Tall & Urban News

According to the Nikei Shimbun, music and entertainment production company Avex is selling their headquarter building in Omotesando for an estimated ¥70 billion (US$678 million). 

Tokyo Shoko Research has reported that Avex is netting an estimated profit of ¥29 billion on the sale of the building, which had a book value of ¥42.9 billion. This will give them an estimated year-end net profit of ¥15 billion. This comes after a tough year for the music industry, with the pandemic causing money-making live shows and concerts to cancelled. Avex incrred a ¥3.2 bullion loss for April - September and sough voluntary retirement from 103 staff in December 2020.

The head office tower was rebuilt in December 2017. The 101-meter-tall building has a total floor area of 28,300 square meters (approximately 305,000 square feet) and sits on 5,000 square meters of land fronting Aoyama Street. 

The news of the sale first broke back in November, with the Toyo Keizai Shimbun reporting that Canadian fund BentallGreenOak (BGO) had received prefential negotiation rights. Avex publicly denied havng made a decision on the sale a day following the news report. It turned out to be correct, with BGO reported by Nikkei as the buyer. In October 2020, it was reported that the fund plans to invest up to ¥1 trillion (US$9.5 billion) in commercial real estate in Japan over the next few years. 

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