Sakura Tower, Myanmar’s third tallest building, is seen on the corner of Bogyoke Aung San and Sule Pagoda roads in downtown Yangon.

SAKURA Tower in downtown Yangon will open up seven new floors for offices, the managing director of the company that owns the building said, citing rising demand for high-end office space

Takuya Tsuji, managing director of EXE Sakura (Myanmar) Co., Ltd, told The Myanmar Times floors 13 through 19 at the high-rise on the corner of Sule Pagoda and Bogyoke Aung San roads would be opened to businesses seeking to open offices there.

The floors have been vacant since the tower was built in 1998 by the Japanese-funded company.

“There is more than 50-percent occupancy in our building from the ground floor to the 12th floor,” Tsuji said.

“Demand for office space is getting a bit higher now, even though the business situation is a little stagnant,” he added.

Charges on the newly opened floors will be higher than the currently used lower levels, Tsuji said, with rates increasing for upper levels.

“We charge US$14 to $15 per square metre on a monthly basis for the ground floor to 12.

“But we will charge a little bit more for the extended 13 to 19 floors, which will be $16 to $19 per square metre,” Tsuji said.

Currently the third tallest building in Myanmar behind Traders Hotel and the Centrepoint Towers, both also on Sule Pagoda Road, Sakura Tower has 20 floors. The top floor is a bar and restaurant with panoramic views of the city.

Sakura sales manager Daw Cherry Aung said there was no limit on how much space businesses could rent on the new floors, which have not yet been partitioned into rooms.