Suncity to acquire land plot in Okinawa

Monday 2nd of September 2019

Suncity Group has announced the acquisition of a plot of land located in Miyako Island in Okinawa, Japan, with the aim of developing a resort hotel.

Under the agreement, Suncity will purchase a 51 percent stake in MSRD Corporation Limited, a holding company that owns the 108,799 square meter plot of land on the island.

The current designated use of the lands are natural fields, windbreak forest/barrier, farmland, or public roads. Suncity would need to apply to Okinawa’s Legal Affair Bureau to allow it to be converted for use as a resort hotel.

Suncity said it intends to build 40 villas with a pool and a hotel of more than 100 rooms.

The board considers that with the increased number of Chinese visitors traveling to Japan, and newly operated direct flights to Shimojishima Airport, the acquisition represents a good opportunity to expand Suncity’s tourism-related business and to diversify its focus, from China to the East Asia region.

Last week, Suncity Group Executive Director John Au Chung On made clear at a symposium that his company was planning to make an IR bid in Japan and Wakayama was a location that they are focusing on.

“We will make an IR in Wakayama the likes the world has never seen,” Au was quoted as saying. “We will certainly attract the wealthy people of Asia to this center of entertainment and traditional culture.”

Au was speaking at the symposium alongside Jonathan Strock of Groupe Barrière and Mitsuaki Kiriyama of Bloomberry Resorts Japan, representatives of two other IR operators that have focused their attention on Wakayama for a longer period.