The site rent paid by the consortium developing the MGM Osaka integrated resort (IR) with casino in Japan amounted to JPY222.51 million (US$1.5 million) for the six-month period from October – when the land was handed over by local authorities – to March this year.
That is according to a statement from Osaka’s prefectural government and its city government.
Kazuyoshi Enomoto, director of the Osaka Prefecture and City IR Promotion Bureau, gave an explanation at a city council committee on Monday, according to local reports, as reviewed by GGRAsia’s Japan correspondent.
The amount payable over the period represented about JPY37.08 million monthly, a circa 82 percent discount on the contracted rent amount of JPY210.73 million per month as agreed in September.
The developers did not have to pay the full monthly figure during the six-month period because the site – reclaimed land on Yumeshima island (pictured in a file photo) in Osaka Bay – was subject to steps to counter the risk of soil liquefaction, and that work was the responsibility of the local authorities.
A total of 46 hectares (113.7 acres) of the 49-hectare site officially passed in October to the consortium developing MGM Osaka, notwithstanding the local authorities’ anti-liquefaction work.
The balance of 3 hectares had been used as a materials storage area for construction of the next-door Expo 2025 Osaka site, an international exhibition being held at Yumeshima from April 13 until October 13 this year.
A ground breaking ceremony for MGM Osaka was held at the end of April. Construction of the complex is due to be completed in the summer of 2030, with the opening scheduled to around autumn that same year, according to statements from the developers.
MGM Osaka is being developed by a consortium led by MGM Resorts International – parent of Macau casino operator MGM China Holdings Ltd – and local conglomerate Orix Corp, with smaller investments from other Japanese companies.
Earlier this month it was announced that the name of the consortium had been changed – with effect from May 1 – to “MGM Osaka Corp”, from “Osaka IR KK”.
