Japan’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism has approved plans for an MGM-branded casino resort in Osaka.
The approval comes almost five years after Japanese lawmakers passed a bill to legalise integrated casino resorts and marks one of the final steps in the licensing process for MGM Resorts.
“It is an honor to be selected by the Government of Japan to develop a tourism project of this scale,” said MGM Resorts president and chief executive Bill Hornbuckle.
“We couldn’t be more excited to get started on the development of one of Japan’s first Integrated Resorts in the great City of Osaka, and we look forward to working with our partner ORIX and Osaka Prefecture/City to realize this long-held goal.”
MGM Resorts and local partner ORIX will now work to finalise agreements with Osaka Prefecture on the US$10 billion development project.
The MGM-ORIX consortium, which was the only bidder in Osaka, plans to build a casino resort with 2,500 hotel guest rooms and 400,000 square feet of conference facilities, with the resort expected to open in 2030.