The nine companies of the Gran Green Osaka developer JV, led by Mitsubishi Estate, announced that the Umekita Forest, which is being developed within Gran Green Osaka, a town in the area north of JR Osaka Station, will open on November 20.
Umekita-no-mori is a nature-rich area that occupies approximately 9,000m2 of the approximately 10,000m2 of the Umekita Park North Park Row construction area, a public-private partnership between Osaka Prefecture, Osaka City, and the Urban Renaissance Agency. The park was originally scheduled to open in the spring of 2027, but based on the progress of its development, it was decided to open early.
It will be located on the west side of “North Park,” a nature park offering tranquility and healing, opposite “South Park,” an urban park with a lawn plaza and a large roofed plaza for events.
When completed, it will be a space where visitors can come into contact with a variety of nature, including aquatic plants, and “reset their minds and bodies after the exhaustion of daily life while still being in the heart of the city in front of JR Osaka Station,” according to the company.
In conjunction with this, the 350-meter-long “Hirameki no Michi” connecting the north and south city blocks will be fully opened. In addition, a new Italian café restaurant, “AOI NAPOLI OMBRA (tentative name),” which offers a view of the four seasons in Umekita Forest, will be opened. With wood-fired oven pizza at its core, the restaurant plans to offer a collaborative menu utilizing Osaka ingredients (honey, etc.) and takeout gourmet items that can be easily enjoyed.
With the early opening of Umekita Forest, approximately 90% of the “Grand Green Osaka” project is now complete. The future schedule calls for the opening of the entire north-south Umekita Park in the spring of 2027 (opening of the unfinished area of approximately 1,400 m2), followed by the opening of the entire town in 2027.
© Source travel watch