Star Mica Co., a Tokyo-listed real-estate company founded by an ex-Goldman Sachs Group Inc. banker, plans to double returns from apartments, using Airbnb to house foreign tourists.
The company owns about 2,500 apartments mostly in Tokyo, and is considering renting some of them to overseas visitors from as early as next year using services such as that of Airbnb Inc., said Masashi Mizunaga, the president of Star Mica.
It also acquired a stake in the Tokyo-based startup Squeeze Inc., which provides services to help manage reservations and clean rooms for property owners, to let it sublease rooms of other firms or individuals, he said.