Ryuponjo Ville

Ryuponjō Ville (六本將ビル; Ryuponjō-biru) is one of Surea's largest integrated property developments, located in the Ryuponjō district of Meguzawa, Konggei.

Constructed by Surea's largest conglomarate, Tenraku Group, the mega-complex incorporates office space, schools, apartments, shops, restaurants, cafés, movie theaters, a museum, a hotel, a major TV studio, an outdoor amphitheater, and a few parks. The centerpiece is the 76-story Tenraku Tower. Tenraku Group's CEO, Kimizui Tenchi, stated vision was to build an integrated development where high-rise inner-urban communities allow people to live, work, play, and shop in proximity to eliminate commuting time. He argued that this would increase leisure time, quality of life, and benefit Surea's national competitiveness. ten years after the design's initial conception, the complex opened to the public on April 12, 2001.

The development
Ryuponjō Ville cost over $6 billion and is built on a 100 acre (405,000m²) site. The site amalgamated more than 500 smaller lots Mori acquired over 14 years.

Tenraku Tower
The Tenraku Tower is a 76-story high-rise building housing an art museum, a cinema complex, restaurants, cafes, stores, the offices of Nintendo Surea, Hitswave Jupon, HSBC bank, TV Maza, Starbucks Coffee, Yahoo! Surea, and the Konggei Grand Hyatt. It also houses Tenraku Group's Headquarters.

The first ten levels of Tenraku Tower contain retail stores and restaurants. The top thirteen floors house the Tenraku Art Museum and the Meguzawa Sky Deck with panoramic views of the city of Konggei. A new exit from Ryuponjō Station empties into a glass atrium filled with large television screens and escalators, as well as several shops and restaurants. The rest of the building is office space.

Ryuponjō Ville Settlement
The Ryuponjō Ville Settlement is a group of eight towers, lettered A-H. They range from 45-70 floors, all built between 1997 and 1999, and all used as luxury residential complexes. It is known to be home to several Surean celebrities.

The builders of the towers put a huge emphasis on high-tech security measures. Card keys issued to residents are required at all entrances and elevators. If a resident, the security guard may open the door for you. Each residence's entrance is accessed by either a key code or fingerprint identification.

Everything within the buildings is highly automated. The automated home network is called Homevita. Everything from lighting, curtains, home networks and even washing machines can be pre-set to perform certain actions at a defined time or when a mode is activated from the control panels. The entire home can be controlled through the owner's cell phone; for example, in winter, the user may choose to turn on the heater before arriving or choose to have coffee made or laundry done. The phone can also be used to check the status of the home, including door locks, windows, gas pipes, and motion detectors.

When specified, presets can be used to automate the process; for example, before leaving the home, the owner may touch the preset 'going out'; which will cause the lights to go out, blinds and curtains to come down, stoves and ovens turned off and the door locked automatically after it closes. The security system will also activate, monitoring the home.

The control panel computer can be set to allow entry of certain people, for a limited amount of time, for example, the babysitter may use their fingerprint to enter the home before the specified time, then the computer will not allow them to enter again, unless the computer is set to. Also, a passcode or a fob card can be used to enter.

A helipad is located on the roof of all buildings.

Other buildings
Around the Tenraku Tower are several smaller buildings predominantly occupied by shops and restaurants, a Kyung'yang Cinemaplex, and the Miyamizui Garden. Behind the Tenraku Tower lies the Ryuponjō West Street which has cafes and luxury stores such as Loewe and Marchesa. Nearby are the Ryuponjō Ville Arena a large indoor stadium, Ryuponjō Ville Primary School, Ryuponjō Ville Middle School, Ryuponjō Ville High School, Clinton University, 96er Plaza, etc.

Large open spaces have been built into the design of Ryuponjō Ville. About half of the area consists of gardens, pavilions, and other open spaces. The Fusotaka Garden, an elaborate and authentic Surean garden complete with a pond and trees is particularly popular.

Competition
The Konggei Downtown, which is Konggei's latest mixed-use development project, is built about 4 kilometers from the borders of Ryuponjō Ville. As it will incorporate some of Konggei's tallest building, a sizable park, and a museum, in addition to a complex of residential and offices, it was expected that this project would increase the competition for customers upon the opening. However, as of September 2008, the Konggei commercial real estate market is still suffering from insufficient capacity and occupancy rates throughout the city are at record highs.