Tokyo landlords offer six months rent free to lure office tenants - Brief Article

Japan, Inc., June, 2003

... IN BRIEF: The office space glut has pushed Tokyo landlords to offer as much as a half year of free rent to lure businesses to vacant office space. Another 9 million square meters of office space is coming onto the Tokyo market this year, forcing rents down and prodding landlords to get creative. But rents are still double those of New York, according to media reports, and some experts say land prices have yet to bottom out.

... COMMENTARY: Prices probably haven't hit the bottom yet. As real estate expert Stefan Whitwell wrote in our February issue, those who want to invest in land in Japan's large urban centers should be prepared to add value to that land in order to turn a profit.