Historic Daimaru Shinsaibashi Store Facade to be Preserved

Daimaru Shinsaibashi Osaka

Last year, J. Front Retailing announced plans to redevelop the historic 82-year old Daimaru Shinsaibashi Department Store in Osaka. The ageing building was becoming increasingly cost and difficult to maintain, and was short on floor space.

Original redevelopment plans involved razing the building. After J. Front’s announcement, local architects and historians lobbied the company to preserve as much of the intricately-designed building as possible. Although redevelopment is going ahead next year, J. Front are now considering preserving the historic facade.Read more


Chiyoda ofice building converted to serviced apartments and office suites

Hive Tokyo 1

NTT Urban Development have converted a 22-year old office building in Chiyoda-ku into a mixed-use serviced apartment, share office and serviced office space.

‘Hive Tokyo’ (formerly Pacific Square Kudan Minami) is targeted towards both Japanese and foreign clients. The 10-storey building is located across the street from the Yasukuni Shrine and a 6 minute walk from Ichigaya Station. The building is scheduled to open in August 2015.Read more


Otemachi 2 Chome Project expected to sell for 200 billion Yen

Otemachi 2 Chome Development 1

The Japanese government is redeveloping a state-owned site in the Otemachi district near Tokyo Station.

The Urban Renaissance Agency, a semipublic housing company, will build a two office towers which will then be sold to a real estate company or fund once it has been filled with tenants. The sale price is expected to be over 200 billion Yen (1.62 billion USD), which, if achieved, would make it the highest price ever seen for government property.

To date, the most expensive recorded sale of state-owned land was for the former Japan Defense Agency land in Roppongi (now Tokyo Midtown). The land sold to a consortium of real estate developers in 2000 for 180 billion Yen.Read more


SMBC restores 89-yr old office building in Osaka

Sumitomo Building Osaka 3

On May 19, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC) completed the restoration of the 89-year old building that houses their Osaka head office.

The Sumitomo Building was built in 1926 as the headquarters of Sumitomo Bank. The 6-storey building was constructed by Obayashi Corporation and had a total floor area of 36,000 sqm. It was designed by architects Yutaka Hidaka, Eikichi Hasebe and Kenzo Takekoshi of Sumitomo’s construction division. Construction took five years. During construction, the greater Tokyo area was struck by the 1923 Great Kanto earthquake. As a cautionary measure, the building’s proposed floor count was reduced by one storey. A spanish-style private courtyard was built on the top storey.Read more


Land prices continue to climb in latest LOOK Report

Land prices continue to climb in Japan’s major cities with 84% of survey sites recording an increase in land prices in the first quarter of 2015. 16% of the locations saw no change in land prices, and none of the locations saw a decrease in prices. Two retail locations saw prices rise by 3 ~ 6%: Ginza in Tokyo and an area near Nagoya Station.

Monetary easing and a bullish condominium market is behind the rise in prices in Tokyo, with 90.7% of locations seeing positive growth.Read more


Office vacancy rates see slight increase in April

According to Miki Shoji’s Office Report, the office vacancy rate in Tokyo’s five central business districts (Chiyoda, Chuo, Minato, Shinjuku and Shibuya) was 5.34% in April, up 0.04 points from the previous month but down 1.30 points from last year. This is the first time in 21 months that the rate has increased from the previous month. Two large-scale office buildings were completed last month, which was considered to be a contributing cause to the increase in the vacancy rate.

The vacancy rate in brand new buildings was 33.21%, up 2.85 points from the previous month and up 13.76 points from last year.

The Tokyo Nihonbashi Tower was completed in Chuo-ku in April. The 35-storey, 180m tall tower has a total floor area of 133,334 sqm (1.4 million sq ft).Read more


Toranomon fast becoming a hotspot of development

The 2020 Summer Olympics and 2027 opening of the new maglev line have helped to spur along some major construction projects in Tokyo, in particular the Toranomon area.

Since the opening of Toranomon Hills in 2014, the Toranomon area is quickly emerging as Tokyo’s newest hub for international business. It is not just an office area, as nearby hotels, hospitals, and serviced apartments are also in the process of being built. There are also plans for a new station along the Hibiya Line that will connect with Toranomon Hills.

Mori Building is the major player in this district, and plans to invest over a trillion Yen in projects in the Toranomon and Roppongi area over the next 10 years.Read more