The new Toyota Building in front of Nagoya Station is complete. In true Toyota style they have done it so right, and "Midland Square" has immediately become Nagoya's new landmark. The basement is full of new shops and restaurants, and standing beside Nagoya's Twin Towers that were completed earlier this century, this new complex sets the stage for Nagoya's transition from a small city to something much more impressive.Just to the north of Midland Square is the new Lucent Building. A similar monstrosity, the Lucent Building is probably as stylish as Toyota's effort, if not better. It also has all the shops and restaurants and its own underground walkway from Nagoya Station.
However, waht the Lucent Building doesn't have is the "talk" of Midland Square. Midland Square has had people talking in Nagoya for years. What will the new building bring? Who will it bring? What Toyota functions will move from Tokyo? Who will have offices there? Will there be multitudes more foreigners in Nagoya due to it? How many Japanese employees will relocate? What will the building do for the housing market in Nagoya?
Once again, in true Toyota fashion, nobody really knew the answers to those questions, and Toyota kept as much under its hat as possible.
So, the result? Well, not much has changed. What we have seen is Toyota moving a few people internally. Alot of them, surprisingly, within Nagoya itself from other Toyota Offices. A few people have transferred from Tokyo, while others choose to keep their residences in the capital city, and just be in Nagoya during the week.
New developments in the downtown area of Nagoya have shot up all over the place in the last 12- 24 months. Those developers who have thought about their investment and have considered the local characterisitics and tendancies have done well. However, the majority of the developments have not been well considered, and have just gone up in a rush to meet the same completion period as Midland Square. With the smaller then expected impact of the new Toyota Office, there are now many hurting developers out there wondering where all the people are.
So where are the people and are they coming? Well, they are not here yet maybe, but I am confident they are coming. The trend in Nagoya is for a slow but steady increase in economic growth. With Toyota around, this is unlikely to change. However, we are not going to wake up tomorrow and see the next New York developed in our back yard. Much like the increase in the foreign population and foreign company presence in Nagoya, growth is slow but steady and it will take time. With Toyota now sitting in front of Nagoya Station, slowly but surely, many companies will be reminded that they need to be close by. Slowly but surely, many companies overseas that are involved in Toyota Sales and After Service are going to see the need to be in Nagoya; just like many of their counterparts in the supply chain of Toyota who know they need to be on the ground near Toyota City to enhance their ability to maintain and increase their business with the world's number one vehicle manufacturer.
The factor that will really shape Nagoya's future is financial markets. It is a dynamic of the Nagoya economy that is tough to believe now, but if Toyota can bring financial markets to Nagoya then waking up with New York in our back yard mayn't be so far away as we all think......
