Instant sellout in The Tower Yokohama Kitanaka

All 730 apartments offered in the first round of sales for The Tower Yokohama Kitanaka have been sold. This was the highest number of apartments to have ever been released for sale in a building in Yokohama city in history. The 58-storey, 1,176-unit high-rise is also the largest building based on apartment-count to be built in the city since 1993.

Apartments were priced from 45 ~ 800 million Yen, with an average price of 1,200,000 Yen/sqm. The 212 sqm, 800 million Yen apartment has been the most expensive new apartment to have ever been sold in Yokohama.Read more


41-storey apartment tower for Sengaku-ji area

A 170 meter, 41-storey high-rise tower has been proposed for the area next-door to Sengaku-ji Temple in Tokyo’s Minato ward. If approved, construction could start in 2020 with completion by 2024.

The 18,000 sqm site is located directly to the east of the historic Sengaku-ji temple and fronts onto the Daiichi Keihin street. The new station for the JR Yamanote Loop Line will be located towards the west, on the opposite side of the street.Read more


Tokyo Apartment Sales in November 2017

The following is a selection of apartments that were reported to have sold in central Tokyo during the month of November 2017:Read more


Takashimaya pays 442 million USD for two office buildings in Nihonbashi

Takeda Pharmaceutical has sold two of their buildings in downtown Tokyo to the Takashimaya Department Store for a reported price of 49.5 billion Yen (approx. 442 million USD). Delivery of the buildings is scheduled for March 2019. Both properties were owned by Takeda’s real estate division. Takeda will be putting the proceeds from the sale towards their research for new cancer treatments.

The Tokyo Takeda Building and adjoining Takeda Shin Edobashi Building are located a block behind Takashimaya’s Nihonbashi store. The block to the north and east of the historic department store is currently being redeveloped into two high-rise office towers ranging from 140 ~ 176 meters tall and with completion expected in early 2018 and early 2019.Read more


Loans for rental housing increased by 20% this quarter

The total value of loans offered by banks for real estate purchases in the second quarter of fiscal 2017 (July ~ September) was 2.96 trillion Yen (approx. 26 billion USD), an increase of 23.5% from the previous quarter.

Demand for financing for the construction of commercial office and apartment buildings has been high due to the historically low interest rate environment.Read more


700 million USD condominium, hotel and retail project for Hokkaido’s Rusutsu Resort

Kamori Kanko, a Sapporo-based hotel operator, is planning an 80 billion Yen (approx. 717 million USD) overhaul of the Rusutsu Resort in Hokkaido.

The first stage of the project will include a 148-room luxury condominium-hotel with construction set to start next spring. The condominium will be called The Vale Rusutsu and will be 11 storeys with completion by December 2019. Rooms will range in size from 50 ~ 260 sqm (538 ~ 2,798 sq ft) and with prices expected to range from 40 ~ 300 million Yen (360,000 ~ 2,700,000 USD). Sales are scheduled to start this month. Owners will have the option of leasing their room to the hotel while they are not using it.Read more


Yokohama may ban short-term letting on weekdays

Yokohama City is following in Shinjuku’s footsteps by proposing to introduce a ban on short-term Airbnb-style letting on weekdays. The plan would prohibit minpaku rentals from Mondays through Thursdays in areas zoned as Exclusively Low-Rise Residential. The plan will be open to public comment until December 19, with the draft to be submitted to the city council in February 2018.

Approximately 31% of Yokohama City’s area is designated as an Exclusively Low-Rise Residential Zone. The reasoning for the week-day ban is to ensure a peaceful environment for those who work during the week and do not want their neighborhood interrupted by travelers while trying to rest on weeknights.Read more