THE JAPAN NEWS



 

The operator of the Imperial Hotel in Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo, is planning to rebuild the hotel’s main building and tower, according to sources.

The aging main facility has been in operation for a half-century. Because of that, the hotel hopes reconstruction will help it compete with luxury hotels from Western countries that have popped up one after another in recent years.

The hotel is planning to reconstruct both its main and adjacent tower buildings. The operator is likely to announce the project before the end of the month, at the earliest, because details such as the completion date and the scale of the work are being hammered out.

The project is expected to be completed in 2030 or later, and the cost is likely to amount to several hundred billion yen.

Mitsui Fudosan, the largest shareholder of the Imperial Hotel, is planning a large-scale redevelopment project in the area surrounding the hotel. That project is expected to involve several large office buildings and commercial facilities.

The initial main building of the Imperial Hotel, in which business tycoon Eiichi Shibusawa was involved for the launch, kicked off operations in 1890 as the nation’s guesthouse.

The current main building is a third-generation addition.