Ever heard of a lawyers building (弁護士ビル) ? As the name suggests, they’re designed almost exclusively for law offices.
Why design a building solely for legal tenants? At least in the past, it could be quite difficult for law firms to find landlords willing to rent to them. In the past, the prevailing opinion held by many landlords was that lawyers could be quite litigious and troublesome as tenants. That fear may not be as common these days, as most of the lawyer buildings were built in the 1970s.
One of the more recent buildings is Toranomon Hoso Building & Residence. It was developed by a law firm in 2006 and is the largest lawyers building in Japan. It has over 40 legal firms on floors 2 ~ 9, and 20 condos on floors 10 ~ 13. The basement has a shared law library, and a statue of Themis, or Lady Justice, is at the entrance.
Depending on the building, there may be stipulations about the type of business that can lease as space. Many will only allow law firms as tenants, other might allow other legal-related professions including accountants and judicial scriveners.
There are a handful of these buildings clustered around the Toranomon and Shinbashi neighborhoods, and this is due to the proximity to the Tokyo District and Family Courts. Rents in these neighborhoods appear to range from 15,000 ~ 22,000 Yen per tsubo, depending on building age and location. This is in line with current market rents for ordinary, non-lawyer buildings.
