Singapore property group opens hotel in Kyoto
Singapore’s Roxy-Pacific Holdings Limited opened their first hotel in Japan on November 16. The ‘Noku Roxy’ is located near the Kyoto Imperial Palace grounds and just above Marutamachi Station.
Roxy acquired the existing 21-year old hotel, formerly called the ‘Tokyu Hotel Harvest Kyoto’, in October 2014 and have refurbished the interior and exterior. The property had previously been acquired by Ken Corporation in January 2014. Read more
Two arrested under suspicion of illegally leasing apartments to foreign tourists
On November 5, the Kyoto Prefectural Police began interviewing two people who are suspected of allegedly leasing out apartments to foreign tourists for short stays without obtaining the appropriate hotel license.
The two suspects are are 52-year old advisor from a travel company in Tokyo and a 48-year old from a hotel proxy company in Yamagata City.
Both companies have been accused of renting out apartments in Kyoto’s Ukyo-ku to tourists on a short-term basis without a license which is in violation of the Hotel Business Law. As many as 300 guests used the accommodation between July and early October.Read more
West Japan’s most expensive apartment to go on sale in Kyoto
On October 8, Mitsubishi Jisho Residence announced a new condominium project for central Kyoto. The most expensive apartment in the building will be priced at over 700 million Yen (5.85 million USD). According to the Real Estate Economic Institute, this is the most expensive apartment to be released for sale in West Japan in the past 20 years. With a price of around 2,440,000 Yen/sqm (1,895 USD/sq.ft), it is similar to the current price of luxury high-rise apartments in central Tokyo.
The Parkhouse Kyoto Kamogawa Gosho-Higashi is located alongside Kyoto’s Kamo River and is 250 meters east of the Kyoto Imperial Palace. This will be the first condominium to be built alongside this river since 2004.Read more
Kyoto machiya popular with foreign buyers
According to the Urban Research Institute Corporation, foreign corporations acquired 1.2 billion Yen of real estate in Japan in 2014, 2.8 times higher than the figure in 2013. This accounted for a little over 20% of the value of all transactions nationwide.
While most of the foreign investment is centred in Tokyo, Kyoto is also attracting some foreign buyers.Read more
Renewal of modernist theatre in Kyoto reaches completion
Construction and refurbishment of the 55-year old Kyoto Kaikan building finished earlier this month. The original hall was designed by leading modernist architect Kunio Maekawa (1905-1986) and built in 1960. However, theatre stages were too small and the building was not equipped for operas or ballet performances. The building’s condition was also starting to deteriorate.
Kyoto City spent 11 billion Yen refurbishing the South Hall which included preserving the Maekawa-designed exterior, while the Main Hall was completely rebuilt into a 6-storey hall with 2,005 seats.Read more
Developer abandons plans to build apartments on former Kyoto hotel site
Hankyu Realty has given up on plans to build apartments on the site of the former Kyoto Kokusai Hotel after facing strong opposition from Kyoto City officials who want to see a new hotel built instead.
The development site is located in a prime position across the street from the east entrance to Nijo Castle in the centre of Kyoto.Read more