Yaesu Fujiya Hotel to be redeveloped

Yaesu Fujiya Hotel TokyoThe Yaesu Fujiya Hotel by Tokyo Station will close at the end of March 2014 as the Kokusai Kogyo Group plan to sell the building and land to Sumitomo Realty & Development in April.

Sumitomo are expected to demolish the hotel and redevelop the site into an office building.

Read more

by Zoe Ward

Mysterious foreign co. buys Chongryon HQ

Chongryon HQ TokyoThe Tokyo District Court announced that the winning bidder of the foreclosed Chongryon headquarters / North Korean de-facto embassy building was a foreign-owned company called Avar LLC.

The court is now assessing the financial viability of Avar's 5.01 billion Yen bid and will make an official decision on the sale on October 22.

*Update: The decision deadline was extended for unknown reasons. On October 21, a citizen's group filed a petition with the district court alleging that Avar is a fictitious company.Read more

by Zoe Ward

Shoto Noh Theatre may be on the market

Shoto Kanze Noh TheatreThe owners of the Kanze Noh Theatre in Shoto, Shibuya, are looking into selling the building and land. The head of Yodobashi Camera is a possible buyer, having reportedly expressed an interest to redevelop the property into a private guest house to accommodate his foreign visitors.Read more

by Zoe Ward

Secondhand apartment prices in Tokyo City up 8.1%

According to REINS, 1,559 second-hand apartments were sold in Tokyo City in September, up 21.2% from September 2012 and up 41.1% from the previous month. A total of 3,123 second-hand apartments were sold across greater Tokyo for the month, up 12.5% from last year.

The average sale price across greater Tokyo was 26,540,000 Yen, up 6.5% from last year and up 3.8% from August. The average price per square meter was 409,500 Yen, up 8.7% from last year and up 2.3% from August.Read more

by Zoe Ward

Office vacancy rates in September - Miki Shoji

PMO Kanda TsukasamachiAccording to Miki Shoji's office report, the vacancy rate in Tokyo's 5 central business districts (Chiyoda, Chuo, Minato, Shinjuku and Shibuya) was 7.90% in September, down 0.26 points from last month and down 1 point from last year. This is the third month in a row where rates have fallen. It is the first time since November 2009 that vacancy rates have been in the 7% range.

The vacancy rate in new buildings was 18.12%, up 0.19 points from last month but down 11.50 points from September 2012.Read more

by Zoe Ward

Residential yields and vacancy rates in Minato-ku - October 2013

According to real estate listing site Homes, the average yield on an apartment in Minato-ku in October was 5.8%, down 0.2 points from last month. The average yield across Tokyo was 7.7%, down 0.2 points from September.Read more

by Zoe Ward

New 44-storey apartment building for Akasaka

Akasaka 9 Chome North District Redevelopment 2
The original design, which has since been changed.

The Akasaka 9 Chome North District Redevelopment is scheduled to begin construction in October 2014 with completion in March 2017. The project will include a 44-storey 170m tall residential building with 330 apartments.

The developer is Mitsui Fudosan Residential, so if this becomes a condominium (rather than a rental-only building) then it could possibly be branded as one of their 'Park Court' series of apartments. Read more

by Zoe Ward