First resort condominium to be developed in Kinugawa, Nikko, in 20 years
The Kinugawa River Side Residence will be the first condominium to be built in Nikko's Kinugawa onsen resort area in almost 20 years.
It hasn't been a smooth journey for this particular development. The original developer - Zephyr - had completed construction up to the 3rd floor before filing for bankruptcy in July 2008. The bare concrete structure sat empty for the next five years until Yokohama-based developer Daiwa Jisho Group purchased the building and land and resumed construction in May 2013. Read more
New apartment sales in September surge before consumption tax increase deadline
According to the Real Estate Economic Institute, a total of 5,968 new apartments were released for sale in greater Tokyo in September, up 77.3% from last year and up 44% from the previous month.
Of those, 4,986 apartments were sold, making the contract rate 83.5% in greater Tokyo. This is an increase of 14.2 points from last year and 2.0 points from August.
The number of new apartments offered in high-rise buildings over 20 storeys was 1,949, up 810.7% from last year. The contract rate was 89.9%, up 27.3 points from last year.
Yaesu Fujiya Hotel to be redeveloped
The Yaesu Fujiya Hotel by Tokyo Station will close at the end of March 2014 as the Kokusai Kogyo Group plan to sell the building and land to Sumitomo Realty & Development in April.
Sumitomo are expected to demolish the hotel and redevelop the site into an office building.
Mysterious foreign co. buys Chongryon HQ
The Tokyo District Court announced that the winning bidder of the foreclosed Chongryon headquarters / North Korean de-facto embassy building was a foreign-owned company called Avar LLC.
The court is now assessing the financial viability of Avar's 5.01 billion Yen bid and will make an official decision on the sale on October 22.
*Update: The decision deadline was extended for unknown reasons. On October 21, a citizen's group filed a petition with the district court alleging that Avar is a fictitious company.Read more
Shoto Noh Theatre may be on the market
The owners of the Kanze Noh Theatre in Shoto, Shibuya, are looking into selling the building and land. The head of Yodobashi Camera is a possible buyer, having reportedly expressed an interest to redevelop the property into a private guest house to accommodate his foreign visitors.Read more
Office vacancy rates in September - Miki Shoji
According to Miki Shoji's office report, the vacancy rate in Tokyo's 5 central business districts (Chiyoda, Chuo, Minato, Shinjuku and Shibuya) was 7.90% in September, down 0.26 points from last month and down 1 point from last year. This is the third month in a row where rates have fallen. It is the first time since November 2009 that vacancy rates have been in the 7% range.
The vacancy rate in new buildings was 18.12%, up 0.19 points from last month but down 11.50 points from September 2012.Read more