Luxury villas planned for Miura waterfront
A waterfront district down in Kanagawa’s Miura Peninsula is being pushed as a potential luxury resort targeting wealthy foreigners. A current development proposal includes villas and high-end condominiums that could include their own berths for mega-yachts along with 20-minute access by helicopter from Tokyo. The villas could range in size from 340 ~ 1,120 sqm (3,658 ~ 12,000 sq.ft).
Heir donates historic villa to Chigasaki City
The owner of a 116-year old former hospital ward in Chigasaki, Kanagawa, has donated the property to the city in accordance with his late father's wishes.
‘Nanko-in’ was founded by Doctor Koan Takata (1861-1945) in 1899 as a tuberculosis sanatorium. The 18,000 sqm beachfront site in the Shonan area was chosen because of its clean air and environment. A 2-storey, wooden building with a total floor area of 230 sqm (2,475 sq.ft) was built in 1899 as the first hospital ward.
The hospital started with just ten rooms and three patients. One of those was the widow of Kaishu Katsu, a samurai and politician. Author Doppo Kunikida was hospitalised here before his death in 1908. His illness was reported in the Yomiuri Newspaper at the time and elevated the reputation of both the hospital and the Chigasaki vacation villa area.Read more
Idle ocean-front land in Miura sold to Chiba buyer
An idle parcel of ocean-front land in Miura, Kanagawa, will be sold to a Chiba-based company later this year. The 13.5 hectare (1.45 million sq.ft) site is currently owned by Properst, a Tokyo-based developer. The sale price has not been disclosed and it is unclear what the new buyer plans to do with the site.
The site was developed by Seibu Railway between 1955 and 1965. It was originally an inlet, but the land was reclaimed to create a potential tourist destination. Properst acquired the site in early 2007 for 8.1 billion Yen (approx. 67.5 million USD at the time) and planned to construct several apartment buildings containing 1,400 units, a 140-room hotel, marina, retail, 152 residential building lots, and parkland. The project would have housed around 3,000 residents. This was exciting news for Miura City, which had been battling a declining and ageing population.Read more
Yokosuka City forcibly demolishes abandoned home
Yokosuka City began the forced demolition of an abandoned home in Higashiuraga on March 13. This is the first forced demolition to be carried out in Kanagawa Prefecture and the third in Japan.
The wooden house, which was built sometime between the Taisho and early Showa periods, had a total floor area of 25 sqm. It was in a serious state of decay, with exterior cladding and doors coming loose in past typhoons. It became vacant after the owner passed away in 1988.
In 2012 the city received a complaint about the house and had repeatedly tried to contact relatives of the current owners, but with no success. The owners of the house did not own the land, and since the house did not appear on any cadastral maps, the heirs were not subject to annual property taxes.
The house was considered a hazard to the locals who often use the pathway running in front of the house as a shortcut to the station, and in December 2014 a removal order was issued. Read more
The Tower Yokosuka Chuo 60% sold
All 150 apartments offered in the first round of sales in The Tower Yokosuka Chuo condominium sold out in early March. An average of 1.3 applications were made on each apartment, with the most popular apartment receiving 4 applications.Read more
Fault discovered in Kawasaki apartment building
In what looks to be a disturbing trend, another apartment building under construction has been found to have a serious defect. It was announced on March 31 that a high-rise condominium in Kawasaki City would be partially demolished and rebuilt after cracks were found on concrete pillars on the fourth floor.
Construction had reached the 7th floor when it was discovered that the extra load of the floors was putting too much strain on the 4th floor structural columns causing them to crack and split. Read more