Construction to start on Shibuya Miyashitacho Project
Miyashitacho Realty, a corporation funded by Tokyu Corporation, Tokyu Construction, Taisei Corporation and Sapporo Real Estate, will officially begin construction on the Shibuya Miyashitacho Project on March 30.
The 5,000 sqm site is owned by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government and forms part of their ‘Urban Regeneration Step Up Project’. It was originally the site of the the Miyashitacho Apartments. There were originally three apartment buildings, with demolition of the last building fronting Meiji Dori starting recently.Read more
Construction starts on Shin-Hibiya Project
Mitsui Fudosan started construction on the Shin-Hibiya Project on March 23. The 192m tall, 35-storey office tower is expected to be completed by the end of January 2018. London-based architectural firm Hopkins Architects are in charge of the master plan.
The project will help to enhance the area's image as centre for international business and the arts. The retail component will include Toho Cinemas, and will be the largest cinema complex in central Tokyo. This area has a long history as a theatre district. Toho, the producer of the Godzilla franchise, was founded nearby.Read more
600 billion Yen project announced for Yaesu
Mitsui Fudosan and Tokyo Tatemono have plans for a 600 billion Yen (5 billion USD) redevelopment on the eastern side of Tokyo Station. Two buildings up to 250 meters tall will be built in the Yaesu 1 and 2 Chome districts. The developers are considering including residential, retail, education, cultural and medical facilities with English-speaking staff in the complex. The Yaesu area currently has a resident population of just 110 people, so residential supply has been very limited.
The redevelopment site is located in a National Strategic Special Zone. These zones have been created to encourage the creation of full-service business districts that are internationally competitive. Developers may receive allowances to provide for extra floor-area ratios and foreign companies may receive additional benefits to locate in these areas.Read more
Construction of Akasaka's latest high-rise to begin today
Taisei Corporation will begin construction of a 44-storey residential apartment tower in Akasaka 9 Chome from today.
The Akasaka 9 Chome North District Redevelopment is located on the northern side of Tokyo Midtown. The 4,656 sqm site was originally a densely packed neighbourhood of two and three-storey wooden homes, a kindergarten and small park.
The new apartment building will be 170m tall with 322 apartments and 44 floors. It will be taller than Akasaka Tower Residence (159m), Park Court Akasaka The Tower (157m) and Roppongi Hills Residence B Tower (156m).Read more
Bottega Veneta joins fight to save Hotel Okura
Fashion and architecture go hand in hand, and pieces designed by some of the great designers can remain timeless for generations. Tomas Maier, the creative director of Italian fashion house Bottega Veneta, is hoping to spread awareness of some of Japan’s modernist architecture that is at risk of being demolished and lost forever. Of particular interest in Maier's campaign is the Hotel Okura Tokyo, designed by Yoshio Taniguchi and completed in 1962, which is scheduled to close and be demolished later this year.Read more
Omotesando public housing site to be redeveloped
The Tokyo Metropolitan Government announced plans to redevelop the Aoyama Kitamachi Apaato, a city-operated public housing complex located near Omotesando Station and just behind Aoyama Dori Street.
The four hectare site currently contains 25 residential blocks built between 1957 and 1968. This project was said to be the first post-war city housing in Tokyo. Apartments ranged in size from 32 ~ 52 sqm. The 4 and 5 storey buildings have no elevators and some of the buildings did not have bathrooms (bathroom units were added to the balconies later).Read more
Revision to voting ratios to make it easier to sell apartment building and land
On December 24, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT) announced a revision to the Facilitation of Reconstruction of Condominiums Act which is intended to make it easier to sell off an older apartment building and land in order to speed up redevelopment.
Under the revision, the voting ratio to sell off the building and land will be reduced to 80% for kyu-taishin apartments that do not meet earthquake-resistant codes (the ratio was originally 100%). It is important to note that this revision does not apply to all apartments built before 1981. It only applies to those that failed an earthquake-resistant inspection.
At the end of 2013, there were 6,010,000 apartments across Japan. Of those, approximately 17% are in buildings built to the older earthquake codes (called kyu-taishin). The figures are higher for condominiums, with a third of condominium apartment buildings across Japan built to the older codes.
By April 2014, there were only 196 cases where kyu-taishin apartment buildings were redeveloped, accounting for just 1.4% of the total number of kyu-taishin apartments.Read more