PM companies leaving Hokkaido amid Sapporo office market slump
Several real estate property management companies have begun to close down their offices in Sapporo, Hokkaido, as the local commercial market continues to decline.
At the end of March, Jones Lang Lasalle (JLL) will close their Hokkaido branch. Also, CBRE and the Sumitomo Life Insurance Company will no longer have representatives stationed in Hokkaido. Sumisei Building Management, a subsidiary of Sumitomo Life Insurance, is also closing their office in March as part of cost cutting measures. Sanko Estate currently has one staff member stationed in Hokkaido but all duties will be transferred to Tokyo from spring.Read more
The "2012 Problem" of over-supply
Not only are residential apartments expected to flood the market in 2012, but the supply of new office space is also expected to reach record high levels.
This year, the supply of office space in central Tokyo is expected to reach the third highest level since the bubble economy in the late 1980s. Although construction companies are seeing brisk business, office vacancy rates continue to rise and we are entering into what the real estate industry is calling the "2012 problem". Department stores are facing similar conditions with an oversupply of under-performing branch stores.Read more
Kengo Kuma designs Starbucks store
Japanese modern architect, Kengo Kuma, has designed a Starbucks Coffee store for Dazaifu City, Fukuoka Prefecture. The new store is located along the road that leads to the Dazaifu Tenmangu Shrine and is scheduled to open on December 16, 2011.Read more
Tokyo office market showing further signs of slowing
The central Tokyo office building market is stagnating. At the end of November, the office vacancy rate for Tokyo's central 5 wards (Chiyoda, Chuo, Minato, Shinjuku and Shibuya) reached 8.90%. This is the second continuous month with an increase in vacancy rates and the first time since April, 2011, that rates had reached this level. Meanwhile, the average office rent for central Tokyo has declined for the 39th continuous month.
With the Euro crisis and strong Yen, there is a deceleration in demand from tenants with many companies being more prudent and delaying moving. The demand for buildings with high disaster preparedness and earthquake resistance has slowed.Read more
US-based firm acquires two Omotesando buildings
Elliott Management, a US-based fund management firm, has acquired two buildings in prime locations just across the street from Omotesando Hills.
(1) 21st SY Building (fronting Omotesando Avenue and next to the Emporio Armani boutique). The 6-storey building is on a 360 sqm block of land. The 2011 assessed land value (koji-chika) for this site was 9,300,000 Yen/sqm.Read more
Tokyo Stock Exchange negotiates lower rent on headquarters
Heiwa Real Estate Co. announced on August 24th that their major tenant, the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE), had negotiated for a lower rent of 4.412 billion Yen (57.3 million USD) per year for the TSE headquarters in Tokyo's Nihonbashi area. This is a discount of 8.3% on the previous rent. The current contract is for two years, after which time the rent will be adjusted according to economic conditions.Read more
100 billion Yen redevelopment project for Toyosu area
Mitsui Fudosan will be embarking on a large-scale redevelopment of Koto-ku's Toyosu area from next year. The 100 billion Yen (1.3 billion USD) project on one of Tokyo Bay's reclaimed islands will cover a 47,400 sqm site. The project will include two high-rise office buildings (31 and 22 stories) as well as retail facilities. Due to the nature of the site, measures will be taken to strengthen the ground against liquefaction and the building will be built using "seishin" (vibration-control) construction. Completion is scheduled for 2016 and Mitsui Fudosan will be contributing 90 billion Yen in capital.Read more