Luxury hotel and condominium planned for Ebisu

Nomura Real Estate Development is planning a mixed-use hotel and condominium complex for a 4,000 sqm block of land near Ebisu Station in central Tokyo. Mixed-use hotel / apartment projects are quite uncommon in Japan, with one of the few examples being Mori Building’s Toranomon Hills tower in Minato ward.

Nomura acquired the site in March 2017 for 10.5 billion Yen through a public bidding process. It was previously a government-owned housing complex for civil servants. The government required the buyer to build both apartments and accommodation facilities as a condition of the sale.Read more


HULIC pays 60 billion Yen for Odaiba Hilton

Last December, real estate companies HULIC and Fuyo General Lease acquired the Hilton Tokyo Odaiba hotel for 60 billion Yen (approx. 552 million USD). The seller was US investment firm Elliott Management Corporation.

Aetos Capital acquired the hotel in 2007 from Japan Airlines for 25 billion Yen, before reselling it to Elliott. In 2015, Elliott transferred the operating rights to Hilton Worldwide and the hotel was renamed to Hilton Tokyo Odaiba.Read more


Shikoku Railway Co to develop guesthouses in Kyoto

Shikoku Railway Company (JR Shikoku) is planning to open traditional-style guesthouse accommodation in Kyoto to cater to the growing demand from foreign tourists.

Their first project is a group of three townhouses under construction on a 170 sqm block of land just south of Kyoto Station and 14 minute walk to Tofuku-ji Temple. The total project cost is estimated at 150 million Yen (approx. 1.4 million USD).Read more


Niseko's luxury hotel and villa boom continues

There is no end in sight to the current construction boom in the ski resort town of Niseko in Hokkaido, with a number of luxury resorts and private villas under development. Spacious homes and apartments can easily fetch upwards of several hundred million Yen (several million USD). Rising construction costs and a labor shortage, however, are putting a strain on developers.Read more


Sheraton to open in Kagoshima City in 2022

Nangoku Corporation, a general trading company located in Kagoshima City, announced that they have signed an agreement with Marriott International for a Sheraton-branded hotel to be built as part of a large redevelopment of a city block. This will be the 2nd Sheraton to open in Kagoshima Prefecture and the 10th in Japan.Read more


Imperial Hotel up for potential redevelopment?

A nearby acquisition by Mitsui Fudosan has some industry experts suggesting that the 1100-room Imperial Hotel near Hibiya Park in downtown Tokyo may be slated for future redevelopment.

The hotel includes the main building that was built in 1970 along with a 31-storey office/hotel building at the rear that was completed in 1983. By the time of the 2020 Summer Olympics, the main building will be 50 years old. With a booming tourism industry, many of Japan’s top hoteliers are expanding, refurbishing or redeveloping their older hotels.Read more


Japan’s first Hilton Curio Collection hotel to open in Karuizawa

Tokyu Land Corporation has entered into a franchise agreement with Hilton Hotels & Resorts to open Japan’s first Curio Collection by Hilton hotel in Karuizawa.

KYUKARUIZAWA KIKYO, Curio Collection by Hilton is the rebrand of the former Kyu-Karuizawa Hotel that was acquired by Tokyu in March 2017. It is scheduled to re-open in spring of 2018. The 39-year old hotel sits on a 5,800 sqm site located 1.2km north of Karuizawa Station. Almost 90% of the 50 rooms are over 40 sqm (430 sq ft) in size.Read more