Takashimaya to acquire two stores in Tokyo
Takashimaya announced that they will acquire the remaining share in the Takashimaya Shinjuku Store from Tokyu Land for 105 billion Yen. There are also plans to acquire full ownership of the Tachikawa Takashimaya building and land from the Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking Corporation for 12 billion Yen. Takashimaya already owns part of these properties through a subsidiary.Read more
Shibuya City Office redevelopment to include new apartments
The redevelopment of the ageing Shibuya City Offices will include a 37-storey apartment building with 414 apartments.
Part of the development site will be leased to a developer on a 70-year term. The revenue from the leasehold is expected to cover the costs of the city office redevelopment. Five developers are bidding for the project, and the final decision will be made in the next few months.Read more
Office vacancy rates in November - Miki Shoji
According to Miki Shoji's office report, the office vacancy rate in Tokyo's 5 central business districts (Chyoda, Chuo, Minato, Shinjuku and Shibuya) was 7.52% in November, down 0.04 points from the previous month and down 1.24 points from last year. This is the fifth month in a row where vacancy rates have fallen.
The vacancy rate in brand new buildings was 16.71%, down 0.33 points from the previous month and down 14.15 points from last year.Read more
Shibuya Station area redevelopment to include residential component
Details of the Shibuya Station Sakuragaoka Entrance Redevelopment were recently made announced. As part of the major redevelopment of the Shibuya Station redevelopment, the Sakuragaoka Entrance Redevelopment located to the south-west side of the station will include two office buildings and a 32-storey mixed-use residential/commercial building. Read more
Former Taiyo Dept Store in Kumamoto to be demolished
The Daiei Kumamoto Shimotori Store (formerly the Taiyo Department Store) in Kumamoto City will be demolished next year. The building was the scene of a devastating fire in 1973 that killed 104 people and injured 120.
The 60 year old building opened in 1952 as the Taiyo Department Store. In its early days it was considered the best store in the city.
The store was closed for the next two years following the fire as the building underwent repairs. When it finally re-opened, 120,000 people visited on the opening day. However, the store never fully recovered from the incident and went bankrupt a year later.
Yomiuri Shimbun Building officially opened
The new headquarters of the Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper in Otemachi was officially opened on November 28. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe gave a celebratory address to the 900 guests at the opening ceremony.
The 200m tall 33-storey building has replaced the former 10-storey head office. It is now the tallest building in the Otemachi area and is slightly higher than the 199.7m tall Otemachi Tower which was completed in August.Read more
Toh-Ten-Koh selling Ueno restaurant building
Toh-Ten-Koh announced that they will be selling their Ueno restaurant building and land to Tokyo Tatemono for 8.914 billion Yen (88 million USD).
Toh-Ten-Koh are currently building a new store on an adjoining block of land they already own and will relocate once the building is complete in 2015. The new store will be on a smaller site of 2,000 sqm, but will be built to the latest earthquake-resistant codes. It is estimated to cost approximately 4.6 billion Yen. Construction began in October.Read more