Residents seek urgent reconstruction of faulty building in Fukuoka
The residents of a condominium in Kurume City, Fukuoka, that was found to have a considerably low level of earthquake-resistance, have filed a lawsuit against Fukuoka City seeking reconstruction of the building within the next 12 months.
According to the lawsuit, the 15 storey condominium was constructed by a subcontracting company of Kajima Corporation in 1996. Issues began shortly after completion, with exterior tiles from upper floors coming loose and cracks appearing in the building’s hallways. Since 1997, residents have repeatedly requested that the developer and construction company investigate and repair the building.Read more
Earthquake-retrofitting an unpopular choice despite government assistance
Not far from Shin Osaka Station is a 11-storey, 40 year old apartment building that was built to the older earthquake codes (called kyu-taishin). A member of the building owners’ association said that the building has been carefully maintained over the years with new flooring in the common areas and re-painting of the exterior walls. However, no efforts have been made to retrofit the building for earthquakes. They are also yet to conduct any official earthquake-resistant building diagnosis, although they did consult with an architect several years ago. The architect’s opinion was that retrofitting was absolutely necessary and could cost around 100 million Yen.
The building, with 100 apartments, has 90 million Yen in the repair fund. If they were to carry out retrofitting, the building management and repair fees charged to each apartment owner would have to double. The issue about retrofitting is brought up each year at the owners’ association annual meeting, but those in favour are in the minority.Read more
Shibuya mistakenly buys ryokan with X-rated past
Shibuya’s local government has found itself in hot water after it was discovered that a building purchased as a retreat had previously been used as a studio for filming adult movies.
The ‘Kikusuikan’ hotel is located in the hot spring town of Kawazu in Shizuoka Prefecture. The building and land was purchased by the Shibuya local government in April 2014 for 110,000,000 Yen and is scheduled to open in October. Total acquisition and renovation costs are expected to reach 228,000,000 Yen.
According to a Shibuya ward assemblyman, Kikusuikan was used as a location for 11 adult films between 2006 and 2013. City office officials, however, deny having any knowledge of this fact and were only made aware after it was reported in a weekly publication.
Taking into account the building’s ‘history’ an independent real estate appraiser valued the property at 40,000,000 Yen.
Sources:
The Asahi Shimbun, September 25, 2014.
The Mainichi Shimbun, September 24, 2014.
No market for homes 20km+ outside of Tokyo
Takashi Ishizawa, chief real estate analyst at Mizuho Securities, says a clear divide has formed between properties that can be re-sold and those that have no chance of selling. As properties in Tokyo's outer suburban areas continue to fall in value, they become more and more difficult to sell.
Properties with a chance of selling are located within a 20 km radius of Chiyoda-ku. Properties located east of Funabashi in Chiba and north of Omiya in Saitama are almost impossible to sell, even though asking prices of a house and land start from as little as 2 million Yen (19,000 USD). Developers are also careful not to venture past these zones.
The two main causes are the shrinking population and the shift in demand towards more central locations. In addition, the home buyers of today are seeking a better work-life balance and are avoiding areas that are over an hour from their office. Read more