Tokyo’s Office Supply Will Rise in 2023 and 2024

Tokyo’s office space supply will temporarily decline in 2021 and 2022, after the Tokyo Olympics, but a resurgence is expected in 2023 and 2024, according to a survey by the Nikkei Real Estate Market Report.

In 2019, 1.34 million square metres (sq. m) of space is expected to be completed, below 2018’s 1.72 million sq. m. In 2020, the year of the Tokyo Olympics, supply will jump with the addition of 2.18 million sq. m, based on the survey, which was conducted in April 2019 and reported in the June 2019, Issue 119.

Supply will then fall in 2021 to 590 million sq. m, and in 2022, just about 720 million sq. m will be added. In 2023, supply will rise by 1.37 million sq. m, and in 2024, an additional 1.73 million sq. m is expected, the report said.

Among the projects is the redevelopment of the Nihonbashi River area in the Chuo Ward. In April, the Tokyo government revealed the Nihonbashi-Muromachi Itchome District Urban Development Project, which involves the construction of a 114,500 m² mixed-use building with 36 floors above

ground and four below. Work will start in fiscal 2022, and the target completion date is by fiscal year 2026. 

An underground Nihonbashi route for the Tokyo Metropolitan Expressway has also been planned below ground in the blocks along the Nihonbashi River. The space along the Nihonbashi River will be developed and targeted to be completed in or after fiscal 2028, with Mitsui Fudosan as the primary developer.

The second redevelopment project is Yaesu 1-chome North Block Redevelopment Project at the south of the Nihonbashi River. This redevelopment project consists of a North Block and a South Block. On the South Block which faces Sotobori-dori Street and Eitai-dori Street, a 180,500 m² mixed-use building with 45 floors above ground and five below will be constructed. 

According to the Nikkei Real Estate Market Report, Mitsui Fudosan has also submitted an environmental impact assessment project proposal to the government for the redevelopment of a 198,000 m² land to include seven structures including a rugby field, a baseball diamond, and a hotel.

Two of the structures to be constructed here will be super high-rise buildings—one is a 209,000 m² office building with 38 floors above ground and four below, and the other is a 132,000 m² mixed-use building with 40 floors above ground and two below.

The construction of the office building will start after the demolition of Itochu’s Tokyo headquarters, which will begin in 2021. The target completion date of the development is in 2026. Meanwhile, the construction of a mixed-use building to the southwest of Prince Chichibu Memorial Rugby Stadium will commence in 2025, and the target completion will be in 2028.

As Japan’s most populated and busiest city, Tokyo is one of the largest office space markets in the world.