First private-sector condo building to be demolished

September 6, 2017

TOKYO- Japan's first private-sector condominium building, built in Tokyo's Shinjuku Ward in 1956, will be demolished due to its aging.

Work to demolish the five-story building with 28 units, Yotsuya Co-Plus, will begin on Sept. 15, Asahi Kasei Realty & Residence Corp., a unit of Asahi Kasei Corp., said Tuesday.

Yotsuya Co-Plus was the first condo project in the country to introduce installment sales instead of a one-time cash payment, considered the trigger popularizing expensive condos among ordinary people.

A large portion of the units in Yotsuya Co-Plus was built as duplexes, a room arrangement in which living quarters are divided into lower and upper floors, which was very rare in the country at that time. Jiji Press