Osaka Sets $595M Minimum Price For Site Next To MGM Osaka
Osaka Prefecture and Osaka City announced on September 14 a minimum sale price of ¥92.113 billion (roughly $595 million) for about 42 hectares of city-owned land in the Yumeshima Phase 2 zone, the former Expo 2025 site sitting immediately next to the Phase 1 plot where the MGM Osaka integrated resort is under construction.
The land in question forms part of the roughly 390-hectare reclaimed island of Yumeshima in Osaka Bay, and covers the area that hosted the 2025 Osaka-Kansai Expo.
The prefectural and city governments require the eventual buyer to build an entertainment complex serving as an international tourism hub on the site, immediately adjacent to the Phase 1 zone where MGM Osaka's casino resort is scheduled to open in autumn 2030.
How The Sale Will Be Decided
The land will be awarded through a two-stage review process. Prospective developers must first have their content proposals evaluated by an outside panel of experts convened by the prefecture and city; only bidders who clear that bar move to a price-competition stage, in which the highest bid at or above the ¥92.1 billion floor wins.
Business proposals are being accepted through January 2027, with the winning operator due to be selected on February 17, 2027.
Casino Games Hub
How Yumeshima's Development Is Staged
Yumeshima's build-out is being carried out in three phases. In the Phase 2 zone, the prefectural and city governments will themselves develop a memorial park that incorporates part of the Expo's Grand Roof Ring, while the operator selected through this tender will develop the remaining land.
The integrated resort in the Phase 1 zone, which includes MGM Osaka's casino, remains on track to open in autumn 2030.
Local broadcaster Yomiuri TV reported the 42-hectare parcel is roughly equivalent in size to 11 Koshien Stadiums, and that the prefecture and city based the ¥92.1 billion floor price on multiple independent real-estate appraisals. Any bidder that clears the minimum will still need to outbid rival proposals on price to be selected.
