Land preparatory work is now underway on the site of MGM Resorts’ integrated resort development on Yumeshima Island, Osaka, the prefectural and municipal governments have announced.
According to a report by The Japan Times, Osaka Governor Hirofumi Yoshimura revealed Monday that first concrete is now being poured into the ground across the 21-hectare site with the goal of preventing liquefaction and firming up the base on land upon which MGM’s IR will soon be developed. The liquefaction measures are expected to continue throughout the upcoming Osaka Expo in 2025 and be completed by April 2027 at a cost of JPY25.5 billion ($173 million).
Completion and opening of the IR itself has already been pushed back by a year to 2030, while it was also reported in September that development costs had blown out by around US$1.3 billion as a result of soaring prices for construction materials.
Osaka IR Corporation, the joint venture between MGM Resorts International and local partner ORIX Corporation, officially signed the Implementation Agreement for development of an Osaka IR in late September, paving the way for construction works to begin.
Once complete, the IR is projected to include 2,500 hotel rooms across three hotel brands, 730,000 square feet of MICE space and tourism facilities to showcase the best of Osaka and Japan.