A ground breaking ceremony for MGM Osaka, Japan’s first integrated resort (IR) with casino, was held on Thursday, announced the complex’s promoter, Osaka IR KK in a press release.
The ceremony was attended by Hirofumi Yoshimura, the governor of Osaka prefecture, and representatives from U.S.-based casino operator MGM Resorts International and Japan’s Orix Corp, the two main partners in the consortium developing MGM Osaka (pictured in a rendering). The project also involves number of other Japanese businesses as minority investors.
MGM Resorts is the majority owner of Macau operator MGM China Holdings Ltd.
The JPY1.27-trillion (US$8.90-billion currently) casino project is being developed at Yumeshima, an artificial island in Osaka Bay, Osaka, in Japan’s Kansai region.
Construction of the complex is expected to be completed in the summer of 2030, with the opening scheduled to around autumn that same year.
“In collaboration with Osaka prefecture and Osaka City, this project … is expected to contribute to the development of Japan’s tourism industry and the growth of the Kansai region,” said Thursday’s press release.
MGM Osaka will have a hotel with about 2,500 rooms, according to plans previously outlined by its promoters.
The complex will also feature approximately 400,000 square feet (37,161 sq metres) of conference facilities, about 330,000 sq feet of exhibition space, and a theatre with around 3,500 seats.
According to local media reports, the Osaka prefectural authorities and the MGM Osaka promoters announced measures to minimise the impact of the construction on the Expo 2025 Osaka, an international exhibition being held at Yumeshima until October 13 this year.
Such measures include scaling down work on days when many visitors are expected, and plans to delay use of heavy machinery until after the Expo 2025 ends.
Earlier this month it emerged that a request-for-proposal (RFP) exercise will be launched in the second half this year to select developers for Phase 2 of Yumeshima.
Phase 2, designed to support the MGM Osaka casino resort, will itself be split into two parts: a “gateway zone” and a “global entertainment zone”.
An Osaka metro railway station that serves Expo 2025, and will eventually serve MGM Osaka, opened on January 19.
Rail connectivity to Yumeshima is to be expanded via a new through-line of the overground railway system. The new link, which will be an extension of the Kintetsu Nara line, will open “a little before” the launch of MGM Osaka, said last month Takashi Wakai, president of Kintetsu Group Holdings Co Ltd, the parent firm of the line’s operator.
