Feb. 01, 2017
Sumitomo Corporation

Sumitomo Corporation Starts Development & Sale of Mid-Sized Office Buildings under the “PREX” BrandKicks Off with Sale of Onarimon PREX to Gekkeikan Sake Company, Ltd.

Sumitomo Corporation (head office: Chuo-ku, Tokyo; President & CEO: Kuniharu Nakamura) will resume its mid-sized office building development and sales business under the PREX brand. The business will involve the acquisition of land, design and construction of buildings, the finding of tenants, and the sale of buildings, and will thereby supplement its business of leasing its own buildings. The company intends to develop around four buildings per year under the PREX brand, mainly in the three major municipal cities (Chiyoda-ku, Chuo-ku and Minato-ku) located in the center of Tokyo.

Sumitomo Corporation will sell Onarimon PREX, which was completed on January 31, 2017, to Gekkeikan Sake Company, Ltd. (head office: Kyoto City, Kyoto; President: Haruhiko Okura; hereinafter “Gekkeikan”). The building is located in Shimbashi 6-chome in Tokyo’s Minato-ku. Gekkeikan plans to relocate its Tokyo office currently located in Tsukuda, Chuo-ku to the new building.

Other PREX-series buildings under development are as follows:
◆	Kojimachi PREX	Start of construction: Nov. 2016	Completion: Apr. 2018 (planned)
◆	Kanda Tsukasamachi PREX	Start of construction: Jan. 2017	Completion: Apr. 2018 (planned)
◆	Kioicho PREX	Start of construction: Jul. 2017 (planned)	Completion: Jan. 2019 (planned)
◆	Hanzomon PREX	Start of construction: Jul. 2017 (planned)	Completion: Feb. 2019 (planned)

Although medium-sized, PREX buildings offer functionality and grades comparable to those of large office buildings. Sumitomo Corporation aims to market the PREX brand as providing flexible and high-quality workplaces that foster communication and collaboration.

[Outline of the PREX Series]

Capitalizing on its track record of office building development and long-accumulated expertise, Sumitomo Corporation will use the PREX series to create flexible and high-quality workplaces focusing on the “three r’s.”

relax (relaxing spaces that help individuals fulfill their potential)
response (discovery of new value through better communication)
relation (environment that enhances personal ties to create a strong and unique organization)

■	Office Concept
	Comfortable workplace where you enjoy spending time The focus of the “workplace” concept is shifting from how to separate work and private life simply based on the idea of “work-life balance” to how to create comfortable environments in the places where workers spend part of their daily lives. Making the workplace sufficiently comfortable that employees will be eager to get to work is the first step toward inspiring employees, who are the driving force behind a company’s growth, to develop a sense of affection and commitment to their employer. Further, if the workplace is also attractive enough for business partners to want to visit, it will provide both employees and business partners with opportunities to achieve growth through new exchange and collaboration. In recent years, while the efficiency of communication and importance of information security have been increasing due to advances in IT, there has been a shortage of places for interpersonal communication and collaboration, and the importance of these spaces is growing.

■	Development System
	For the PREX series, Sumitomo Corporation has selected Nikken Sekkei Construction Management, Inc. to engage in basic planning and management operations and Nikken Space Design Ltd. to serve as the design supervisor. These firms were chosen with a view to fostering the development of the buildings by utilizing the know-how possessed by the Nikken Sekkei Group, which has a world-class track record in the area of architecture.


■	Targeted Tenants
	Companies that attribute importance to the quality of their workplaces in attracting outstanding personnel and that have high profitability or growth potential ⇒ Companies engaged in the IT, software application, legal, accounting, consulting and other fields

■	Tenant Leasing System
	In order to provide potential tenant firms that attribute importance to the quality of their workplaces with a tangible experience of the level of comfort offered by PREX, Sumitomo Corporation has established a showcase or model workplace. Located on the fifth floor of Onarimon PREX, the first PREX building to be completed, the model workplace is based on the scenario of a tenant that is a growing software application developer. Vitra Japan (head office: Shibuya-ku, Tokyo; Representative Director: Ryo Kataigi; hereinafter “Vitra”), which is the Japanese arm of the world-famous Swiss furniture manufacturer founded in 1950 (http://www.vitra.com), cooperated with Sumitomo Corporation in the creation of the model workplace. Vitra has been collaborating with a range of world-class designers in its pursuit of higher-quality office spaces. Sumitomo Corporation aims to provide potential tenants with a hands-on experience to help them better understand the PREX concept by adopting Vitra’s functionally and timelessly designed furniture for the showcase space. Vitra has had a dealer contract with Sumisho Interior International Inc. (http://www.interior-i.jp/en/) since 2014.

Model workplace: Photo (2)>

[Outline of Gekkeikan Sake Company, Ltd.]
■	Company name	:	Gekkeikan Sake Company, Ltd.
■	Head office	:	247 Minamihama-cho, Fushimi-ku, Kyoto City, Kyoto 612-8660
■	Representative	:	President Haruhiko Okura
■	Business line	:	Manufacture and sale of Japanese sake, quality shochu, liquor, and others
■	Foundation and establishment	:	(Foundation) 1637 (Establishment) 1927

[Outline of Onarimon PREX]
■	Location (address)	:	6-14 Shimbashi, Minato-ku, Tokyo
■	Access	:	Three minutes on foot from Onarimon Station on the Toei Mita Line Nine minutes on foot from Daimon Station on the Toei Oedo Line/Toei Asakusa Line 11 minutes on foot from Shimbashi Station on the JR/Tokyo Metro Ginza Line 11 minutes on foot from Kamiyacho Station on the Tokyo Metro Hibiya Line 13 minutes from Hamamatsucho Station on the JR/Tokyo Monorail line
■	Site area	:	522.90 m² (158.17 tsubo)
■	Total floor space	:	3,500.33m²(1,058.84 tsubo)
■	Structure and scale	:	Steel-framed building with eight stories above ground
■	Basic planning and management operations	:	Nikken Sekkei Construction Management, Inc.
■	Design supervision	:	Nikken Space Design Ltd.
■	Design and construction	:	Maeda Corporation
■	Completion	:	January 31, 2017
■	Remarks	:	Floors other than the lower floors used by Gekkeikan will be leased to external tenants. The Sumitomo Corporation Group will engage in the relevant operation and management of the building.

Inquiries: Corporate Communications Department, Sumitomo Corporation; News Release Contact Form