Mitsui Fudosan Co., Japan's largest property developer by sales, reported defects in a residential complex being built by Shimizu Corp. and will start repairing them this month, the city of Kawasaki said in a statement Monday.
Shimizu discovered cracks last month in the concrete of some columns on the fourth floor of the building, which will be 47 stories high when completed next year in Kawasaki, the statement said.
Mitsui Fudosan is the latest company to report defects at a residential building after Mitsubishi Estate Co. announced that a complex in central Tokyo built by Kajima Corp. will be scrapped and rebuilt after construction flaws were discovered there.
Sekisui House Ltd. also found faults last month in the foundations of a site in Tokyo where Taisei Corp. is working on a 30-story apartment building. Sekisui said that Taisei will finish the repairs early this month and the quality of the property will not be affected.
Mitsui Fudosan Residential Co., a unit of Mitsui Fudosan, plans to explain the details of the defects to buyers of the apartments in Kawasaki from April 10, the city said. The company has so far sold 514 units of the 670 available, but will halt sales on the rest, according to a statement faxed to Bloomberg News.
"We will deeply apologize and will respond to it with sincerity," Mitsui Fudosan said, adding that Shimizu will delay the completion of the building — expected in March 2015 — and will take responsibility for fixing the defects.