Kawasaki City wants to curb supply of studio apartments

Kawasaki City in Kanagawa Prefecture is planning to introduce guidelines to limit the construction of small studio apartments. The city has seen a surge in development of ‘one-room’ apartment buildings and is concerned about the effects on local communities.

The new guidelines may increase the minimum apartment size from 18 sqm (194 sq.ft) to 25 sqm (269 sq.ft), and may require on-site building managers or caretakers. For a building with over 100 units, an on-site manager may be required, while smaller buildings may require a manager for a minimum set of hours per day or week. Garbage collection may be required daily. Developers, managers and residents may also be encouraged to join the local neighbourhood association. However, there will be no fines or penalties for failure to comply with the guidelines.Read more

by Zoe Ward

Fault discovered in Kawasaki apartment building

Park Tower Shinkawasaki 3In 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

by Zoe Ward

Musashikosugi apartment boom (and bubble?)

Concerns are growing about a possible over-heating in the property market around Musashikosugi Station in Kawasaki City as the area experiences a construction boom.

According to the latest 'koji-chika' assessed land values as of January 1, 2013, commercial land values in Kosugimachi increased 9.9% over the year while residential land values in the same area increased by 9.1%, making it the best performing area in Kanagawa Prefecture.Read more

by Zoe Ward

Former Olympus president transferred private real estate holdings to family

The Tower & Parks Denenchofu Mizonoguchi is a 32-storey condominium built in 2006. Apartments in this building are priced at around 614,000 Yen/sqm (722 USD/sqft).

Former Olympus president Tsuyoshi Kikukawa transferred two of his privately held apartments to his family members in November 2011.

The transfer took place immediately following the announcement of the concealed corporate losses. It is thought that he transferred his property ownership in anticipation of civil prosecution.

According to the real estate title documents, Kikukawa owned two apartments in a 32-storey residential building in Takatsu-ku, Kawasaki City. He jointly owned a 110sqm apartment on the 30th floor with his son who currently resides in the UK, and fully owned a 105sqm apartment on the 28th floor. His ownership of both apartments were transferred to relatives on November 17th.Read more

by Zoe Ward