Surrounded by Izumi Garden Tower, the Saudi Arabian Embassy and luxury condominium complexes in Tokyo's Roppongi district, an ugly old apartment block stands.
The 22-year-old, government-owned building, which houses about 90 civil servants and their families free of charge or for nominal rents, was the target of scrutiny Thursday by a seven-member team of academics, real estate experts and a lawyer. The team spent the day looking at the building and nine others like it in Tokyo.
The committee, commissioned by the Finance Ministry, hopes to have a list by May of housing on prime real estate the government can sell over the next five years to help reduce its snowballing debt.