Otemachi PAL Building demolition to begin in August
As part of the Otemachi 1-2 District Redevelopment, Kajima Corporation will begin demolition of the Otemachi PAL Building next month. The PAL Building, along with the Otemachi 1 Chome Mitsui Building and the Mitsui Bussan Building are all being demolished to make way for two new office towers which are due for completion between 2019 ~ 2021. The owners of the buildings, Mitsui Bussan and Mitsui Fudosan, are expected to contribute around 170 billion Yen (1.37 billion USD) towards the redevelopment.
The Otemachi PAL Building is a 9-storey building with a total floor area of 27,923 sqm. It was built by Takenaka Corporation and completed in 1961. Mitsui Bussan and Mitsui Fudosan acquired the building from consumer credit company Promise in 2011 for 72 billion Yen (approx. 900 million USD at the time). After the sale, Promise leased the office space until they moved into the SMBC Consumer Finance headquarters in Ginza in late 2013.Read more
Political power spot in Chiyoda to be rebuilt
The building that once housed the head office of Japan’s Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) is going to be demolished and rebuilt starting next year. In recent years the 58-year old building has become increasingly worn out. The decision to rebuild was made after an inspection in 2014 found that the structure did not meet current earthquake-resistant standards.
A new building design will be selected in September and demolition will begin from April 2016. The new building is expected to be 7-storeys and should be completed sometime in 2018.Read more
Secondhand apartment prices in June 2015 - Tokyo Kantei
According to Tokyo Kantei, the average asking price of a 70 sqm (753 sq ft) apartment in greater Tokyo in June was 30,110,000 Yen, up 0.4% from the previous month and up 6.4% from last year. This is the first time since April 2011 that the price has exceeded 30 million Yen, and is the 10th month in a row to see a month-on-month increase. The average building age was 22.1 years.
In Tokyo’s 23 wards, the average asking price was 46,840,000 Yen, up 1.7% from the previous month and up 12.5% from last year. The average building age was 22.2 years.
Meanwhile, Yokohama saw prices remain flat from the previous month, while Saitama City (-0.2%) and Chiba City (-2.1%) both saw prices fall from the previous month. In Chiba City, prices are down 3.0% from last year.
In central Tokyo’s six wards, the average price was 65,740,000 Yen, up 1.3% from the previous month and up 14.2% from last year. The average building age was 21.6 years.Read more
Sumitomo announces 100 billion Yen project for Ariake
New details have been released regarding Sumitomo’s plans for three high-rise towers in Ariake, Tokyo. Ariake Garden City (Ariake North 3-1 District Plan) is a 100,000 sqm site located just north of Ariake and Kokusaitenjijo Stations on a man-made island in Tokyo Bay.
Sumitomo plan to build apartments (City Towers Tokyo Bay), a hotel, commercial and office facilities. Planning approval is expected to be granted in March 2016, with construction starting on the first phase of the project in October 2016. The entire project is expected to be completed in 2026 and has an estimated project cost of around 102.8 billion Yen (837 million USD), including land acquisition.Read more
New apartment prices in greater Tokyo up 20%
2,757 apartments were sold, making the contract rate 78.7%. This is an increase of 7.6 points from the previous month and an increase of 2.1 points from last year.
The average new apartment price was 58,150,000 Yen, up 20.8% from the previous month and up 20.4% from last year. The average price per square meter was 829,000 Yen, up 22.1% from the previous month and up 21.4% from last year.
745 apartments in high-rise buildings (over 20 storeys) were offered for sale, up 65.9% from last year. The contract rate was 81.6%, down 2.8 points from last year.
The market appears to be in recovery, with the amount of new apartments released for sale finally returning to levels seen 12 months ago. The return is evident in Tokyo’s 23 wards, where there has been a number of same-day sellouts in high-priced buildings. Areas such as Chiba and Saitama, however, are suffering from sluggish demand due to high construction costs which are pushing prices past the budget of many home buyers. In Saitama Prefecture, the contract rate was 58.7%, down 14.6 points from last year.Read more
Tokyo pushing for two new subway lines
On July 10, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government announced an additional five possible locations to be considered for new train lines. The five potential routes have been added to a total of 14 routes that the Tokyo believes should be ‘under consideration’ and will be submitted to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism at the end of July.
One of the new routes under possible consideration is a subway line that could link the Ariake district in Tokyo Bay with the Ginza district. Although it would be impossible to have a new line built in time for the 2020 Summer Olympics, during which several sporting events will be held in the bayside area, the area has been seeing an increase in the local population which could eventually warrant the need for rail access. A bus rapid transport (BRT) system is planned for the area with services tentatively scheduled to start in 2019, however a bus system may not be sufficient for passenger capacity requirements and could leave new residents with a congested and inconvenient transport system.Read more