Office vacancy rates in January - Miki Shoji

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 7.18% in January, down 0.16 points from the previous month and down 1.38 points from January 2013. Vacancy rates have been decreasing for the past 7 months.

The vacancy rate in brand new buildings was 14.42%, down 0.08 points from the previous month and down 9.79 points from last year.Read more

by Zoe Ward

Nippon Life acquires site in Minato-ku for 80 billion Yen

Nippon Life Insurance Company has acquired a 7205 sqm development site in front of Hamamatsucho Station for approximately 80 billion Yen (790 million USD). The seller was bus company Kokusai Kogyo. The sale price works out to around 11.1 million Yen/sqm (109,000 USD). Read more

by Zoe Ward

Ralph Lauren Building in Omotesando to be sold for 35 billion Yen

Mitsubishi Corporation have entered into final negotiations to purchase the Espoir Omotesando building for 35 billion Yen (340 million USD). The sellers - Secured Capital Investment Management, Orix and Trinity Investment - acquired the building in 2010 for 31 billion Yen. It was one of the biggest transactions in Japan that year. Read more

by Zoe Ward

NHK to Redevelop Shibuya Broadcasting Centre

NHK Broadcasting Centre Shibuya 2

Television broadcaster NHK announced plans to redevelop their broadcasting centre in Shibuya. The project is expected to cost approximately 300 billion Yen and will be completed by 2025 (although the president of NHK expressed a desire to have it completed by the 2020 Olympics).Read more

by Zoe Ward

Mongolian company's bid on Chongryon HQ rejected

Chongryon HQ TokyoOn January 23, the Tokyo District Court announced that they have decided against the sale of the foreclosed North Korean defector embassy building and land in Chiyoda-ku to a mysterious Mongolian company after documents submitted by the buyer were found to be colour copies and could not be authenticated as official documents issued by the Mongolian government.

In October 2013, 'Avar LLC' was the winning bidder on the property after putting in the highest bid of 5.1 billion Yen. Suspicions were immediately raised after it was discovered that Avar was created in January with a capital investment of just 60,000 Yen and was registered to an apartment in Ulaanbaatar (the occupant of the apartment had no knowledge of the company).Read more

by Zoe Ward

Procter & Gamble Japan to sell Rokko Island HQ

P&G Japan Rokko Island BuildingProcter & Gamble Japan announced on January 8 that they will be selling their head office building in Rokko Island, Kobe, for an undisclosed sum. The buyer is Kobe-based trading and consulting firm Kengoo Group. 

The 30-storey building was completed in 1993. It has a total floor area of 43,500 sqm and is on a 7100 sqm block of land.

P&G will continue renting the building from the new owner before relocating to a new office in Sannomiya in early 2016.

Source: The Kobe Shimbun, January 8, 2014.

by Zoe Ward

Tokyo office market in 2014

In 2014, the total office space expected to hit the market could amount to just half of the level seen in 2012. Meanwhile, vacancy rates are expected to continue their decline this year as companies shift to new offices and expand operations.

According to Miki Shoji, approximately 844,700 sqm of new office space is expected to be supplied in Tokyo's central five business districts (Chiyoda, Chuo, Minato, Shinjuku and Shibuya) in 2014. This is a 4% increase from 2013, but is only half of the level seen in the last peak in 2012. Read more

by Zoe Ward