Grosvenor to sell luxury apartments in The Westminster Roppongi (aka Roppongi Arents)

International property development group, Grosvenor, will be selling off individual apartments in a luxury residential building adjoining the Roppongi Hills complex.

The Westminster Roppongi (previously named Roppongi Arents) is a 14-storey apartment building that was completed in 2003 - the same time as Roppongi Hills. Apartments range in size from 88.45 to 288.77 sqm (951 ~ 3107 sqft) and have previously been rented for between 470,000 ~ 2,200,000 Yen per month.Read more


81-year old building in Ginza saved from demolition

A historic brick building fronting Ginza's Showa Dori Avenue has been saved from demolition after the new owner had a change of heart and scrapped his redevelopment plans in favour of restoring the 81 year old building.Read more


Customised rental properties provide answer to vacancy rate problem

An increasing  number of landlords are offering to renovate their properties in accordance with their tenants' wishes in order to attract and retain long-term occupants. 

Royal Annex, Toshima-ku

Typical renovations can amount to two year's rent, but in an effort to retain the tenants in the long term, the landlord of one building spent approximately three year's rent on renovating an apartment to the client's specifications. The rent on this particular apartment is 160,000 Yen a month, approximately 10,000 Yen higher than it was prior to the renovation.Read more


47-yr old ryokan converted to sharehouse in Tokyo

Real estate company R Bank have converted an old Japanese inn (ryokan) into a character-filled female-only sharehouse in Tokyo's Katsushika ward. Called 'Tokyo Kita Wave', the property was renovated from a 47 year old post-war inn, and is their 30th sharehouse.Read more


Garden Grass Minamiazabu (formerly Masuda Homes)

Average price when sold by the developer: 1,400,000 Yen/sqm (All units sold out by July, 2011)
Size range: 143.94 ~ 189.09 sqm

Garden Grass Minamiazabu was originally called Masuda Homes and was a small block of rental apartments built for the expatriate market.  The 22-year old building was purchased by Atrium who completely renovated the building and then listed the individual apartments for sale. Since the bottom has fallen out of the expat rental market and vacancy rate for the luxury property market increase, these type of whole building renovation and sales are becoming more frequent as the rental apartments are longer providing profitable returns to the owners.Read more