Hakuba 47 Commences Base Village Approval Process

22 Jan 2009

HAKUBA, Japan - Hakuba 47 announced that company officials today appeared before the Hakuba Community Impact Review Council in the first major public step toward gaining approval of a vacation residence, hotel, and retail development within an 11-hectare area at the base of the ski resort. The property, accessible from Tokyo in less than 3 hours by train and bus, is located in the mountain valley famous for hosting Alpine and Nordic events during the 1998 Nagano Olympics.

The master plan includes 212 vacation residential units, 157 hotel rooms, and a central retail promenade. It is anticipated that an international hotel operator will manage the hotel, and the majority of the fully equipped residential units will be managed under timeshare or condohotel arrangements. The master plan incorporates a 2000 square meter destination spa facility within the hotel, to draw year-round visitors and provide a high-end amenity targeting women. The design concept of the master plan aims to blend modern functionality with traditional Japanese architectural references common in rural mountain villages.

“The Hakuba 47 master plan integrates ski-in/ski-out convenience, high-end resort amenities, and a distinctly Japanese travel experience,” said Kenta Takamori, Representative Director of Hakuba 47.

Hakuba 47's master plan was a highly collaborative effort led by the Denver, Colorado-based Design Workshop, with design architecture work done by an international team of Gensler Associates architects based in Tokyo and San Francisco, California. The master planning process commenced in January 2008, immediately following the change in ownership to the private equity firm Warburg Pincus.

Local and prefecture development approval processes are expected to take 18 months. Initial local reaction to the plan has been supportive. Fully completed, it is anticipated that the development could generate 200 new jobs for the village of Hakuba, and its 9,000 residents. “The mountain ranges surrounding the Hakuba valley offer some of the most breathtaking views and alpine experiences in the world,” Takamori continued, “This development will help Hakuba to continue attracting visitors from throughout Japan and Asia for years to come.”