Midland Square - A New Addition to Nagoya’s Skyline.

The City of Nagoya has a new addition to it’s skyline. The land across the street from the JR Central Towers has been bustling with bulldozers, cranes, and a multitude or hard-hatted workmen. With ruthless efficiency that puts the builders of London’s new Wembley Stadium to shame, the Midland Square building has been completed. Replacing the old modestly-sized Toyota and Mainichi buildings, the new 247m 53 floor skyscraper is now officially Nagoya’s tallest building, just 2 meters taller than the adjacent JR Central Towers.

The building’s six underground levels - located a stone throw away from Nagoya’s Higashiyama Subway Line Station - will be home to 60 high-brand stores and restaurants, as well as a 7-screen multiplex cinema. The building’s roof top will become Japan’s highest open-air observation deck; users can be whisked up in one of the building’s 66 person-capacity express glass elevators in just 40 seconds.

When the JR Central Towers were completed in 1999, the new addition shop floor space shifted the commercial center of Nagoya from 70:30 to 60:40 in favour of Sakae. The hope is that Midland Square will not only change the face of business in Nagoya, but will draw businesses from around the world to the city like moths to a bright lamp. Toyota Motor Cooperation is the heavy-weight financer behind the project and will be the building’s most prominent tenant with 3000 of its staff occupying the 17^th to the 40^th floors.

Over the New Year nearly 3000 Toyota employees will transfer to Nagoya from Tokyo and other branches. A further 3000 workers from 45 or so companies move into the building by the time the building officially opens at the end of March 2007. Combined with its state-of-the-art conference facilities, an expected 60,000 users are predicted to pass in and out of the building each day.

With last year’s addition of Chubu International Airport, and Nagoya’s existing reputation as a transport hub, Toyota are hoping that their latest venture will firmly put Nagoya on the World business map.

This article originally appeared in the Nagoya Calendar December 2006 edition.