Sales To Start for Western Japan’s Most Expensive Apartment: Priced at $5.7 Million

Mitsubishi Jisho Residence plans to start sales at the end of November of condominium units in the Parkhouse Kyoto Kamogawa Gosho-Higashi development in central Kyoto. The most expensive apartment in the development is slated to be priced at over 700 million yen (about $5.7 million).

According to SUUMO, this is the highest asking price for an apartment to be sold in western Japan in decades. The 700 million yen penthouse unit is a 287.23 sqm (about 3,089 sqft) 3LDK (3 bedroom) apartment that promises unobstructed views of the Kamo River, looking towards Kyoto’s eastern mountains.

The per-square-meter price of about 2.43 million yen would place it on par with some of the most expensive high-rise apartments currently on the market in Tokyo.

The future owners of this apartment would have million dollar views of Kyoto’s famous “Gozan no Okuribi”  (五山送り火) festival each August. More commonly known as Daimonji (大文字), it is the finale of the Obon festival on August 16th, in which five giant bonfires are lit on mountains surrounding the city to send off the spirits of deceased family members back to the spirit world.

Mitsubishi Jisho Residence is well known for developing high-end residential properties, including the Park House Gran Minami Aoyama, in Tokyo, where the most expensive unit was priced at about 770 million yen and the Park House Gran Chidorigafuchi, also in Tokyo, where the most expensive apartment was also priced at about 700 million yen.

However, in western Japan, the most expensive apartment sold until now was a unit in The Kitahama tower condo development in central Osaka, which sold for 580 million yen.

Kyoto has strict building height restrictions, which has limited the development of tower-type condos, which are common in Tokyo and Osaka.

Prime location between the Kyoto Imperial Palace and Kamo River

The site area is a 5,102 square meter plot located about 250 meters east of the Kyoto Imperial Palace and alongside the Kamo River, which runs north-south through the center of Kyoto. According to the MRC real estate databank, the Parkhouse Kyoto Kamogawa Gosho-Higashi will be the first Kamo River-facing condominium to be be built since 2004.

The development itself consists of a 5-story main building and an east-facing annex (which will house the 700 million yen penthouse apartment), with a total of 85 units ranging from 43 to 287 sqm. The units range from 1LDK to 3LDK layouts (equivalent to 1- to 3-bedrooms), and the development is located about 6 minutes from Jingu Muratamachi Station on the Keihan Oto line in Kyoto’s Sakyo ward.

The developer expects to price half of the apartments at over 100 million yen (about $811,000) each.

The location and quality of the development are thought to justify the price tag.

Kyoto is one of Japan’s top tourist destinations, for both domestic and inbound tourists.

SUUMO points out that the Ritz Carlton Kyoto, which opened in 2014, and which is located near the Parkhouse Kyoto Kamogawa Gosho-Higashi charges about 71,000yen a night for its least expensive deluxe double room; 700 million yen divided by 71,000yen is about 9,800 nights or about 27 years. The reasoning is that the would-be purchaser of the penthouse apartment could enjoy their home in Kyoto for 27 years, or stay at the Ritz for the about the same price. The rack rate for a Kamo River-facing 126sqm suite room at the Ritz is about 257,000yen per night. At that rate, a 700 million yen budget would allow a well-to-do traveler to stay for about seven years at the Kyoto Ritz Carlton.

We’re not sure about this reasoning as a rationale for buying an apartment, but what is true is that the developer expects about sixty percent of the units to be sold to the wealthy out-of-town purchasers who will be using them as second homes.

The model room for the development is open and available for viewing by appointment only. Sales are scheduled to start at the end of this month (November 2015). The building is scheduled for completion in mid-March 2017, with delivery to buyers to start at the end of June 2017.

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