CBRE Brokers Concept Showroom Project LIFE DESIGN PARK Minatomirai for Open House Group

Supporting LIFE DESIGN PARK's first location in Kanagawa following Nagoya's LIFE DESIGN PARK Hisaya Odori and Kansai's LIFE DESIGN PARK Osaka Umeda

CBRE (Japan Headquarters: Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo) has supported Open House Architect, Co., Ltd. (hereinafter Open House Architect), a residential architecture and construction company within the Open House Group, with the leasing of a storefront for its fourth LIFE DESIGN PARK concept showroom, in the Yokohama area.

In April 2020, Open House Architect appointed CBRE to find a property and broker the lease agreement for their new showroom in Kanagawa, for which CBRE proposed 498.86m² of the ground floor of YOKOHAMA GRANGATE, an 18-story, state-of-the-art office building which was completed in February 2020.

When looking for a space for LIFE DESIGN PARK's first Kanagawa showroom, CBRE focused on large properties that would reflect and meet the growing housing demand while also providing easy and convenient access to families. CBRE leveraged its vast network of building owners and market information to execute the project and identify properties that met the client's needs.

Amber Kuramasu, Creative Director of the LIFE DESIGN PARK series, who oversaw the project, said, "It was difficult to find a large, street-level space in the Yokohama Station area. CBRE proposed two adjacent retail spaces on the first floor of a new building. The location was ideal with direct access to the station, and we liked the modern design of the building. However, upon considering the flow of customers within the showroom, we determined that removal of the structural wall dividing the two spaces stood as a requirement for the lease contract. Despite the difficult task, through CBRE's support with negotiations, our terms went through and we successfully closed on the lease."

Naomi Kojo (Associate Director, Advisory & Transaction Services, CBRE Yokohama Branch), added, "For this project, we proposed a space on the first floor of YOKOHAMA GRANGATE, a newly built high-rise building in Minatomirai. The existing space was divided into two by a wall. In order to realize the client's ideal space, the removal of the wall was imperative. The building in question had obtained ministerial certification at a national level, so changing the structure of the space came with many obstacles, including redoing the structural analysis, reapplying for certification, and installing large fire shutters. In order to reach an agreement that both the tenant and building owner were happy with, we fully supported the process and acted as a mediator. Discussions went well, and we successfully realized a space that Open House Architect was satisfied with. Following the success of LIFE DESIGN PARK Hisaya Odori and LIFE DESIGN PARK Osaka Umeda, we are pleased to have supported Open House Architect with their large-scale showroom opening in Yokohama. We will use this experience to continue to provide high value-added services that support the diverse needs of our clients."

Showroom exterior

Inside the showroom

Project Outline

CBRE's Track Record with Open House Architect
1. Nagoya LIFE DESIGN PARK Hisaya Odori project
Opened July 21, 2021
CBRE business: lease brokerage

2. Kansai LIFE DESIGN PARK Osaka Umeda
Opened October 1, 2021
CBRE business: lease brokerage

The LIFE DESIGN PARK Osaka Umeda case study can also be found on CBRE's case study page on "PROPERTY SEARCH". CBRE PROPERTY SEARCH is one of the largest commercial real estate portal sites in Japan.

Inquiries about this service
Naomi Kojo
Associate Director, Advisory & Transaction Services, CBRE Yokohama Branch
Yokohama ST Building 9F, 1-11-15 Kitasaiwai, Nishi-ku, Yokohama-shi, Kanagawa 220-0004, Japan
Tel. +81-45-316-4311
[email protected]

About CBRE Yokohama Branch Advisory & Transaction Service
CBRE Yokohama Branch utilizes a wealth of domestic and international market data, as well as a solid foundation of knowledge and experience cultivated over many years, to propose optimal real estate solutions for our clients. In addition to office and retail leasing brokerage services, we also provide advisory and market analysis services.

Download this news release in PDF format