Customised rental properties provide answer to vacancy rate problem
An increasing number of landlords are offering to renovate their properties in accordance with their tenants' wishes in order to attract and retain long-term occupants.
Typical renovations can amount to two year's rent, but in an effort to retain the tenants in the long term, the landlord of one building spent approximately three year's rent on renovating an apartment to the client's specifications. The rent on this particular apartment is 160,000 Yen a month, approximately 10,000 Yen higher than it was prior to the renovation.Read more
Proud Minamiazabu Sold Out
All 88 apartments in Nomura's 'Proud Minamiazabu' condominium have sold prior to completion.
The 7-storey building is adjacent to the French Embassy in the exclusive Minamiazabu 4 Chome residential neighbourhood. This is a leasehold building, which means apartment owners do not own a share of the land. The land is leased from the Embassy under a 60 year fixed-term. At the end of the term, the land and building must be returned to the Embassy.Read more
Ark Hills South Tower
Mori Building announced on January 4 that their new office building between Izumi Garden Tower and Ark Hills will be called 'Ark Hills South Tower'. The 20 storey building is scheduled for completion in August 2013, and will boast the largest rooftop garden in central Tokyo.
Each floor plate is approximately 1900 sqm (20,444 sqft) and ceiling heights are 2.9 meters (higher than the standard of 2.8m).
It has already been awarded the a Platinum ranking under the DBJ Green Building Certification, which is a certification system created by the Development Bank of Japan. Read more
Villa in Suginami-ku saved from demolition
Plans are underway to convert the private residence of a former Prime Minister, Prince Fumimaro Konoe, into a public garden. The local Suginami City is looking into purchasing the 6,000 sqm grounds and converting them into a public garden with a planned opening in 2017.
Named 'Tekigaiso', the house was built in a traditional Japanese style in 1927. The total floor area of the house is approximately 500 sqm (5,380 sqft). Prince Konoe purchased the property in 1937. In October 1941, he discussed war efforts in the house's drawing room with Hideki Tojo, general of the Imperial Japanese Army and Prime Minister from late 1941 to 1944. Konoe later committed suicide in his library in 1945, and Tojo was sentenced to death for Japanese war crimes in 1948.Read more
Voting rules may change to speed up earthquake-retrofitting
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT) is considering bringing in relief measures that will reduce the number of votes needed by apartment owners when deciding on earthquake-retrofitting.
Currently, a majority vote is needed for small repairs, but if the building association wishes to carry out large-scale repairs which may include earthquake-retrofitting, at least 75% of apartment owners must agree to the repairs. Proposed changes by the MLIT would change this to a majority vote. Read more
Former town hall in Gifu to be demolished
The former Kanohonmachi Town Hall in Gifu City will be demolished due to ageing and deterioration.
The two-storey reinforced-concrete building was completed in 1926 at an estimated cost of 60,000 Yen. Read more
Park Tower Shibuya Honcho close to selling out
Mitsui's new condominium in Shibuya-ku is close to selling out, despite completion being eight months away. Sales in the 21-storey building first began in late 2012, and by the end of the year over 100 of the 142 apartments had contracts on them. As many as 30 ~ 40 potential buyers visit the showroom each weekend, so it seems very possible that the remaining apartments will soon be sold.
The average apartment price is approximately 912,000 Yen/sqm (roughly 10,000 USD/sqm), while the average price for apartments in the second stage of sales is 888,000 Yen/sqm. A 1-bedroom is priced from 41,300,000 Yen, while 2-bedroom apartments start from 48,200,000 Yen.Read more