Mitsui Fudosan Co., Ltd.

Japanese real estate stocks rose today after the country's land ministry reported that nationwide land prices climbed for a fifth consecutive year, with the pace of growth the highest in more than 30 years. Data released late yesterday showed nationwide land prices rose 1.5% in the 12 months to July 1, 2026, while average land prices in the Tokyo metropolitan area rose 5.4% and the Osaka metropolitan area gained 3.6%. Rising land prices are a positive for property developers because they lift asset values and open the door to higher rents. Shares of Mitsui Fudosan, Japan's largest real estate developer by market value, pared their opening gains and were up 0.1%. Hulic rose 0.8%, while Mitsubishi Estate and Sumitomo Realty gained between 1% and 2%. The Nikkei index closed today's session up 0.69%.

Major real estate companies, including comprehensive developers, are stepping up data center development. According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, the domestic related market is expected to exceed 5 trillion yen in 2028, and further growth is anticipated on the back of the artificial intelligence boom. Daiwa House Industry plans to build a total of 14 data centers in Inzai City, Chiba Prefecture, breaking ground on the fifth in late September. It has also developed a modular small-scale data center in which some components are manufactured at a factory and assembled on site, and the first such unit was completed in April in Okuma Town, Fukushima Prefecture. Mitsui Fudosan plans cumulative investment of more than 600 billion yen in data center-related projects by fiscal 2035, with development underway in four areas: Sagamihara City, Hino City in Tokyo, the Hokusetsu region of Osaka Prefecture, and the Tama region of Tokyo. In the Hino City project, the building's height was gradually lowered from an initial 80 meters to 63.5 meters in consideration of sunlight. New entrants are also appearing one after another. Mitsubishi Estate set up a data center business office in April and has already invested in multiple projects, and a data center in Ishikari City, Hokkaido, in which Tokyu Land Corporation participated in development for the first time, began operating in August using 100 percent renewable energy.

Sansiri disclosed that condominium sales in the first seven months of 2026 reached 16 billion baht, representing 70% of the full-year target of 23 billion baht, and expressed confidence that transfers will meet the target of 17.5 billion baht. In the second half of the year, the company plans to launch nine new projects worth a combined 11.7 billion baht, out of a full-year launch plan of 17 projects worth 29.4 billion baht, with projects in Phuket accounting for more than 36%. It is also moving ahead with partnerships with Japanese capital partners such as Mitsui Fudosan, Tokyu, and Nomura Real Estate to expand its upper-end portfolio and penetrate major tourism markets.

As part of its wooden building strategy, Mitsui Fudosan will complete the Nihonbashi Honcho Mitsui Building &forest in January 2027. The building has 18 floors above ground, stands 84 meters tall, and has a total floor area of approximately 28,000 square meters. It is currently the largest and tallest wooden rental office building in Japan. The structure uses a wooden hybrid design with Takenaka Corporation's fire-resistant laminated timber, Nen-En-Wood, and is expected to reduce CO2 emissions by about 30 percent compared to a steel-frame building of similar scale. A total of 1,100 cubic meters of domestically sourced timber is used for structural materials, including about 100 cubic meters from Mitsui Fudosan's own forests in Hokkaido. The building has obtained multiple environmental certifications, including ZEB Ready. It is already fully leased, with a wide range of tenants from IT, research and development, and general Japanese companies valuing it as a showcase for environmental management. Under the &forest brand, Mitsui Fudosan is expanding its wooden building developments, including a logistics facility in Ebina City and plans for a second building in Nihonbashi.

Mitsui Fudosan announced on the 27th that it has established a physical AI development hub in Kumamoto Prefecture. The hub will support research and development of semiconductor technologies for autonomous vehicles and industrial robots. To strengthen Japan-Taiwan collaboration in the semiconductor industry, the company signed partnership agreements with seven organizations from Japan and Taiwan. Together with Kumamoto Prefecture, it set up a general incorporated association called Kumamoto Science Park Community & Management, or KSCM, which will provide services such as support for Taiwanese companies entering the market. KSCM will establish the Physical AI and Semiconductor Technology Center, or PASTEC, to promote joint research and demonstration projects across the entire supply chain, including advanced semiconductor manufacturing equipment, materials, and components. The representative directors are Nobuyoshi Takeuchi, Vice Governor of Kumamoto Prefecture, and Kyosuke Hosoda, Executive Officer of Mitsui Fudosan. The plan is to start recruiting member companies and organizations and offering services from autumn 2026.