- Berela, a Gold Coast home builder, has signed a $4 million deal to construct 67 townhouses in Osaka, Japan for property developer Kishiren Co., the largest single housing project by an Australian builder in Japan. - Berela will manufacture the homes in kit form in Australia and ship them to Japan, where Australian tradespeople will assist with on-site construction. - The initial project could lead to Berela constructing 400 additional homes for Kishiren; Berela's experience in multi-unit housing and knowledge of the Japanese market were key factors in the deal.

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by NICKNICHOLS
projectin Osaka'sSan-
nan City over three
stages,witb construction
expectedto beginin July
or August.
Berelawill manufac-
ture tbe housesin kit
form in Australia.
Assist
M a naging- dir ecto r
Ron Borland says Bereta
ls value-addingas mucb
as possible to the prod-
ucts in Australis and Hr-
tishiro will useAustralian
tradespeopleon site to
assistin the construction.
Mr Borland savs tbe
Japanese m8rket pro-
duces 1.5 million homes
or bome units a year,
wbicb is more than in
America.
"In comparison, tbe
Australian market last
ye a r p ro d u ce d ju st
132,000."
Mr Borland says Ja-
pan imports just 4000 to
5000 bomesa year, a fig-
ure wbicb is expected to
rise to about 10.000 bv
the year 2000.
He says Berela has
be'enaidei by Japanese
Governmentmovesto 16-
duce bousingcostsby re-
laxing some restrictions
on lhe importation of
housing.
"Just as Australians
experienced after our
(economic)bubbleburst,
eYeryonein Japan is now
looking for valuein their
housing,t' says Mr Bor-
land.
"It is a highly grow-
ing market."
Flavour
Mr Borland says lhe
townhouse designsfor the
Hatishiro project will re.
flect an Australian fla-
vour witb more open-plan
living and higber ceilings
tban Japaneseconsumers
are used to.
"We are even using
Australian batbs," says
Mr Borland, adding that
tbe well-travelledJapa-
nese tastes have grown
accustomedto Western
conveniences.
Berela, which tn-
nouncedits moveinto tbe
bousing export market
last August, plans to sta-
tion a companyrepresen-
tative in Japan over lhe
next few months to ser-
vice wbat it says is a
growing inquiry rate for
its bomesand to co-ordi-
nrte the importation of
A u s t r a l i a n b u i l d i n g
equtpment.
Mr Krwamura savs
Berela'sknowledgeof t[e
Japanesebousingindus-
try, combined witb its
reputation in the multi-
unit residential sector,
bave been key factors in
proceedingwith the deal.
ro
'lr'ourt
NNKNwxwNNETU
Berelain$4mhomesexportdealwithGOLD Coast home
b u i l d e r B e r e l a i s
poised to enter the
Japanesemarket with
a $4 million deal said
to be tbe largestsingle
housingproject under-
takenby an Australian
builderin tbat country.
Berela yesterday
signeda memorandumof
understandingwitb Osa-
ka-basedpropertydevel-
opmentandresortopera-
tor KishirenCo. for the
constructionof 67 town-
bouses.
Tbecontractmaybea
forerunnerto builda fur-
tber 400 homesfor tbe
company,accordingto
KishirenpresidentKeni
Kawamurg.
Hatishirois develop-
ing tbe initial residential
Ron Borland and Kenl Kawamura eeal the deal