Urban developments in Tokyo have been increasingly seeing delays of construction start because of booming material and labor prices. In some cases, negotiations between owners and contractors over the cost have hit a wall as groundbreaking nears.

Concrete apartment building cost in Tokyo rose by 5.3% over a year from 2012 and 11.7% up during the year from 2013 to 2014, MLIT says. Many property industry players foresee the cost will remain in the current level though it supposedly hit the peak.

A plan to build a 39,000 college building in Minato-ku has stalled even after the existing structure was demolished last November. A contractor to construct the building has yet to be hired, which could delay the opening of the school from initially planned April 2017, says a source.

The project to redevelop the area near Kasuga and Korakuen Station in Bunkyo-ku is not seeing much progress because the increased cost caused a delay in consensus building among the land owners. The projected total expenses jumped from 75.5 billion yen in 2012 to 110 billion yen. Though the construction was first scheduled to start this March, the association of the land owners now aims to break ground in September. (2015/05/01)