Osaka’s IR District Development Plan – as of an update on April 19 – had mentioned a construction schedule that had IR preparatory work starting “around summer” this year.

The district plan had also mentioned IR main construction work being due to begin “around April” 2025; build work to be finished “around spring” 2030, and the scheme opened “around autumn” 2030.

The governor of Osaka prefecture had said last month that piling work on MGM Osaka would be put back by two months, so that the peak of noise disruption will be shifted to after Expo 2025 Osaka, a major international expo next door to the IR site. The event is scheduled to end in mid-October next year.

MGM Osaka is a JPY1.27-trillion (US$8.52-billion currently) scheme involving United States-based casino group MGM Resorts International, Japan’s Orix Corp, and a number of other Japanese companies as smaller equity investors.

MGM Resorts is the parent of Macau casino operator MGM China Holdings Ltd.

According to the latest information on the preparatory effort for constuction of MGM Osaka, it includes the setting up of a temporary enclosure for the site, as well as a site office, and an electrical power supply.

At the start of October, it had been announced that the city government in Osaka had transferred to Osaka IR KK control of a 46-hectare (113.70-acre) parcel of land for the scheme on Yumeshima island (pictured), a land-reclamation zone in Osaka Bay.

A further 3 hectares is associated with the project. According to the announcement, that is being allocated to Expo 2025 Osaka.

In September 2023, the Osaka prefectural and city governments signed with Osaka IR KK the IR implementation agreement and a contract for the 35-year lease on the land.

According to the announcement, there is a monthly rent due of JPY210.7 million, equivalent to JPY428 per square metre.

The relevant Osaka authorities evaluate the rent amount every five years, and have the power to make changes if deemed necessary, according to publicly-available information.