Mitsubishi Corporation Urban Development, Inc. (Location: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo; President & CEO: Kenji Morita) and iPark Institute Co., Ltd. (Location: Fujisawa-shi, Kanagawa; CEO: Toshio Fujimoto) announce that construction has begun at iPark Kobe, a multi-tenant life sciences R&D facility in the Minatojima Minamimachi, Chuo-ku area of the city of Kobe in Hyogo Prefecture. The construction is scheduled for completion in the autumn of 2027.

The project is sited in Kobe Port Island (Phase 2) within the KOBE Biomedical Innovation Cluster, where 333 medical industry-related companies create one of the largest medical industry concentrations in Japan. The planned site will be directly linked by a deck to Keisan Kagaku Center Station on the Kobe New Transit line. Located about 16 minutes from Sannomiya Station, the largest commercial area and transportation junction in Kobe, and about 6 minutes from Kobe Airport Station, the project is conveniently sited for commuting.

iPark Kobe is a multi-tenant life sciences research and development facility developed and operated by the three companies Mitsubishi Corporation, Mitsubishi Corporation Urban Development, Inc., and iPark Institute Co., Ltd. The partners are advancing the project with the aim of fostering multi-layered cooperation with companies in bio-manufacturing, AI robotics, and other fields closely linked with the life sciences, while enriching the environment for research and development.

Feature (1)

Exclusive tenant areas are adaptable to multiple uses, including R&D and offices. The facility is equipped with individual air conditioning and ducting systems, water supply/drainage equipment, and chemical-resistant raised access floors to support high-quality research and development whilereducing both initial fit-out costs and construction periods for new occupants. The facility plan features a high degree of layout freedom, with sections of 55–156m2 and partition walls that can be removed to meet needs for larger spaces.

Feature (2)

Researcher-first common areas and shared environments for tenants, including conference rooms and co-working lounges, allow tenants to focus on business in their private areas.

Feature (3)

Under the name iPark, the facility will be operated as the first external project of iPark Institute Co., Ltd., which currently operates Shonan Health Innovation Park (Shonan iPark), Japan's first science park created by a pharmaceutical company. The Kobe municipal government, Kobe University, RIKEN, Foundation for Biomedical Research and Innovation at Kobe, Mitsubishi Corporation, Mitsubishi Corporation Urban Development, Inc., and iPark Institute Co., Ltd. have signed a "Collaboration Agreement for Promoting Innovation in the KOBE Biomedical Innovation Cluster" under which the parties will work collaboratively to establish an ecosystem that promotes interaction, cooperation, and innovation among related organizations and companies in the field of research.

Taking “To nurture the future of urban spaces through our power to imagine and realize change” as its stated Purpose, Mitsubishi Corporation Urban Development, Inc. engages in real estate and urban development unbound by convention, primarily in the industrial, retail, and entertainment domains. In the industrial domain, the company works in the area of dry logistics warehouses as well as the development of automated and other refrigerated and cold storage, multi-tenant life sciences R&D facilities (iPark Kobe), and multi-tenant manufacturing/R&D facilities under the innoba brand. In the retail and entertainment domains, the company engages in the development of urban retail facilities, Neighborhood Shopping Centers (NSCs), and hotels, as well as event projects at Yokohama Red Brick Warehouse and other sites. The company also undertakes large-scale urban development centered on arenas and other features.

Fully leveraging the comprehensive strengths of the Mitsubishi Corporation Group, which interfaces with a vast range of industries and customers in Japan and overseas, Mitsubishi Corporation Urban Development will continue to open up the potential of cities together with customers and partners.

iPark Institute Co., Ltd. began operation in April 2023 with Industrial & Infrastructure Fund Investment Corporation (IIF), Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited, and Mitsubishi Corporation as its major shareholders. In 2023, it succeeded the operational business of Shonan Health Innovation Park (Shonan iPark), which had been operated by Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited since 2018. In addition to operation and management of the facilities, iPark Institute Co., Ltd. engages in projects to construct and revitalize a life science ecosystem, encompassing the promotion of innovation creation, technology exchanges, and research collaboration.

Shonan Health Innovation Park (Shonan iPark) is Japan's first pharmaceutical company-initiated science park, established in April 2018 when Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited opened its in-house research center to outside organizations. Now operated independently of Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited by iPark Institute Co., Ltd., Shonan iPark seeks to serve as a place where government, academia, and industries varying widely in category and business scale can come together to accelerate health innovation. As of July 2026, Shonan iPark houses 220 companies and over 3,500 people in an ecosystem that brings together pharmaceutical firms as well as companies and organizations in fields including next-generation medicine, cellular agriculture, AI, and government administration.