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


Buy-back scheme for tsunami-hit land

The Japanese Government has announced a new buy-back scheme whereby the  residential and farming land along Japan's tsunami-hit coastline will be bought up by the relevant cities and towns at slightly higher prices.

The purchase price for the land will be calculated by its estimated market value in five years from now. This is based on the government's 5-year post-quake reconstruction plan which includes restoring all infrastructure to the disaster-hit areas.Read more