Takaya Maeda, President and CEO, Hulic Co., Ltd.

With "Transformation and Speed" as our motto, we continue to boldly take on the businesses that are needed.

Takaya Maeda, President and CEO of Hulic Co., Ltd.

■ Profile
Born in 1962. After graduating from the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Tokyo in 1984, he joined Taisei Corporation and worked in real estate development. After joining Hulic in 2007, he held positions such as General Manager of Real Estate Development II, General Manager of Business Planning, General Manager of Real Estate Management, and General Manager of Development Business I. After serving as Managing Director and Vice President, he became President and Representative Director in March 2022 (current position).

Hulic Co., Ltd. handles numerous medium-sized properties located near train stations in the city center. With "Transformation and Speed" as its motto, the company is not limited to real estate but actively invests in areas that are needed by society in line with the times. We spoke with President and CEO Takaya Maeda about Hulic's corporate spirit as it continues to engage in such diverse businesses.

As soon as I entered university, I joined the cycling club and spent all my time riding my bike. Weekends were our main practice days, but even on weekdays, there was almost always someone at the clubroom, and we'd go for a bike ride together. I don't think I did much else during my university years, including studying.

■ How I came to join Hulic

I majored in urban engineering during my third year of university. However, this field has a wide range of specializations, and since it was the height of the bubble economy at the time, graduates tended to find jobs in various industries such as finance, trusts, and consulting firms. Among these, I aspired to work for an advertising agency and interviewed with a major advertising agency, but unfortunately, I was not offered a position. However, Taisei Corporation, which handles many resort and urban development projects, was recruiting one more person, so I decided to join Taisei Corporation.
Taisei Corporation is primarily classified as a general contractor, and its role was to execute projects planned by developers. However, as the years went by, I wanted to plan development projects myself as a developer, rather than just assisting. Among the various companies, I was drawn to Hulic, which at the time was focusing on the redevelopment of properties in prime locations in the city center, and I decided to change jobs in 2007.

■ Medium-sized properties, not large-scale ones

Hulic was founded in 1957 as "Nihonbashi Kogyo Co., Ltd." for the purpose of managing branches of Fuji Bank (now Mizuho Bank). At the time, many of its properties were in prime locations but were being used as bank branches, meaning that from a real estate perspective, the advantages of their locations were not being fully utilized. Hulic focused on these properties and has increased profitability by proceeding with their reconstruction. These properties are mainly called medium-sized buildings, with an area of ​​about 250 to 300 tsubo (approximately 825-990 square meters) compared to large buildings with approximately 1,000 tsubo (approximately 3,300 square meters) per floor. The reason we focused on medium-sized buildings is that while tenants in large buildings are limited to large corporations, medium-sized buildings can accommodate medium-sized and small businesses. In Japan, medium-sized and small businesses make up the majority of companies, and medium-sized buildings have a broader range of tenants, making it significantly easier to find new tenants when a tenant changes. As a result, Hulic's vacancy rate for its properties is only 0.4%, achieving a high occupancy rate that is above the market average.
Furthermore, Hulic is a small, highly skilled organization. In Japanese society, where the population is declining, we believe it is crucial to efficiently create value with a small number of people. For this reason, we have clearly defined what we will not do, such as limiting our business area to the 23 wards of Tokyo and not undertaking large-scale, labor-intensive condominium development projects. I believe that our strength lies in our ability to quickly perceive social changes and manage our business with a clear objective, and that this is what has enabled Hulic to achieve remarkable growth.

■ Creating diverse value with real estate business at its core

Since 2024, we have also begun to engage in overseas business. Initially, we considered overseas business a non-focus area because our equity capital was small and we felt we could not bear the risks associated with it. However, as our equity capital has increased through continuous profit growth, and in light of the declining population trend in Japan, we decided to look overseas in order to continue growing as a company. Currently, we have operations in the United States, Singapore, India, and Vietnam, with the majority of our revenue coming from the United States. In stark contrast to Japan, the United States is a country where the population is growing due to immigration and other factors. In the United States, we are investing in senior housing. In contrast to Japan, where there is a serious shortage of caregivers, we focused on the fact that it is possible to secure relatively stable personnel in the United States.
Furthermore, we are also involved in environmental and infrastructure businesses. We develop and own power generation facilities derived from renewable energy sources, including solar power, and all of the electricity used by the Hulic Group is supplied by renewable energy. We are also involved in tourism businesses, such as the development and operation of hotels and luxury hot spring inns. In addition, we are actively utilizing M&A in growth sectors to expand our business domain by incorporating diverse growth businesses. In general, Hulic is developing businesses that are needed while keeping pace with societal changes, achieving both high growth and safety.

■What kind of students are you looking for?

Hulic is a good fit for students who are interested in a variety of things, with real estate at their core, and who want to challenge themselves in diverse businesses. The environment surrounding businesses is constantly changing, and Hulic's business activities will change accordingly. However, our corporate stance of wanting to challenge new things and continue to grow will remain unchanged. For this reason, we believe that students who are not bound by one thing but are interested in a wide range of things and can act accordingly are the kind of people Hulic is looking for. We also highly value the ability to see things through. Even when opinions clash with stakeholders, we are looking for people who do not easily give up just because they are opposed, but who continue to think about how to find a solution that is good for both sides and who can persistently try again.

■Message to students

As I mentioned, I spent most of my university years focusing on cycling. However, thanks to the various activities I did with friends from different faculties and departments, including cycling, I was able to learn about and develop an interest in diverse perspectives from different backgrounds. Therefore, I hope that students will be interested in and try out a variety of things while they are still in school.

Interviewed by Student Newspaper Online on January 20, 2026 by Kyohei Nakazawa, a second-year student at Waseda University

Kyohei Nakazawa (2nd year, Waseda University) / Yusei Imaizumi (4th year, Sophia University) / Mai Wakao (3rd year, International Christian University)