Ralph Lauren Building in Omotesando to be sold for 35 billion Yen
Mitsubishi Corporation have entered into final negotiations to purchase the Espoir Omotesando building for 35 billion Yen (340 million USD). The sellers - Secured Capital Investment Management, Orix and Trinity Investment - acquired the building in 2010 for 31 billion Yen. It was one of the biggest transactions in Japan that year. Read more
Daiwa House to demolish modernist building in Kobe
An example of Japan's pre-war modernist architecture is slated for demolition in February. The former Osaka Gas Shinkaichi Building in Chuo-ku, Kobe, has survived WWII firebombing raids and the 1995 Great Hanshin earthquake, but is unlikely to survive the urban redevelopment as it will soon be replaced by an apartment building. Read more
Chuo-ku facing challenging road to Olympics
The bayside area in Chuo-ku, Tokyo, including Kachidoki and Harumi, is seeing a surge in development and high demand from buyers following the Olympic announcement several months ago. But there are concerns that the current infrastructure may not cope with the rising population, which is expected to grow by 30% in coming years.
Large supply of apartments in the pipeline
Developers are now racing ahead to build new condominiums in bayside sites that had previously laid dormant for several decades.Read more
NHK to Redevelop Shibuya Broadcasting Centre
Television broadcaster NHK announced plans to redevelop their broadcasting centre in Shibuya. The project is expected to cost approximately 300 billion Yen and will be completed by 2025 (although the president of NHK expressed a desire to have it completed by the 2020 Olympics).Read more
Mongolian company's bid on Chongryon HQ rejected
On January 23, the Tokyo District Court announced that they have decided against the sale of the foreclosed North Korean defector embassy building and land in Chiyoda-ku to a mysterious Mongolian company after documents submitted by the buyer were found to be colour copies and could not be authenticated as official documents issued by the Mongolian government.
In October 2013, 'Avar LLC' was the winning bidder on the property after putting in the highest bid of 5.1 billion Yen. Suspicions were immediately raised after it was discovered that Avar was created in January with a capital investment of just 60,000 Yen and was registered to an apartment in Ulaanbaatar (the occupant of the apartment had no knowledge of the company).Read more