nara Prefecture that closed in 2006 and has since become a popular spot for urban explorers. Due to unpaid property taxes, Nara City is planning to put the property up for public auction soon.
Nara Dreamland was opened in 1961 by Nihon Dream Kanko. After meeting with Walt Disney at California's Disneyland Park, Nihon Dream's president Kunizo Matsuo expressed a desire to build a similar theme park in West Japan to cater to Japanese. Disney was apparently okay with this idea and sent some experts to Japan to advise on park design. While Nihon Dream claimed to have a franchise agreement in place, Disney later denied any official affiliation as they could not come to an agreement on franchise fees.