60-storey apartment building for Nishi-Shinjuku
A new high-rise apartment building is planned for Nishi Shinjuku. At 60-storeys, it will be the tallest apartment building in Japan (based on the number of floors). Construction work is set to begin in January 2014, with completion scheduled for 2017.
The Nishi Shinjuku 5 Chome Centre North District redevelopment site was originally a densely crowded neighbourhood of wooden houses. The area posed a fire and safety hazard and many of the older homes were not earthquake resistant. Of the 92 low-rise buildings to be demolished, 83 (92%) were not fireproof.
Local residents, wanting to redevelop their neighbourhood, banded together in 1997 to form a redevelopment association to hasten the development of the area.Read more
Hokkaido to sell Taisho era building
The Hokkaido prefectural government are looking for a buyer for the historic Archives of Hokkaido Annex Building in Sapporo City.
Built in 1926, the Taisho era building was designed by architect Atsumasa Hagiawara and built in the Vienna Secession style of architecture which was popular at the time. It is located to the south of the main Archives building, which was built in 1888 and used as the Hokkaido Government Office.Read more
Matsuzakaya Ginza Department Store to close after 89 years
The Matsuzakaya Ginza Department Store will close its doors on June 30 as the site it occupies is going to be redeveloped.
The department store opened in Ginza the year following the Great Kanto earthquake of 1923, and is the oldest department store in the famed shopping district. At the height of Japan's bubble in 1990, annual sales reached 54 billion Yen. However, revenues began to drop due to growing competition from other department stores, including Mitsukoshi, Matsuya and Printemps Ginza, and an influx of fast fashion retailers. By 2013, sales were down to 10.2 billion Yen. Read more
Kengo Kuma to design new Shibuya Station area
On June 17, Tokyu Corporation and JR announced that internationally renowned architectural firm Kengo Kuma and Associates will be designing part of the new Shibuya Station area redevelopment.Read more
Redevelopment difficulties for 'non-compliant' apartments
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT) estimates that there are 5.9 million condominium apartments across Japan. One in four people in Tokyo live in a condominium, while approximately 20% of residents in Osaka and Kyoto live in one. Of these apartments, 1.06 million are in buildings that were built to the older earthquake codes (kyu-taishin). The current codes (shin-taishin) were introduced in 1981. Over the next 10 years, the number of apartments over 40 years old is expected to quadruple, creating an overwhelming number of ageing and deteriorating buildings. Yet, there have only been 180 cases of reconstruction to date.
One residential building currently facing an uncertain future is Toa Parkside Castle in Tokyo's Ota-ku. Located in a commercial district just two minutes from Omori Station, the 14 storey kyu-taishin building was completed in 1971, making it 42 years old. There are 94 apartments and a total floor area of 6,360 sqm.Read more
Brillia Tama New Town sold out
All 684 apartments available for sale in Brillia Tama New Town have now sold out. Brillia Tama New Town is a large-scale redevelopment of the Suwa 2 Chome Jutaku housing complex in Tama City, Tokyo. The original buildings were completed in 1971 and contained 640 apartments. The demolition and reconstruction project is said to be the largest of its kind in Japan.
The new condominiums have a total of 1249 apartments, of which 565 were taken up by original residents (the remaining residents sold their ownership rights to the developer and moved elsewhere).Read more
Redevelopment planned for Shibuya city office
Moves are underway to rebuild the Shibuya City Office buildings after it was discovered that they would be at risk of falling over in an earthquake that produced a shindo level of upper-6 (read about the Japanese seismic intensity scale here).
At a press conference held on February 12, Shibuya ward mayor, Toshitake Kuwahara, announced that they hope to decide on a budget for the project during the 2014 financial year. The buildings are currently below the maximum allowable building size for the site, so the local council hopes that the availability of additional space will help to reduce their own redevelopment costs.Read more