Nagasaki’s Sasebo Council Approves the Final Draft of the City’s IR

Nagasaki’s Sasebo Council has given the final draft of the IR development plan the green light and now, the regional development plan will be submitted to the national government. A vast majority of the council voted in favor of the IR development plan as only one member voted against it.

The Total Investment Will Be around $3.5 Billion

The plan suggests that the total cost of the project will be JPY440 billion ($3.5 billion) and the current goal is for the business to open its doors in late 2027. Kyushu Resorts Japan, a special purpose company created by Casinos Austria International Japan, will develop the MICE facilities as well as the hotel.

While speaking about the plan’s funding, Nagasaki and CAIJ stated that the project is supported by CBRE Group, a US investment, and commercial real estate services firm.

Thanks to the support, the two parties claim that the planned $3.5 billion in development costs has already been reached as commitment letters that pledged investment have already been received.

The deadline for submitting the final bids is April 28, 2022, and so far, the investing company names have not been revealed.

A Breakdown of the $3.5 Billion Capital

At this time, the Nagasaki IR development process is stable and the plans state that construction is set to begin in 2023. The total capital is JPY440 billion ($3.5 billion). This consists of JPY175 billion ($1.4 billion) in company funding and JPY265 billion ($2.1 billion) will come from financing.

Overseas funding and CAIJ will be responsible for around 80% of the company funding and the other 20% will be provided by Japanese firms, especially those that are based in Kyushu.

With respect to the situation, the names of the investment firms will not be published until the appliance is approved by nationwide authorities. The IR project will be located in Sasebo City’s Huis Ten Bosch theme park.

Apart from the IR project in Nagasaki, integrated resorts are planned in Wakayama and Osaka. Even though local governments support the projects, they face some opposition. The opposition is arguably the strongest in Osaka. Wakayama residents also pushed for a referendum on the IR, but their efforts failed and the initiative proceeded.

Osaka’s city assembly has received around 130 petitions related to the IR and a vast majority of them are skeptical of the project. Critics also state that Osaka’s estimates on revenue and visitor numbers are on “ambiguous grounds” and that only optimistic projections have been released.

One additional issue that is sticking is the city government’s support of the MG IR bid. Just like Nagasaki, both Osaka and Wakayama’s deadlines for submitting the final bids are April 28, 2022.