After years of proposals, discussions, and delays, the first ground has officially been broken on the new casino project in Osaka, Japan. The groundbreaking ceremony took place on Thursday on Yumeshima, an artificial island in the city.
MGM Resorts International is developing the casino with its local partner ORIX. It aims to open in 2030:
MGM received a $3.4bn loan from Japanese banks to develop the casino. It is the biggest co-financing deal that banks have ever agreed to in the country. The total cost of the project is expected to amount to $8.5bn. The casino-hotel will feature 2,500 rooms in total, in addition to 22,000 square-feet of gaming floor.
Casinos only became legal in Japan in 2018 when the government unveiled plans for three integrated resorts, the name for hotel-casino complexes in Asia. Osaka applied for one of these licenses in April 2022, but the COVID-19 pandemic led to delays in the process. Osaka’s government signed a deal with MGM in 2023, solidifying its plans.
Initially, MGM intended to open the Osaka casino in 2029, but rising material costs prompted the American operator to announce a delay to 2030. The cost has risen from $7.2bn to $8.5bn as a result of these increasing costs.
