Construction starts on 150m tall office tower near Tameike Sanno
Sekisui House and Nippon Life Insurance Company have officially started construction on a 150-m tall office tower near Tameike Sanno Station.
What happens to an old building that doesn't meet current fire codes?
On January 28, NHK published a piece on old ‘non-compliant’ buildings that don’t meet current fire codes. A ‘kison-futeki-kaku’ （既存不適格) or non-compliant building is one that was built to the correct codes at the time of construction, but as codes were updated over the years, would not meet current standards and could not be re-built to the exact same specifications today.
Metabolist hotel remains closed
A hotel by a famed metabolist architect on Sado Island, Niigata, looks to remain closed indefinitely. The Sado Grand Hotel was designed by Kiyonori Kikutake (1928 - 2011), one of the founders of the Metabolist architectural movement, and built in 1967.
Divide in resort areas apparent with recent land valuations
Land values in Japan’s resort areas continue to diverge as a result of the ongoing pandemic. Holiday home areas with proximity to major urban centers have performed better than areas that are heavily dependent on the currently non-existent foreign tourists.
The latest koji-chika government assessed land values as of January 1, 2022 paint a clear divide of the winners and losers over the past 12 months.
Private home converted into contemporary apartments
A 31-year old private home in Takanawadai is currently undergoing a conversion into a 4-unit apartment building. Leading the project is cooperative house developer Archinet.
Multi-block redevelopment for eastern side of Shibuya Station
On March 24, Tokyo Tatemono announced that a city planning decision had been made for the Shibuya 2 Chome Project. Nicknamed the Shibuya Regeneration Project, it spans three large blocks just east of Shibuya Station, with a total lot size of 2.9 hectares.
Nationwide land values increase for first time in 2 years
On March 22, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT) announced the official assessed land values (koji-chika) for 2022. Nationwide, the average land value across all land uses increased by 0.6%, recording the first increase in two years.