Two 235m towers for Shibaura
Nomura Real Estate is redeveloping one of its office towers in Shibaura, Tokyo. The 40,000 square meter site is located just south of Hamamatsucho Station on the Yamanote Line and near Tokyo’s waterfront.
The Shibaura 1 Chome Redevelopment Project will include two 235m tall buildings with a total floor area of 580,000 sqm (approx. 6.24 million sq.ft). The South Tower will be 46-stories and contain office, hotel, and retail space, with completion due for 2023. The North Tower will be 47-stories and contain office, 350 apartments, and retail space, with completion due for 2029~2030.
Old hotels closing under new earthquake retrofitting rules
Local governments have started to publish earthquake-resistance data on hotels, hospitals, schools and other buildings across Japan. Data on over 12,000 buildings nationwide will be made public.
Kagawa Prefecture was the first prefecture in Japan to release data, with inspection reports on 37 hotels made public. The Tokyo metropolitan government plans to release their findings on buildings later in the capital in the second half of 2017.
Hotels, ryokans, department stores, theatres, aged care homes, schools, hospitals and other public buildings built before 1981, over 3-storeys and with a total floor area of 1,000 ~ 5,000 square meters and over are obligated to carry out an earthquake-resistance inspection, the results of which will be made public by local governments.
The introduction of these rules in 2013 has already led to a closure of several hotels across Japan.Read more
Ritz Carlton opening hotel in Nikko
Tobu Railway and Marriott International will be opening The Ritz Carlton Nikko on the shores of Lake Chuzenji in 2020. The two companies entered into an agreement on November 7. Marriott currently operates Ritz Carlton hotels in Tokyo, Osaka, Okinawa, and Kyoto. They are also planning to open one in the ski resort town of Niseko in Hokkaido.
The hotel will be built on the site of the former Nikko Lake Side Hotel. It is a 19,000 square meter block on the eastern side of Lake Chuzenji. The former hotel, which was built in 1968, will be demolished to make way for a new building.Read more
Luxury boutique hotel planned for Otaru, Hokkaido
A Sapporo-based real estate developer is planning a small luxury hotel within the grounds of a historic villa in Hokkaido’s Otaru City. The boutique hotel is scheduled to open in July 2017. It will be connected to the historic residence next-door which is operated as a restaurant. Read more
Park Hyatt opening in Kyoto in 2019
Hyatt Hotels and Resorts is planning to open a new hotel in Kyoto. Park Hyatt Kyoto will be located within the grounds of the Kyoyamato Restaurant in Higashiyama-ku, which is about 600 meters from Kiyomizu-dera temple. The property was originally part of the estate of a sub temple and includes a tea room established 360 years ago.
Details on the Kyoto property have yet to be announced, but it is expected that the project will include 70 guest rooms. The restaurant will continue to operate after the hotel has opened. Takenaka Corporation will lease the land from the owner and build a 4-storey hotel which will then be leased to Hyatt. Construction will begin by the end of 2016 with the hotel scheduled to open in 2019.Read more
Developer to raze 84-year old building in Ginza
Ginza is about to lose another of its pre-war buildings as an 84-year old office building is under demolition by a developer.
Demolition started in early September with the removal of asbestos. The building will be completely demolished by early November.Read more
Tokyo apartment asking prices in September 2016
According to Tokyo Kantei, the average asking price of a 70 sqm (753 sq.ft) second-hand apartment in greater Tokyo in September 2016 was 35,300,000 Yen, up 0.3% from the previous month and up 11.7% from last year. This is the 9th month in a row to record an increase from the previous month. The average building age was 22.4 years.
In the Tokyo metropolitan area, the average asking price was 48,050,000 Yen, down 0.1% from the previous month but up 9.4% from last year. The average building age was 22.1 years.
In Tokyo’s 23 wards, the average asking price was 52,640,000 Yen, down 0.3% from the previous month but up 7.1% from last year. The average building age was 22.0 years.
In Tokyo’s central six wards (Chiyoda, Chuo, Minato, Shinjuku, Bunkyo and Shibuya), the average asking price was 71,980,000 Yen, down 0.1% from the previous month but up 4.0% from last year. The average building age was 20.1 years.