The Nikkei Shinbun reports that Mitsubishi Estate Company will build a 400-meter (1,312 feet) skyscraper on the northeastern side of Tokyo Station, a height which would eclipse the 300-meter Abeno Harukas building in Osaka, currently the tallest building in Japan.
The planned building site is in the Tokiwabashi district, in the Otemachi 2-Chome block on the northeastern side of Tokyo Station, an area currently occupied by the JX Building, a 20-story office building, and the Japan Building, a 14-story building with office and retail space, both owned by Mitsubishi Estate Company. Mitsubishi Estate owns much of the land in the Marunouchi district near Tokyo Station.
The site area will encompass 31,000 square meters (about 7.7 acres). This is a relatively small site area compared to such developments as Roppongi Hills, which has a site area of about 109,000sqm.
However, when it is completed, the planned 400-m skyscraper will dwarf the other skyscrapers in the Tokyo Station area. Currently, the tallest building in Chiyoda ward is the Shin Maru building, or New Marunouchi Building, which was completed in 2007 and stands at 38 stories, and whose antenna spire reaches about 197 meters.
Mitsubishi Estate, in principle, aims to build a 400-meter skyscraper, but this may be adjusted based on administrative consultations with government authorities.
The project is expected to take ten years to complete, with the estimated cost to exceed the 130 billion yen (about 1 billion usd at today’s exchange rate) price tag of Osaka’s Abeno Harukas building, currently Japan’s tallest building.
Tokiwabashi District
The Tokiwabashi district has been designated as one of Tokyo’s National Strategic Special Zone (NSSZ) by the Abe administration, which means that it is the beneficiary of de-regulation, including relaxed floor-area-ratio (FAR) requirements, based on cooperation between local authorities and the private sector. The goal for the re-development of the Tokyo station area is to turn it into a global financial hub, able to attract financial services firms from around the world.
Abeno Harukas Building
The 62-floor Abeno Harukas Building, in Osaka, is currently Japan’s tallest building. The Abeno Harukas building stands on top of the Kintetsu Osaka Abenobashi Station and houses Japan’s largest department store, an art museum, a hotel and an observation deck.
Source: Nikkei Shinbun, August 29, 2015