Sankei Real Estate Buying Out Tokyo Office Building for $50M, Adding Hokkaido Hotel

Sankei Real Estate has agreed to buy out the remaining 49 percent interest it does not own in a central Tokyo office building for JPY 7.5 billion ($50 million), with the TSE-listed REIT also set to acquire a 40 percent stake in a Hokkaido hotel from its sponsor for JPY 2.9 billion.

The trust plans to complete the acquisition of S-Gate Nihonbashihoncho in Tokyo’s Chuo ward on 1 April, giving it full control over the building’s 6,218 square metres (66,930 square feet) of office space, the REIT’s manager said Thursday in a release without disclosing the seller. The purchase of the 40 percent interest in the 296-room Vessel Hotel Campana Susukino in central Sapporo from the trust’s sponsor, developer Sankei Building, was due to be concluded on Friday.

The transactions take place as part of a portfolio-rebalancing “revival plan” launched last October that aims to reduce Sankei Real Estate’s proportion of lower-performing office properties.

“Among the to-be-acquired assets, S-Gate Nihonbashihoncho is a property that takes into consideration anticipated structural changes in office demand, and with this additional acquisition, Sankei Real Estate will own 100 percent of the interest,” the trust’s manager said. “Further, Vessel Hotel Campana Susukino is a property that is expected to contribute to stabilising portfolio revenue among the ‘core asset group’.”

Fully Leased Block

The 11-storey office asset in the Nihonbashi commercial district is the fourth property in the S-Gate series of mid-sized office buildings developed and managed by Sankei Building. Sankei Real Estate’s additional acquisition values the asset’s leasable area at over JPY 2.4 million per square metre, with the office space fully let to two tenants.

In addition to Mitsukoshi-mae subway station on the Tokyo Metro Ginza and Hanzomon lines, other stations within walking distance of the 2018-vintage building include Nihonbashi, Ningyocho and Shin-Nihonbashi, providing access to four stations and six lines.

The Sapporo hotel, meanwhile, is a 13-storey structure located in the Susukino area of Hokkaido’s capital, known as the largest entertainment district on the island. The property is within walking distance of Susukino subway station and Odori Park, home to the famed Autumn and Snow festivals.

The REIT’s purchase price for the 2019-built hotel translates to JPY 655,071 per square metre of leasable area and JPY 24.5 million per key.

Portfolio Reshuffle

The latest deals will increase the 19-asset trust’s total acquisition price to JPY 96.4 billion ($640 million), with 60.6 percent invested in offices and 39.4 percent in hotels.

Mingtiandi in January reported Sankei Real Estate’s disposal of office assets in Tokyo and Osaka for JPY 34 billion ($232 million), with the trust putting half of the proceeds into the purchase of three hotels across the island nation.

In its shift away from office, the REIT sold a set of strata units in the Shinagawa Seaside TS Tower in Tokyo for JPY 16.1 billion, with that sale making up nearly half of the revenue from the January divestments.

The priciest asset in Sankei Real Estate’s set of hostelry buys was the Grids Premium Hotel Osaka Namba, which it picked up for JPY 7.8 billion. The 142-unit hotel in Japan’s third most populous city is within a 10-minute drive of Osaka castle and 22 minutes from Universal Studios Japan.

Note: This article has been updated to reflect Sankei Real Estate’s additional acquisition of JPY 2.4 million per square metre for S-Gate Nihonbashihoncho’s 6,218 square metres of leasable space, as well as a deal value of JPY 24.5 million per key for the 40 percent stake in Vessel Hotel Campana Susukino.