Bloomberg: Walt Disney Co. and its partner in a proposed theme park in Shanghai scheduled an April 8 groundbreaking for the project, according to people with knowledge of the plans.
Disney scheduled an event, with government-owned partner Shanghai Shendi Group Co., in an e-mail (dated 4/1) without elaborating. Construction begins that day, said the people, who weren’t authorized to speak publicly.
The start of construction marks a milestone in a five-year process involving negotiations with city and central government officials. Chief Executive Officer Robert Iger and Parks & Resorts Chairman Thomas Staggs will attend, said one of the people. The park’s size, investment commitments and final approval from Beijing’s central government will be announced as well, the people said.
Iger said at the shareholder meeting on March 23 that Disney, the world’s largest theme-park operator, was close to receiving final approval for its first resort on mainland China, the world’s most-populous nation. A public-comment period on the plans ends on April 6.
The Magic Kingdom will open in “about five years,” Staggs said at an investor meeting on Feb. 17. The first phase calls for an investment of 24.5 billion yuan ($3.7 billion), Han Zheng, Shanghai’s mayor, said in March.
Shanghai has designated a 7-square-kilometer (1,730 acres) tourist zone that will include the Disney park. The first phase will also include hotels, car parks, a lake and commuter stations, according to a blueprint posted on the Shanghai city website last month.
Shanghai also plans to spend 4 billion yuan on a 9.2- kilometer (5.7-mile) subway line for the complex in the city’s Pudong area. Construction will begin in September and the line is scheduled to open by July 2015, according to a Jan. 18 government statement. The city government started building infrastructure for the project last year, Jiang Shujie, deputy director of the city’s construction and transport commission, said on Jan. 7.
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