Mori Building Launches $5.5B Tokyo Neighborhood

Toranomon-Azabudai District Category 1 Urban Redevelopment Project. Image courtesy of Mori Building Co. Ltd.

Mori Building Co. Ltd. has recently commenced construction of its Toranomon-Azabudai District Category 1 Urban Redevelopment Project, a $5.5 billion urban regeneration plan in Tokyo. The project, which focuses on green and wellness, will encompass nearly 9.3 million square feet across 20 acres.

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Toranomon-Azabudai District Urban Redevelopment Association is the executor of the Toranomon-Azabudai Project, and Tokyo-based Mori Building holds a pivotal role in the undertaking as a participating committee member. Conceived to bolster Tokyo’s global competitiveness, the gargantuan development is based on a modern urban village concept and will serve as a veritable city-within-a-city. Plans call for 2.3 million square feet of office space; 1,400 residential units; 150 retail shops and restaurants; a 120-key hotel; cultural facilities; and a 150,000-square-foot international school. Additionally, the site will offer a significant amount of green space that will take center stage. The development will encompass 5.9 acres of greenery, including a 64,600-square-foot central square.

 The Toranomon-Azabudai Project will also feature state-of-the-art safety and security features advanced enough to keep the master-planned development operating in the wake of a disaster, even one as devastating as the Great East Japan Earthquake of 2011. The structures will incorporate cutting-edge seismic designs and technologies and dedicated electrical systems that will be able to power the entire neighborhood.  

International endeavor

 A large, internationally diverse group was put in place to help bring the Toranomon-Azabudai Project to realization. A team from New Haven, Conn.-based Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects, spearheaded by the late César Pelli and Fred Clarke, is behind the design of the three skyscrapers that will sprout up at the development. Pelli Clark Pelli also recently lent its talents to Oxford Properties Group’s $3.5 billion mixed-use development in Toronto. London-based Heatherwick Studio created the public realm and lower level architecture for the Toranomon-Azabudai Project, and Tokyo-based Sou Fujimoto Architects designed the project’s retail space.

Mori Building will submit the Toranomon-Azabudai Project for WELL Building Standard certification from the WELL Building Institute. Construction of the project is on track to reach completion in March 2023. In the meantime, Mori Building is keeping itself busy with other activities, including a 2 million-square-foot office high-rise project in Jakarta, Indonesia, the company’s very first development in Southeast Asia.