Niseko Kogen Hotel sold
Niseko Kogen Kanko, a subsidiary of Tokyu Land, announced that they will be selling the Niseko Kogen Hotel to an undisclosed buyer for just over 1 billion Yen. The buyer is said to be a fund based in Asia.
The Niseko Kogen Hotel will remain open until March, 2012, at which time the new buyer will take over the property. The hotel is aging, so it is expected that the new buyer will demolish and rebuild a high class international hotel on the site. The current 59 room, 4-storey hotel was built in 1975, and room rates start from 7,000 Yen/night (90 USD). In recent years, construction of new condominiums in the area have had a negative impact on the hotel's profitability. Read more
Mitsubishi Estate sells Akasaka Park Bldg
On November 15, 2011, Japan Real Estate Investment Corporation purchased Akasaka Park Building and land for 60.8 billion Yen (779 million USD). The seller was Mitsubishi Estate. The building had an appraised value of 62.5 billion Yen in October, 2011.
The buyer believes that the image of Akasaka has improved over the years, particularly with the development of Akasaka Sacas just behind the building, and are expecting diversified demand from tenants into the future.
Akasaka Park Building was completed in 1993. The 30-storey building has a total floor space of approximately 97,317 sqm and a standard floor area of 2033 sqm. The total size of the land under the building is 14,198.20 sqm.Read more
Palace Hotel set to reopen in May, 2012
The Palace Hotel reconstruction project is expected to be completed in 2012 with the "Palace Hotel Tokyo" scheduled to start accepting hotel guests from May 17, 2012. The new hotel will be 23 stories and will have 290 hotel rooms. The rooms start from 45 sqm in size (484 sqft), which is much larger than the typical Japanese hotel room.Read more
100 condominiums in Sendai City need rebuilding
In Sendai City, a condominium that was seriously damaged by the March 11 Tohoku Earthquake is scheduled to be demolished. Sunny Heights Takasago is a 14-storey apartment building with 189 units. The earthquake damaged the foundations and the building began to lean at a dangerous angle, threatening neighboring buildings. Demolition is scheduled to begin by the end of December and should be completed within 6 months. This is the first case in Sendai City of an apartment building of this size being demolished due to the effects of the Tohoku earthquake, but it won't be the last.Read more
SUUMO real estate site opens cafe in Ginza
One of Japan's major real estate listing sites, SUUMO (http://suumo.jp), has recently opened up a promotional cafe in Ginza.
The cafe shares the space of the R25 Cafe on the 1st floor of the Recruit Ginza 7 Chome Building (see google map here). They are selling various sweets and drinks featuring the Suumo character (a green alien) including hot cocoa, muffins and cider. Prices range from 330 - 500 Yen.Read more
Apahome purchases Daikanyama bldg for 4.5 billion Yen
Two buildings in Daikanyama, Shibuya-ku, that were owned by Nara Prefecture were recently sold by auction. The "Daikanyama i Studio" was acquired by ApaHome for approximately 4.5 billion Yen, and the "Tsurumaki Residence" - a former housing complex for Prefecture staff - was acquired by i-nest Co. for 244.5 million Yen.Read more
Sumitomo cancels City Tower Shibaura
Sumitomo Corporation have temporarily (or permanently) cancelled the construction of City Tower Shibaura in Minato-ku. Construction of the 30-storey condominium began in November, 2010, and was scheduled to be completed by March, 2013.
Although foundation work had already began, the ground has since been filled in and returned to its vacant state and all advertising has been removed from the site. Read more