Akira Mori

Spurred by the strength of the yen, Japanese billionaire Akira Mori is planning a 100 billion yen — $1.2 billion — prime real estate shopping spree in major world markets, including New York, London and Tokyo, Bloomberg News reported. The plan represents the first investment of this scale by Mori since 2008.

The Mori Trust Co. is specifically looking for office towers, and developments that are energy efficient, equipped with disaster-prevention systems and able to hold value through market downturns. According to Mori, New York offers just this sort of investment opportunity. [more]