Tall & Urban News

Demolition Starts on 47-Year-Old Apartment Building in Tokyo

A new 18-story condo building will replace the current nine-story apartment block.
A new 18-story condo building will replace the current nine-story apartment block.
13 November 2020 | Tokyo, Japan

Demolition has started on the Hamamatsucho Business Mansion apartment block near Takeshiba Station in Tokyo. This is just the fourth condo-style apartment building in Tokyo to be redeveloped under recent regulations governing the sale of land under aging apartment blocks and the first of its kind in Minato ward. 

The former nine-story Hamamatsucho Business Mansion was built in 1973. It was designed for investors rather than owner-occupiers with 162 mostly studio apartments of around 12 square meters (129 square feet). It did not meet current eqarthqake codes, and the structure was aging. The apartment owners association has considered redevelopment, but that would have required each apartment to be larger in order to met current regulations regarding minimum apartment sizes. In that situation, the existing apartment owners would have to front a lot of money for reconstruction.

In 2014, new regulations were introduced that now allow the land underneath a condo-style building to be sold if at least fourth-fifths of the apartment owners agree (in the past it required a 100 percent vote in favor), and if the building does not meet current earthqake codes.

This works well when the land is in a desirable location where a buyer can easily be found, as is the case with this building. It happens to be in the center of a district that is undergoing rapid redevelopment with the recently completed Tokyo Portcity Takeshiba high-rise offifce located across the street. 

The land was purchased by Mitsui Fudosan Residential who will be building a new condo-style apartment building with 102 units over 18 floors. Completion is expected sometime in 2023.

For more on this story, go to Japan Property Central.