Tokyo, March 1, 2016 - Mori Building, a leading urban developer, has announced that its ARK Hills, a mixed-use complex in central Tokyo, will soon become the home of three innovation-driven centers - TechShop Tokyo, WIRED Lab and KaleidoWorks - with the first two opening on April 1, the day after ARK Hills commemorates its 30th anniversary.

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TechShop Tokyo (3rd fl., ARK Mori Building) will be the first Asian location for TechShop, a provider of "playgrounds" for innovation. Based on the concept of "Build your dreams here," TechShop Tokyo will offer tools, software and space where creators, entrepreneurs, students, investors and local communities will come together to exchange innovative ideas and expertise to build almost anything. For details, please visit www.techshop.jp.

KaleidoWorks (3rd fl., ARK Mori Building), managed by Mori Building, will provide venture capitalists and entrepreneurs with office space and the Crossover Lounge for innovative interactions aimed at new business development. Like-minded people will gather at KaleidoWorks for cross-discipline exchanges of ideas and resources. Japan Venture Capital Association, Incubate Fund, B Dash Ventures Corporation and other venture-spirited company will participate in the KaleidoWorks initiative.

WIRED Lab (ARK Hills Gallery) will be established by WIRED, an online and print magazine that reports on cutting-edge innovation for societal transformation. WIRED Lab will be an open-platform facility for research, education and experiments concerning futuristic urban lifestyles. In collaboration with innovators in the fields of interactive advertising and cutting-edge media art, WIRED Lab will host adult education, seminars, talk shows, workshops and exhibitions.

By attracting cross-discipline innovation platforms to ARK Hills, Mori Building seeks to encourage heightened interaction and communication leading to new entrepreneurship and business. The ultimate goal is to strengthen the magnetic power of Tokyo as a major global hub for business, leisure and culture in the 21st century.

For 30 years, ARK Hills has been driving the transformation of Tokyo's Akasaka area. Its signature ARK Mori Building accommodates numerous foreign-based financial institutions as a key district for international finance. The residential ARK Towers, a pioneer of world-class leased apartments, provides high-level residences with 24-hour bilingual concierge services. Since the establishment of ARK Hills, large office buildings in the surrounding area have doubled and high-grade residential units have increased fivefold to some 3,000 units.

About ARK Hills
ARK Hills was feted in 1986 as Japan's first large-scale private redevelopment project and a forerunner of Mori's series of "Hills" projects. Seventeen years after its conception, this mixed-use complex of offices, residences, hotels and concert hall finally came to fruition in 1986. ARK Hills was soon recognized as Tokyo's premiere center of international finance. Today, its office tower continues to enjoy a high occupancy rate and remains one of Tokyo's most prestigious business addresses. The surrounding environment has evolved into a vital and much beloved urban ecosystem, complete with cherry tree-lined avenues and no less than seven ARK Gardens.

About Mori Building
Tokyo-based Mori Building Co., Ltd. creates groundbreaking concepts for urban living throughout Japan and the rest of Asia. As one of Japan's leading urban landscape developers, Mori Building engages in urban redevelopment, real estate leasing and management, and consultation for leisure complexes, offices and high-class residences. Two of its most noted developments are the Roppongi Hills complex in Tokyo and the Shanghai World Financial Center. Mori Building was established in 1959.