Australia’s Babcock & Brown Japan Property Trust (BJT) purchased the Aida Building, located opposite JR Tsudanuma Station, in April 2007, for a price of 1.96 billion yen. BJT is a listed property trust (LPT) and makes investment focusing on real estate in Japan.

The Aida Building is located a one-minute walk from JR Tsudanuma Station, about 27 kilometers east of JR Tokyo Station. The building is a six-storey, multi-tenant retail building with a rentable floor space of 1,885 m2. It was completed in 1976 and has parking that can accommodate 32 cars. The building is currently tenanted by a restaurant, a Red Cross Blood Center for blood donation and a manga café. Its occupancy rate is 82% based on space and 69% by revenue, which yields an average NOI (Net Operating Income) return of 4.0%. By enticing tenants into its currently vacant ground floor, an NOI return of over 6% should be attained, according to BJT.

Among the four LPTs operating that specialize in real estate investment in Japan, BJT is a trailblazer in the field. Since its listing on the Australian Stock Exchange in April 2005, it has been investing mainly in office and retail buildings. With this latest acquisition, it now controls 38 properties with operating assets valued at 108.2 billion yen. The company plans to continue to increase its asset size.

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[Outline of Dealing]
Name: Aida Building
Buyer: Babcock & Brown Japan Property Trust
Price: 1,960,000,000 yen
Location: 1-11-4, Tsudanuma, Narashino city, Chiba
Nearest station: 1-minute walk from JR Tsudanuma station
Land area: 584 m2
Rentable space: 1,885 m2
Stories (above/below ground level): 6/0
Completion of construction: 1976
Dealing period: April 2007
Major tenants: Restaurants, Red Cross Blood Center