Hotel Okura Co. announced May 23 that it will reconstruct a main building of its flagship luxurious hotel in Tokyo. The existing building will be replaced by a 38 story high rise and a 13 story structure with total floor space of 180,000m2. The demolition work will start in September 2015 and the hotel aims to start commercial operation in spring 2019. Total investment is estimated at more than 100 billion yen. The design works will be commissioned to a group of companies including Taisei Corp., Nihon Sekkei Inc., P.T.Morimura & Associates,Ltd, and NTT Facilities Inc. A construction contractor is yet to be decided.

Located in Toranomon area, Minato-ku, the hotel for more than 50 years has been one of the most popular hotels among both domestic and foreign tourists. The reconstruction plan aims to renew the building with the latest equipments and facilities to meet an increasing demand of accommodation toward 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.

　The high rise will have offices to rent, 400 rooms, and restaurants, while the other building will have 150 rooms. About a half of the plot will be developed into a garden, which is expected to serve as an evacuation site at the time of disasters. (2014/05/26)