As per the draft, construction should begin in 2023 and the property would open in the autumn of 2029. The plans aim for a total floor area of 770,000 square metres.
Osaka will be organising public briefings and hearings for residents over the next two months. After both prefectural and municipal councils vote for the approval of the development plan, it will be submitted to the central government by 28 April 2022.
Osaka wants to develop a metropolitan IR in a 490,000 square-metre plot on the north side of Yumeshima, an artificial island in Osaka Bay. If the draft is approved, the IR will be operated by a consortium led by MGM Resorts International and its local Japanese partner Orix.
Over 20 corporations are already planning to invest in the IR. The list includes general contractors such as Obayashi Corporation, Takanawa Corporation and Taisei Corporation, along with other companies like Kansai Electric Power, Osaka Gas, Panasonic, Kintetsu Group Holdings, West Japan Railway Company, NTT West Corporation and JTB.
MGM Resorts Japan has also joined the Osaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry and CEO Ed Bowers said: “We want to actively build relationships with local companies.”
MGM Resorts added that development costs are expected to be around JPY1.08tn ($9.4bn), with JPY530bn being invested by related corporations and the rest of JPY550 to be financed.
The Japanese city has been flourishing as a merchant’s town since ancient times, with gross production in Osaka alone being JPY40tn.
