MGM Resorts CEO and President Bill Hornbuckle said this morning that he doesn’t expect the company’s integrated resort development in Osaka, Japan, to open until 2030, possibly sometime in the second quarter. The project had previously been flagged for a 2029 launch.
Hornbuckle was speaking during the company’s 1Q23 earnings call, in which he described the quarter as arguably the finest in MGM history given the strong rebound in the Macau market, ongoing growth in Las Vegas and the recent news that MGM’s area development plan for Osaka had been certified by Japan’s central government.
However, asked about the development timeline now that it had received the green light, Hornbuckle conceded a 2029 opening was unlikely.
“Obviously the area development plan and the certification by the national government was the big outstanding item to get across the finish line and that’s been accomplished,” he said.
“We have a land lease and we have various agreements with the municipality that we have to get done, [and we are] presuming either this or next quarter those will get done. That being said, we are looking to break ground either late this year or first quarter next year and it’s between a four-and-a-half to five-year build.
“It is probably going to open in the first or second quarter of 2030, so we’ve got some time to go. There is obviously a lot of work to be done and it is a man-made island in terms of borings, so that’s the general timing around it.”
MGM Resorts Chief Financial Officer Jonathan Halkyard added that bank financing for the project was already underway alongside the company’s local Japanese partner ORIX Corp, although significant equity investment would not begin in earnest until late 2024, continuing through to 2027 “at which point we will be capping it to the financing for the completion of the project,” he said.
Hornbuckle described Japan as a “great opportunity” for MGM’s global ambitions.
“Osaka has approximately 30 million people within a three-hour transit time of our site in Yumeshima,” he said. “Our site in Osaka is also expected to drive international tourism to Japan given its proximity to other major Asian countries, and Osaka is closer to many northern Chinese cities than any other gaming market.”
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