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
Chongryon HQ sale decision delayed
The Tokyo District Court has extended the decision deadline regarding the sale of the foreclosed North Korean Chongryon Headquarters in Tokyo. The court was expected to announce their decision on October 22, but a lack of information on the buyer, Avar Limited Liability Corporation, means the court needs more time to determine whether or not they are in a position to go through with the purchase.
Avar bid 5.01 billion Yen (approximately 51 million USD) for the 10-storey building in Chiyoda-ku.
Information on the mysterious buyer is still vague. Investigations by media outlets discovered that the company was created in January 2013 with a capital investment of just 60,000 Yen. Mongolian tax officials have no record of Avar paying taxes or insurance premiums. The business is registered to an apartment in Chingeltei, Ulaanbaatar. Neighbors say that the apartment was owned by the father of Avar's director, but he moved out several years ago. The current resident claims to have never heard of the company. Read more
Yaesu Fujiya Hotel to be redeveloped
The Yaesu Fujiya Hotel by Tokyo Station will close at the end of March 2014 as the Kokusai Kogyo Group plan to sell the building and land to Sumitomo Realty & Development in April.
Sumitomo are expected to demolish the hotel and redevelop the site into an office building.