JLL Chooses New Japan Boss for Hotel Division

Property consultancy JLL has chosen new leadership for its hotel advisory unit in Japan, according to an announcement by the company late last week.

Takahiro Tsujikawa will take over as head of JLL Hotels and Hospitality for Japan effective 1 April, after joining the company at the beginning of this month.

Tsujikawa takes over the top role at the hospitality advisory firm from Tomohiko (Tom) Sawayanagi, who will transition into a senior director role at the firm after leading JLL’s hotel team in Japan for the past twenty years.

Investment Veteran Takes Top Role

“Tom has done a remarkable job in building the business to what it is today,” JLL hotels CEO for Asia Mike Batchelor said in a statement. “We’re excited to have Takahiro take over and look forward to working with him to achieve our ambitious plans for the team in Asia.”

The change in leadership comes after investments in APAC hotel assets jumped 44 percent in 2019, according to JLL. With hotel deals surging, the company aims to have Tsujikawa work closely with its head of investment sales for Asia, Nihat Ercan, as well as with hotels and hospitality advisory chief for Asia, Xander Nijnens, to serve both domestic and international clients in Japan and around the region.

Tsujikawa joined JLL this month from Japan Hotel REIT Advisors Co, the manager of leading hospitality trust Japan Hotel REIT Investment Corporation, where he had served as general manager of acquisitions.

Before taking the senior leadership position with Japan Hotel REIT Investment, Tsujikawa had worked with real estate agency Ken Corporation, daVinci Advisors, KK Panorama Hospitality and a Japanese unit of Hong Kong-based real estate private equity firm PAG.

Olympics, Expo and Other Games on the Way

JLL said that, in his new role, Tsujikawa will be responsible for the strategic direction and growth of the company’s hospitality business in Japan, as hotel investment in the country continues to climb.

With the Olympics to be held in Tokyo Japan’s hotel market recorded APAC’s highest domestic transaction volumes during the first six months of 2019, notching $1.14 billion in deals.

Tsujikawa’s former employer was responsible for more than half of that investment volume in the first half of 2019 as Japan Hotel REIT Investment paid $563.5 million to acquire the Hilton Tokyo Odaiba and another $25.2 million the purchase the Hotel Oriental Express Osaka Shinsaibashi.

With Japan having legalised casino gambling in 2018, gaming resort operators are planning billions of dollars of projects in the country, with the Olympics and an upcoming world expo also pointing to growth in the hospitality industry, according to JLL.

“We are expecting another strong year of investment activity in 2020 as investors continue to capitalise on the positive momentum generated by global events such as Tokyo 2020 and the 2025 World Expo in Osaka,” Batchelor noted.