TOKYO - Investors in the real-estate fund Minna de Ooya-san, which raised more than 200 billion yen while promising annual returns of around 7%, are facing deepening uncertainty as Narita International Airport Company moves to end its lease of development land near the airport at the end of this month, adding further strain to a project already mired in delays and halted distributions.
The construction site in question, located near Narita Airport in Chiba Prefecture, remains bare land despite years of promotional material depicting an expansive commercial hub. Narita City, which issued the initial development permit, described the situation at a press conference, with the mayor likening the case to a food-poisoning incident in which responsibility lies not with the permit issuer but with the party carrying out the business. The comparison was aimed at clarifying the city’s position as troubles surrounding Minna de Ooya-san continue to mount.
The fund solicited investments for large-scale real-estate development, drawing nearly 40,000 investors with promises of high yields. One of its flagship projects, Gateway Narita, was advertised as a global hub featuring a massive shopping mall on land equivalent to ten Tokyo Domes. Yet progress has stalled, and profit distributions to investors stopped four months ago. A man who invested 4 million yen said he had relied on the payouts as part of his pension-supplemented income, questioning where the vast amount of collected capital had gone.
So far, around 1,200 investors have filed lawsuits with the Osaka District Court seeking repayment totaling more than 11.4 billion yen. While some investors say the situation has significantly affected their livelihoods, critics have noted that part of the problem stems from insufficient due diligence by investors themselves. Narita City officials emphasized that the city bears no responsibility for the fund’s management or its promises.
Gateway Narita received a development permit in 2019, but land-formation work has never been completed, and deadlines have been postponed three times. With the current deadline approaching on November 30th, the city yesterday accepted a new request for an extension, agreeing to push the deadline out to August 2027.
However, a more significant blow emerged as Narita International Airport Company, which owns about 40% of the project site and leases that portion to Minna de Ooya-san, indicated it intends to terminate the land lease at the end of this month. The decision forces a fundamental reassessment of the development plan.
City officials stated that they still expect the developer to fulfill the obligations associated with the granted permit. In response to inquiries from JNN regarding the airport company’s decision, Minna de Ooya-san said it could not comment on information that had not been publicly announced.
Source: TBS
