Sumitomo Realty Is Smaller but More Focused Than Its Two Main Rivals Among Japanese Developers

Sumitomo Realty & Development manages more than 230 office buildings in Tokyo. More than half of its buildings are in the Minato and Shinjuku wards, including two flagship properties in Roppongi and a half dozen in Nishi-Shinjuku. Less than 20% are in the Chiyoda and Chuo wards, which are the main areas of its two larger rivals and which generally command higher rents. Its dispersed portfolio of buildings in slightly less central locations reflects Sumitomo Realty’s relative late entry to the market—it doesn’t have a cluster of properties inherited from before World War II—as well as its record of steady growth over the past decades.