Pembroke’s latest project in Roppongi

Try Seven Roppongi

Pembroke Real Estate Japan have started the construction of a 14-storey office building in located across the street from Tokyo Midtown in Roppongi 7 Chome. Try-Seven Roppongi is scheduled for completion in 2016. The exterior was designed by Jun Mitsui & Associates Architects.

A shrine and shrine office on an adjoining 876 sqm block of land will also be redeveloped in conjunction with Try-Seven.

This is the fourth development for Pembroke. In 2002 they developed Hikawa Gardens, a rental apartment building in Akasaka, and in 2010 they completed Azabu Gardens, a luxury expat rental building near Roppongi Hills.

Sources:
The Asahi Shimbun, October 28, 2014.
The Daily Engineering & Construction News, October 29, 2014.


Former Governor’s Residence in Shoto up for sale again

Shoto Tokyo Governors Residence 1

The former official residence of the Governor of Tokyo in Shoto, Shibuya-ku, is going back on the market next month with a minimum bid price set at 3.51 billion Yen. This is the third time the property has been listed for sale, but is the first time that bidding is open to the general public. Previous attempts were limited to foreign governments looking for embassy locations.

It was originally listed in 2008 with a minimum bid set at 4.8 billion Yen. It was listed again in 2013 seeking offers over 3.3 billion Yen.

Applications for bidding will be open from December 15 ~ 19, with bids to be submitted and opened on December 24, 2014. The successful bidder must be prepared to complete settlement by March 23, 2015.

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Tokyo apartment sales in October 2014

October apartment sales 2014

The following is a selection of apartments that were sold in central Tokyo during the month of October 2014:Read more


Witch’s House in Hamamatsu

Witchs House Hamamatsu 2

Hamamatsu City can soon look forward to celebrating Halloween all year round as a spooky block of rental apartments nears completion.

The landlord, an avid collector of Halloween goods, wanted to design something that was fun not only for the occupants but also for anyone passing by. "Witch's House' has a uniquely warped exterior adorned with pumpkins, bats and crows. The apartments were designed and built by local builder Nukumori Workshop. This isn’t their first unusual project - they have built a number of Storybook style homes, shops and restaurants. Most of their clients are in their 50s and 60s.Read more


Shirokanedai Institute of Public Health (c1938) to be restored

Shirokanedai Institute of Public Health

The historic Institute of Public Health building in Shirokanedai, Minato-ku, Tokyo is going to be restored and converted into a centre for palliative care for cancer patients, a children’s club and short-term child care facility.

The Institute was built in 1938 as a medical training and research centre. The 76-year old building has a total floor space of 15,000 sqm with two basement floors, five floors above ground and a 3-storey tower. It was designed by architect and engineer Yoshikazu Uchida. Uchida designed a number of buildings for the University of Tokyo and also worked on the design of the Dojunkai Apartment buildings across Tokyo and Kanagawa Prefecture. His style became known as ‘Uchida Gothic’.Read more


Mori Trust announces plans for high-rise office and hotel in Toranomon

Tokyo Toranomon 4 Chome Project 2

On October 23, Mori Trust announced plans for a 180m mixed-use building for the former Toranomon Pastoral building site in Toranomon 4 Chome.

The 36-storey building will contain a hotel, serviced apartments, office and retail space. Construction is scheduled to begin in 2015 with completion by 2018. The new building will be approximately 500 meters from the proposed new station along the Hibiya Line.Read more


Revision to condominium redevelopment law could unlock potential development sites

A revision to the Act on Facilitation of Reconstruction of Condominiums is scheduled to be introduced from December that will reduce the voting ratio to sell a building and land. For buyers of brand new apartments, this news might seem insignificant, but this new amendment could influence the supply of new apartments in the future.

The Act was introduced in 2002 to encourage the redevelopment of old apartment buildings. Currently, a minimum of 80% of apartment owners must agree in order for a building to be reconstructed. For a building and land to be sold, however, the current act requires 100% of owners to be in agreement. The revision in December will reduce this to 80% for buildings built before 1981 to the older earthquake codes (called ‘kyu-taishin).

Of the 5,900,000 apartments across Japan, 1,060,000 (20%) are in ‘kyu-taishin’ buildings.

The number of condominium redevelopments in Japan is quite small. According to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, there were only 183 buildings containing 14,000 apartments nationwide that were redeveloped as of April 2013.Read more