The Beginning of RROOM

Unlocking what already exists.

In July 2026, RROOM began its journey in Bangkok.

Built on the idea of Stock × Renovation, RROOM looks at existing properties differently not by the age they have accumulated, but by the potential they still hold.

What began this journey?
And why Bangkok?

We sat down with Tomohiro Yamashita, CEO and Founder of RENOVERU, to trace the thinking, experience, and conviction behind RROOM.

Bringing Japanese Expertise to Asia

To understand RROOM, we first need to look to RENOVERU.

Founded in Tokyo, Japan, in 2010, RENOVERU has spent the past fifteen years building a renovation platform that unlocks the potential of existing stock and brings it back into circulation.

Together with approximately 500 partners, we have continued to develop businesses and services that transform the challenges faced by individuals, corporations, and industry professionals into new forms of value.

Since 2018, RENOVERU has held the No. 1 position in Japan* by number of units supplied. In 2025, our cumulative track record surpassed 8,000 homes.

“I have always believed that the value of a building is not determined by its age.

It is determined by its potential.

That belief has been at the heart of everything I have built from the ground up.

As RENOVERU grew, the pandemic in 2020 became a turning point. We needed to strengthen the foundations of an organization that had relied on individuals, and build a team grounded in trust.”

By 2025, after years of moving forward, Yamashita felt that the foundations were finally in place.

An ambition he had carried for years began to take shape once again: to build a business beyond Japan.

Why Bangkok?

As Yamashita travelled more extensively across the United States, Europe, and Asia, one city began to stand apart.

Bangkok.

He had visited many times before. But this time, something felt different.

“Just as I do with our work in Japan, I pay attention to what I can sense on the ground — the atmosphere, the character, even the scent of a place.

I had been to Bangkok many times. But this time, I could feel something I had never felt before.

The market was changing.”

The numbers began to tell the same story.

Thailand's population had passed its peak and was beginning to decline. In Bangkok, the supply of new developments was falling, while unsold units accumulated.

The pattern felt familiar.

It echoed the changes Japan had experienced as its population and property market matured.

Perhaps what RENOVERU had learned in Japan could have a place here.

A new determination took shape: to bring RENOVERU's platform to Bangkok.

Excited by the possibility, Yamashita shared his thinking with someone who had spent many years in Thailand's property industry.

"He told me, 'That's naive. People in Thailand prefer new things. Older properties are even called "sick buildings." There's no business opportunity there.'

That only made me more determined.

When we started RENOVERU in Japan, people told us much the same thing."

For fifteen years, RENOVERU had continued to pursue its conviction even when others said it could not be done.

Along the way, it worked with an ever-growing network of partners and industry players.

Today, renovation has become an established choice for living in Japan.

Then, in March 2025, a major earthquake struck neighbouring Myanmar.

In Bangkok, a high-rise building under construction collapsed. The images travelled around the world.

“Four days after the earthquake, Yamazaki — now CEO of RENOVERU (THAILAND) — and I flew to Thailand.

We visited around sixteen condominiums.

As we moved from building to building, we began to notice something unexpected: the older buildings did not appear to have the larger cracks.

"Why?

Perhaps, as in Japan, older buildings had been built on more solid ground.

Or perhaps the rapid expansion of the market had resulted in variations in construction quality among some newer buildings.

We still do not know.

But if our hypothesis proves correct, I began to wonder whether the knowledge we had built in Japan might have a meaningful role to play here in Bangkok."

What drew Yamashita to Bangkok, however, was not its property market alone.

It was the city's distinctive sensitivity to design.

“In an area known as the ‘Next Brooklyn,’ young people were working in beautifully designed coffee shops, fully engaged in what they were doing.

The people who came there seemed equally willing to invest in the experience of spending time there.

Thailand has a rich artistic and cultural foundation, and you can see it in the country’s remarkable sense of colour.

In Japan, some of the most design-conscious people were among the first to renovate their own homes when renovation culture was still emerging.

I began to imagine that Bangkok could follow a similar path.”

The potential of the market and the character of the city came together.

And with that, Yamashita became convinced: Bangkok was where the next chapter should begin.

He established a Singapore-based company to serve as a hub for Asia.

Following the same path he had taken in Japan, he placed himself at the centre of the process - moving between Japan and Asia as he built the team on the ground.

“Because we work with real estate, localization is essential.

In the zero-to-one phase, there are countless moments when decisions have to be made immediately.

At the same time, you need the resolve to protect the things that should never change.

That is why, after establishing our Singapore entity, we also launched RENOVERU (THAILAND) to lead RROOM’s operations locally.”

Yamashita believes that bringing RENOVERU's long-held philosophy of smarter, better living to Bangkok could contribute to a richer future for the city.

That belief is why he has chosen to build RROOM from the ground up.

Turning Challenges into Value

As RROOM prepared to begin its journey in Bangkok, the first step was research.

One thing quickly became clear.

As new properties become increasingly expensive while unit size continue to shrink, well-located existing condominiums with generous space hold significant untapped potential.

But another issue was equally apparent: there was no established standard by which that value could be properly understood.

“There are no clear rules governing property transactions themselves.

Even when you want to renovate a condominium, it can be difficult to obtain the original completion drawings.

Without a reliable standard for assessing value, buyers cannot choose with confidence.

Sellers, meanwhile, have no clear way to communicate what makes a property valuable.

That is why we decided to create RROOM.

By engaging with each property individually, we could begin to build a more reliable way of understanding and measuring its value.”

RROOM is not simply a service that sells renovated properties.

It is a way of discovering what already exists, reimagining it, refining it, and carrying its value forward.

“If the measure itself is even slightly off, everything that follows will be affected.

That is why the measure has to be precise.

It has to be reliable.

And it has to remain true.”

Every project is approached with care.

Every lesson is recorded.

Every experience helps sharpen the standards by which the next property will be understood.

There will inevitably be moments when the differences between Japan and Thailand create unexpected challenges.

But when you are building something from the ground up, the unexpected is part of the process.

“Whenever we encounter a problem, we investigate it thoroughly and solve it, one step at a time.

Everything that happens becomes part of a property’s history.

That history becomes valuable information — something that can guide future decisions when the property is brought back to the market.

In time, I hope this will help create a market in which high-quality properties can circulate with confidence.”

The principle Yamashita has continued to uphold throughout RENOVERU's history turning challenges into value - is now beginning to take shape in Bangkok.

Beyond RROOM

RROOM carefully selects properties with the potential to retain their value over the long term.

We then unlock that potential through renovation, before each property is introduced to the market following inspection, documentation, and certification to RENOVERU Japan's standards.

Sometimes, a property needs only a subtle intervention.

When that is enough, RROOM finds the point of leverage the detail that reveals what was already there.

When a property calls for a more substantial transformation, we are prepared to invest the time, care, and craftsmanship required.

“Once we have accumulated enough knowledge, I would also like to take on some of the broader challenges facing Bangkok’s property market.

Creating fair and reliable property information.

Building a stronger brokerage infrastructure.

Creating a secondary market.

The further we move forward, the more the landscape will change.

And the more clearly the challenges will reveal themselves.

I want to trust what we have learned through practice, localize it carefully, and continue moving forward with our partners.”

For now, we begin with one property at a time.

Carefully. Thoughtfully. With purpose.

We will uncover the value held within Bangkok's existing properties and give that value a form that can be seen, understood, and carried forward.

Because we believe that the future of the city begins with what already exists.

The Next Chapter

In the next JOURNAL, we turn our attention to Asoke, home to RROOM's first property, Umbra.

We will explore the character of the neighbourhood and take a closer look at the potential held within the property itself.

One property. One story. One step forward.