Japanese thoroughbred racehorse breeding company, Northern Farm, will donate 100 hectares of land to Tomakomai city should Hokkaido win its bid to develop an integrated resort.
The land is located in a convenient location near Shintose Airport on the west side of Hokkaido Expressway, between the Shin-chitose-kuko and the Tomakomai-higashi interchanges, and is currently owned by Northern Farm affiliate, Northern Racing, in Abiro Town.
According to the Nikkei, arrangements are being made to provide part of the land for development, free of charge. If land ownership transfers to the city, it will reduce the time it would take for an operator taking on the IR development to acquire the land, making it easier to draft a specific plan.
Tomakomai city in Hokkaido is the key candidate site for an IR bid, and a final decision is set to be made by the end of the year.
In September, Tomakomai mayor Hirofumi Iwakura met with members of the Liberal Democratic Party, which is the largest parliamentary party in Hokkaido, and requested there be efforts to promote Hokkaido as a potential IR location and for an early decision on the matter be made by the Hokkaido Governor, Naomichi Suzuki.
When asked about the land donation by Northern Farm, one local party member was quoted as saying, “We are creating an environment that makes it easy for Naomichi Suzuki to decide to go for the IR bid.”
