Sankei Building Opens Timber Office Building in Akihabara

Sankei Building opened KiGi AKIHABARA, an office building in Higashi-Kanda, Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo, on July 22, 2026. It is the company's first mid- to high-rise timber office building.

The property sits along the Kanda River, a six-minute walk from Akihabara Station on the Tokyo Metro Hibiya Line and Iwamotocho Station on the Toei Shinjuku Line. The nine-story building has a typical floor plate of approximately 31 tsubo (approx. 1,100 sq. ft.). A cafe is located on the first floor, and set-up offices are provided on the third and ninth floors. Using a structure with steel framing at the building's core and timber framing around its perimeter, the property advances the use of wood and gives consideration to resource circulation from construction through operation, including the reuse of existing piles and metal scrap generated during demolition of the former building.

As the construction sector faces growing demands to address decarbonization and resource circulation, office development using wood has spread in central Tokyo in recent years. In October 2023, Nomura Real Estate completed Nomura Real Estate Tameike-Sanno Building, a nine-story timber sustainable office. In January 2024, Mitsui Fudosan began construction of Nihonbashi-Honcho Mitsui Building &forest, an 18-story timber rental office building that will be Japan's tallest, and also started construction in November 2025 on the (tentative) Nihonbashi-Honcho 1-chome District 5 Project, an 11-story partly all-timber building.

Key Facts

• Property Name: KiGi AKIHABARA
• Developer: THE SANKEI BUILDING CO., LTD.
• Location: 2-8-16 Higashi-Kanda, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo
• Nearest Stations: Six-minute walk from Akihabara Station on the Tokyo Metro Hibiya Line / six-minute walk from Iwamotocho Station on the Toei Shinjuku Line / six-minute walk from Asakusabashi Station on the JR Sobu Line
• Completion: May 29, 2026
• Opening: July 22, 2026
• Number of Floors: 9F (timber and steel-frame construction)
• Area: Site area of approximately 51 tsubo (approx. 1,800 sq. ft.) / Gross Floor Area of approximately 324 tsubo (approx. 11,500 sq. ft.) / Typical floor plate of approximately 31 tsubo (approx. 1,100 sq. ft.)
• Design: Kumagai Gumi Co., Ltd. First-Class Registered Architect Office
• Construction: Kumagai Gumi Co., Ltd. and Sumitomo Forestry Co., Ltd.