A unique skiing / four-seasons-lifestyle investment opportunity out of Winter Olympics host city Sapporo has entered the Niseko real estate sphere.
Prostyle Miyanomori is an impressive architectural condominium project layered up into the mountainside overlooking Sapporo City, with 20 apartments for sale between JPY 188-390 million (USD 1.45-3 million).
Currently under construction, completion is scheduled for August this year.
Miyanomori is an upmarket suburb abutting the Sapporo hinterland near the Olympic ski jump, about 10 minutes drive from Bankei Ski Resort, 20 minutes to Moiwa Ski Resort, and 30 minutes to Sapporo Teinei.
The project architect Kengo Kuma is one of Japan’s leading architects, who has also been involved in several projects in Niseko including Elevation Estate.
Kuma says the natural mountainside setting of Prostyle Miyanomori is a rarity in Japan.
”You can view the whole city of Sapporo with the mountains behind you
Kengo KumaArchitect
“These conditions are hard to find in Japan, and I was drawn to the potential that the site offers.
“I initially envisioned an architectural design that would be built along the slope and make the most of the hill, rather than something that juts out from the ground.”
Niseko-based sales agent Paul Butkovich of H2 Real Estate said it was certainly a unique condominium in the Japanese landscape.
“There’s not going to be a lot of residences like this – there will be other condos but not with such attention to lifestyle design and location,” Butkovich says.
“These apartments behave like independent residences.
“It’s not standard Japanese box living built on top of each other – this is a new way of living in Japan immersed in nature with views, and not necessarily up and down in a tower.
“It’s expensive and it took a long time to do – it’s taken a decade to get the approvals and the right developer to build it. It’s not an easy project to replicate.”
Following international interest in Niseko, Butkovich says Sapporo itself is an interesting investment and lifestyle prospect for foreign buyers as well as Japanese.
“This is a prime opportunity for people exiting big Asian cities looking for a cool-climate lifestyle that Hokkaido offers,” he says.
”Sapporo has all the amenities people need to operate in the COVID world
Paul ButkovichH2 Real Estate Sales Director
View of Sapporo from Miyanomori | Photo Prostyle Miyanomori
“It’s got all the amenities of being in the city but offers the privacy of being in Miyanomori.
“They can be downtown Sapporo if they want but they want that mountainside lifestyle.
“It’s a true lifestyle property in the sense that in winter it’s all about skiing, food and the snow festival.
“In spring – right now – you get to see the sakura (cherry blossoms), and then see all the greens and colours that come into the season.
“Summer time is about riverside walks, beer garden, Odori Park, shopping.
“Its proximity to Chitose means it’s a great hub to fly in and out of, and if you want to explore Hokkaido you’re in the centre of the prefecture.”
Butkovich expects interest from people looking to resettle from places like Hong Kong and China, and also domestically as high-profile Japanese identities and business people look for a northern base.
A recent report cited by the Hokkaido Shinbun said Sapporo residential prices had increased 30% over the past year.
Sapporo hosted the Winter Olympics in 1972, and is currently bidding to host the 2030 event.
The shinkansen (bullet train) line currently under construction is also scheduled to reach Sapporo by 2030.
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