Family Office Am Alpha Sells Tokyo Apartment Building Mitsuis Private Fund
A recently completed residential building located in Koto ward, eastern Tokyo, Japan, has been sold by Munich-based global family office AM Alpha. The buyer, Mitsui & Co. Realty Management (MBRM), is a private fund managed by Mitsui & Co., one of the largest conglomerates in Japan. The deal was advised by JLL.
The Alpha Prime Toyocho building, a 10-storey structure, is home to 174 apartments targeted towards singles and DINKS (dual income, no kids). The units are available in three different configurations – one-room studios with kitchens, one-bedroom apartments with separate kitchens and dining areas, and one-bedroom apartments with separate living, dining, and kitchen spaces.
Constructed using reinforced concrete, the building was completed in January 2024 and has received a five-star rating from BELS (Building-Housing Energy-Efficiency Labelling System), setting a new standard for energy efficiency in the Japanese market.
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AM Alpha had previously acquired the property in 2022 while it was still under construction. With over 10 years of experience in the Japanese real estate market, AM Alpha identified the property as fitting their “develop-to-core” investment strategy, which focuses on developing high-quality, well-located, and low-risk core assets that generate stable and predictable income streams.
“Although the building [Alpha Prime Toyocho] was expected to generate attractive returns, we decided on an early sale,” says Masatomo Okamoto, head of Japan for AM Alpha, in a statement.
The residential building is only a 10-minute walk from Toyocho Station on the Tokyo Metro Tozai Line, and it takes seven to nine minutes by train to reach Nihonbashi Station and Otemachi Station respectively. According to Masayuki Takahashi, senior director of capital markets for JLL Japan, residential properties continue to be a sought-after asset class for both domestic and international investors due to their stable earnings and high rental growth rates.
Divesting the building allows AM Alpha to “capture the value growth and reinvest the capital in new, growth-oriented projects that align with our long-term strategy,” according to AM Alpha’s head of Japan, Masatomo Okamoto.
In addition to the residential building in Tokyo, AM Alpha is also divesting a newly refurbished freehold office building in Singapore’s Central Business District (CBD), 112 Robinson. Appointing Cushman & Wakefield (C&W) and CBRE as joint marketing agents, the property has an asking price of $346.7 million, or $3,800 psf based on its net lettable area of 91,238 sq ft.
This divestment comes just three years after AM Alpha purchased the property for $269.7 million, or $2,925 psf on the net lettable area, in December 2021. 112 Robinson has an F&B unit on the ground floor and office spaces on the second to 14th floors.
The asset enhancements carried out by AM Alpha included revamping the building’s façade, adding an F&B space in the lobby, refurbishing the common areas, and installing a nursing room and end-of-trip facilities. The property also holds a BCA Green Mark Platinum Super Low Energy rating.
According to Shaun Poh, executive director of capital markets at C&W, the refurbishment works have given the building a new lease of life. 112 Robinson is conveniently located near four MRT stations – Telok Ayer MRT on the Downtown Line, Shenton Way on the Thomson-East Coast Line, Tanjong Pagar MRT station on the East-West Line, and Raffles Place MRT Interchange (for the North-South and East-West Lines).
The building is currently almost fully leased, with a well-staggered lease expiry profile, according to Michael Tay, head of capital market at CBRE. The property will be sold via an expression of interest that will close on July 18.