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152K views 206 replies 49 participants last post by  DellL 
#1 · (Edited)
Macau project updates

can anyone confirms that status of these projects??

Macau Egg stadium
Cultural village(i heard it's almost finish)
16 Po(whatever that is)
Fisherman's Wharfs(with a man made volcano)
Macau Venetian
Wynn Casion

any news on possible future casinos?
thanx
 
#117 ·
I think the plan is old, given what's happened in Macau....

During a conference call after 1Q207 results .....

Looking ahead, Wynn expects to open his new Diamond Casino in September, on the first anniversary of the Macau resort's opening. At a later date, the Diamond Suites tower will be unveiled with ten suites across each of the 40 floors, the smallest being 1,000 square feet. The entire tower, he says, will include some new retail outlets, two restaurants and two VIP casinos with 14 or 15 tables each.

“They're right next to the back door and the side door entrance of MGM. We want to cuddle up to our neighbors that we love and respect, so we’re putting those VIP casinos right there. And that side entrance, that side of our hotel which is the south side is the scene now of the new MGM hotel, which we’re hoping is going to be a standout, and also Pansy Ho is building a Mandarin Oriental that doesn’t have gaming that opens on to the same plaza. And Angela Ho and her group are doing a New World building. On our anniversary on September 6, we will have a huge blowout event.”

...... Looks like more than double existing 17 stories, and I think they'll build a large, standout building... Also, looks like the exising works does not fit in with plan. There should be an announcement soon according to above conference call...
 
#119 ·
HURRAY FOR HARRAH'S!!! The land is as big as Venetian (with all phases, incl 20k hotel rooms done !!). That means double !!!

And LV Sands rose 15% in past 2-3 days also, to (I think) and all time high. Analysts have upgraded forecasts for LVS due to better than expected results all round (guess means visitors, hotels, conferences, and prob gaming). I hear payback on USD2.4bn maybe less than 2 years....

That means you may be making a profit of USD1bn per year... Guess why Harrah really really wants to get in. And looks like whole of Cotai is now 'sold' so they have to get the golf course.
 
#120 ·
Galaxy Entertainment Group yesterday unveiled plans for 12 casino hotels and serviced apartment blocks totalling 8,500 rooms on Macau's Cotai Strip, a project expected to cost more than US$3 billion.
Galaxy said its 4.7 million square foot plot next to Las Vegas Sands Corp's newly opened Venetian complex would be developed to include 1.4 million sqft of retail space - twice the size of Pacific Place - and 750,000 sqft of convention and meeting space, equal to the total rentable area of the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre in Wan Chai.
The company's planned 700,000 sqft of total casino space on Cotai compares with the Venetian's 546,000 sqft gaming floor, the world's largest single casino.
 
#121 ·
Galaxy curbs losses

The Standard
Peggy Chan

Tuesday, September 18, 2007

Galaxy Entertainment Group (0027), which operates five casinos in Macau, said yesterday that first-half net loss narrowed to HK$267.8 million from HK$734 million as sales soared, even though heavyweights such as the Venetian Macao muscled in on the gambling turf.
Chairman Lui Che-woo said there was no loss in customer flow nor revenue since the opening of the Venetian.

"Galaxy still owned over 20 percent market share in the first half," he said, adding that small- scale casinos with stable customer sources can survive in Macau's gambling market.

Official data show that casino revenue soared 41.8 per cent in July to 6.52 billion patacas (HK$6.33 billion), following a record 7.47 billion patacas in May.

Galaxy's loss included HK$693 million non- cash depreciation and amortization charges for acquiring a 97.9 percent stake in Galaxy Casino in 2005 for HK$18.4 billion from the chairman.

Galaxy did not propose an interim dividend.

Revenue skyrocketed to HK$6.33 billion after it opened four more casinos in Macau.

Deputy chairman Francis Lui Yiu-tung refused to forecast whether Galaxy can make a turnaround for the whole year, but predicted that the flagship StarWorld Hotel, which opened in October last year, will continue to perform strongly. "The return on equity of StarWorld Hotel reached 36 percent, generating HK$3.64 million revenue," he said. "We will increase the number of VIP gaming tables from 55 to 70 shortly."

Lui denied reports of any delay in the Cotai Mega Resort, say it was set to open next year.

Galaxy closed at HK$7.84, down 0.13 percent.
 
#125 ·
Venetian's new projects

When construction at the Venetian Macao complex is over, there will be 20,000 rooms and over 10 hotels and service apartments on the ground.
The next phase will see the Four Seasons. The group is waiting for the completion of its 400-room hotel.
The Las Vegas Sands is the owner of all properties; the Four Seasons Hotel and Resorts will manage the facilities, just like the other hotels on the list: Shangri-la, Traders, Hilton, Conrad, Fairmont, Raffles, Swiss Hotel, the InterContinental, Holiday Inn and the Cosmopolitan. All properties will be connected by enclosed pedestrian walkways.
The Venetian complex on COTAI is divided into lots: one for the Venetian Macao, the second for Four Seasons, the third lot for the Holiday Inn and group, lots 5 and 6 are for the Sheraton, Shangri-la and St. Regis; the latter two are due to open in 2008. Lots 7 and 8 are for the Hilton, Conrad and Raffles groups. The first ones are supposed to open next year.

Four Seasons
The Four Seasons hotel will extend into the mall with luxury shops and casino area will be operated by LVS. It will approximately 50 tables and 300 slot machines. Apart from hotel rooms, there will be 600 vacant serviced suites, restaurants, spas, meeting spaces and pool bar and grill. A nightclub is part of the project, as well as several lounges. April is set as the opening month.

The biggest Sheraton in the world
The Sheraton Macao Hotel will be located within two towers rising 39-floors and will have around 4,000 rooms. It will be the biggest hotel of the Starwood Group. There will be five restaurants and over 140,000 square feet of meeting space, one health club in each tower, a spa and two outdoor swimming pools.

St. Regis
The St. Regis Hotel will feature around 450 rooms, four restaurants, a meeting place and a spa, Rem�de. The St. Regis Residences, on the other hand, will feature over 400 residential units, ranging from one bedroom to four bedroom apartments, with a residence only swimming poll and its own health club. The residences will offer butler services, known as a trademark of St. Regis.

Shangri-la Hotel
The Shangri-la will offer 600-rooms with an average of 55 square metres each. There will be several Horizon Club floors with the famous exclusive privileges - from concierge services to complimentary meeting space. The hotel is planning to offer a Chinese restaurant and an all-day cafe serving Macanese and Japanese cuisine. Recently, the Shangri-la Hotels and Resorts opened a toll-free telephone number for customers calling to make reservations from Macau.


Traders Hotel
Traders Hotel, for lower budgets, will provide 1,200-rooms and will occupy the other tower. Its tower will include another casino, run by LVS, a performance hall and another large retail shopping mall.


by Joyce Pina
 
#128 ·
It's definitely approx 4000 rooms. This is the figure given in press relases by Venetian and Starwood. Some websites have said this is the biggest hotel in the world. However, believe Las Vegas has a 5000 room hotel opening sometime (which will be the worlds largest). Not sure if Sheraton will get this title in-between, but definitely will be the Asia's biggest.
 
#129 ·
Macau and Zhuhai to Japanese Theme Park in Zhuhai

It was straight to business from the get-go at this year’s Macao International Trade & Investment Fair (MIF), with Macau and Zhuhai signing a US$4 billion deal to build a Japanese theme park in Zhuhai on Thursday, October 18.

Destination Macau has learned that Japanese movie production company, Micott & Basara Inc. are partnering with another major Japanese company to open a theme park in Zhuhai. The location and name of the “famous” Japanese partner has yet to be announced.

Charles Choy, general manager of the Vaian Group (International) Co. Ltd., which exports organic food from China to Japan and other parts of the world played a role in making the Japanese theme park entry into Zhuhai happen.

“The concept of a theme park is different from that of the U.S., so we’re talking more about a marque with a shopping mall; three- or 4-D theaters and a ferris wheel,” Choy says. “I can’t tell you where it’s going to be just yet in Zhuhai, but not in Hengqin for sure, as that area is too sensitive.”

In related MIF news, the Australians, Americans, Canadians, Germans and British were out in full force at the show. The Australian Trade Commissioner told us we could expect an Australian Chamber of Commerce to open a branch in Macau by the end of this year as the Australian population continues to expand, particularly with the development of the City of Dreams on Cotai.

Source: Destination Macau
 
#130 · (Edited)
Sands seeks end to ban on apartment sales

Casino resort developer urges Macau to allow transactions of serviced flats in Cotai

By Sandy Li, SCMP, Property P1, 24 October 2007

Casino and resort developer Las Vegas Sands Corp has petitioned the Macau govenment to lift the ban on the sale of serviced apartments at its Venetian Macao development on the Cotai Strip. If it succeeds, it could trigger a flood of serviced apartments on to the market. Under existing rules, land reclaimed in the Cotai area is set aside for casino and hotel development - a policy aimed at transforming Macau into the Las Vegas of Asia. Strata-title sales of apartments in developments are prohibited.
If the US entertainment giant succeeds in persuading the government to relax the rule and allow such sales, an estimated 15,000 luxury serviced apartments in the Cotai Strip could be put on the market over the next several years, according to agents. Current proposals on the drawing boards of developers indicate plans to bring about 30,000 hotel rooms to market in Cotai by 2010. But if the ban on the sale is lifted, some developers may decide to convert half of those proposed hotel rooms into serviced apartments to cash in on the booming residential market agents say.

Last month, units at One Grantai, the latest luxury residential project at the northern end of the Cotai Strip were being sold for HK$8,700 psf, a record high in Macau. Stephen Weaver, senior VP of Asian development at the Venetian Macao, said the firm had proposed selling serviced apartments at its resort to buyers who would only use them for short holiday periods and rent them out when they were not there. Mr Weaver said the firm was still waiting for a decision from the government. The company had no timetable for a launch, he added. The Venetian Macao casino resort includes a 400-room Four Seasons Hotel and 300 luxury serviced apartments, also managed by Four Seasons. The Four Seasons is part of a planned 3000 hotel rooms that will make up the Venetian resort.

Andrew Pang, executive director at Knight Frank, said the Venetian's proposal would be similar to the concept of 'condominium hotel' in which each unit is a condo with full hotel amenities - a common investment product in the US. The sale of serviced apartments in such condo hotels is commonly secured by arranging an equity transfer in a company in which the principal asset is the hotel.

In addition to the Four Seasons apartments, Mr Weaver said St Regis would also manage some units, but the design of these apartments had not yet been finalised. At the same time Las Vegas Sands is spending more than USD11 billion developing 13 additional casino hotels on Cotai, where its own projects will offer a total of 20,000 hotel rooms. Agents said tens of thousands of serviced apartments were also on the drawing boards of other casino operators, such as Melco PBL, which would spend US$330m constructing 800 serviced apartments and a hotel tower attached to its City of Dreams casino resort. The serviced apartments are scheduled to be completed in 2009. Galaxy Entertainment Group last month unveiled plans to invest USD3 bn-plus in 12 hotels and serviced apartment blocks totalling 8,500 rooms on Cotai, while e-Sun Holdings is leading a consortium that is developing the USD2.2bn Macau Studio City casino resort to the south.

"Venetian will set an unprecedented trend in selling such products if the Macau government approves," said Johnny Lai, deputy GM at Colliers International. The Four Seasons apartments would achieve prices of more than HK$10,000 psf, said Mr Lai.

Jeff Wong Chi-Wai, head of Macau residential at Jones Lang LaSalle, expressed concerns that financing costs might be more expensive than for the purchase of conventional residential units. Buyers might need to apply for project financing, he said, which might be charged at higher interest rates than mortgage loans. "These products will probably be targeted at the super-wealthy on the mainland and in Taiwan who regard Cotai as a hot spot for high rollers," he said.

Sources said developers at the Cotai Strip had been asking for a relaxation of the sales' ban for years. "Its hard to guess whether the petition will succeed. Developers were hopeful, but since last year's corruption cases, new policy and land deals have dried up," said a source.

Table: New hotel projects in Cotai Strip
2007:
Venetian Macao: 3000 rooms

2008:
City of Dreams: 2000 rooms
Far East Consortium: 3000 (Intercontinental, Holiday Inn, Cosmopolitan, Dorsett Hotel)
Four Seasons Hotel: 400
Galaxy Cotai Mega Resort: 1600
Shangri-La Hotel: 600
Traders Hotel: 1,200

2009:
Conrad Hotel: 300
Hilton Hotel: 1200
Macao Studio City: 2000
Sheraton Macao Hotel: 3985
St Regis Hotel: 400

2010:
Fairmont & Raffles: 1,500
 
#131 ·
Macau tower cleared, even though it dwarfs lighthouse

Government backs down over height of 34-storey building

By Fox Yi Hu, SCMP, P2, 25 Oct 2007

A 126-meter tower looks set to dwarf Macau's historic Guia Lighthouse after the government backed down yesterday from its demand that the height be lowered.
The intended height of the 34-storey residential building was "acceptable" with regards to its impact on the lighthouse, Jaime Roberto Carion, director of the Land, Public Works and Transport Bureau, said outside a legislature meeting.
Macau's land shortage made it impossible to issue an across the board ban on building towers around the lighthouse, he said.
San Va Construction, the tower's local developer, had turned down government's request for a height reduction, he said.
The residential tower is sited beside the Hotel Royal and near the lighthouse. It is already several stories high and some units have been sold on pre-completion contracts.
It is believed the government is in a difficult position because it approved the building's plan and has no legal grounds to reverse its consent.

The 142-year old Guia Lighthouse became part of a World Heritage site when Unesco conferred the status on Macau's historic centre in 2005.
Standing atop the 91-meter Guia Hill, it was the first modern lighthouse on the Chinese coast. Macau's government said in June that it might adopt a 90-metre height limit on buildings close to Guia Hill....
 
#132 ·
Guia tower block height ‘not lowered’

The apartment block under construction at Calçada do Gaio on the Guia Hill will not be lowered owing to promises the developer have made to customers, claimed an official.

The Director of the Lands, Public Works and Transport Bureau (DSSOPT) Jaime Carion explained that the authorisation to build the concerned apartment block, measuring 126m in height, is based on factors such as that not being located at the World Heritage protected zone, the developer willing to concede some land for the Government to expand the road, and willing to open its car park for public use.

Carion claimed that the authorisation of the project is ‘purely made from city planning and the Urban Construction Statute’.

He also said that Macau cannot ban building up because of the lighthouse or World Heritage. What DSSOPT can do is to analyse the effects these buildings will have on the lighthouse.

He also said that the buffer zone of the Historic Centre of Macau may be expanded, saying that DSSOPT will discuss this matter with the Cultural Affairs Bureau.

Being asked whether the apartment block could be lowered, and given the fact that several thousand signatures have been collected, Carion emphasised that the landplot belongs to private developer, not a Government concession.

The Government had contacted the developer to discuss such possibility, but was refused by the developer, who claimed that it had sold out the units to customers.

Meanwhile, the campaign to protect the Guia Lighthouse will send a petition to UNESCO, requesting them to send experts to Macau to investigate the case.

Campaigners also expressed doubts on whether the existing buffer zone is sufficient, and why areas south and southwest of the Guia Lighthouse is excluded from the buffer zone.


source
 
#134 ·
City of Dream Suffers US$600 Million Cost overrun

As expected costs of the City of Dreams casino project continue to blowout, now by a whopping $US600 million! The estimated outlay is now $US2.1 billion compared with the previously reported $US1.85 billion in June and $US1.5 billion last December. We can foresee further cost overruns happening prior to the expected opening in the middle of 2008.:eek:hno:

By now James Packer must surely call this the ‘City of Nightmares’.

The new costs for the casino/hotel project, now under construction, are given in a 190-page filing to the US Securities and Exchange Commission by the US-listed Melco PBL Entertainment, which is seeking to raise $US563.8 million in new shares.

Packer’s Macau casino business is being undertaken as a joint venture with the Hong Kong-listed Melco, run by Lawrence Ho, son of Macau casino veteran Stanley Ho.

The latest SEC filing, made this week, estimates the City of Dreams casino project, which is now being built by the Leighton group, will cost $US2.1 billion excluding the cost of the land. This is in addition to the $US330 million cost of an apartment hotel project which it also plans for the site.

In June, Melco PBL announced a City of Dreams “project review” which put the cost at $US1.85 billion — 23 per cent higher than the estimated $US1.5 billion in the prospectus issued late last year when the company listed on the US market.

The cost of the project, on Macau’s Cotai strip, has been hit by a combination of design changes and higher construction costs.

This week’s SEC filing says the apartment hotel complex will involve 800 apartments compared to 650 units in the June announcement — itself an expansion of previous plans.

The SEC filing also reveals that Melco PBL still has not reached an agreement with the Macau Government over the cost of the land. “We are developing City of Dreams on land for which we have not yet been granted a … concession by the Macau Government on terms acceptable to us,” it says.

“If we do not obtain a land concession on terms accessible to us, we could forfeit all, or part of, our investment in the site and the design and construction of the City of Dreams and would not be able to open and operate that facility as planned.”

The filing also notes the joint venture partners have also yet to receive approval from the Government on their plans to expand the gross floor area of the site.

The first phase, which includes the casino, retail space and two hotels, is set to open by the end of March 2009. But this week’s filing warns potential investors that the current plans may face further cost blowouts and delays.

The partners opened their first casino/hotel project in Macau, the smaller Crown Macau pitched at VIP gamblers, in May, although it was not fully operational until July. The prospectus says revenues from the Crown Macau rose in July and August but were hit in September by “a substantial fall in the hold rate” on its VIP gaming operations.

Source: The Australian
 
#141 ·
Cotai Strip out of steam?

Well you have to wonder.

Macau Studio City has reverted to jungle, Cotai Galaxy is languishing miles behind programme, and Parcels 7&8, 3 are cancelled according to word on the street.

Government approvals are non-existant, the infrastructure and immigration processes remain chronic. China is restricting travel visas again.

Thats against a deteriorating credit situation and massive excalation in building costs.

So I suspect we will end up with half a strip, assuming they complete what they have started. Thats a big if....

So looks like Macau is heading for a landing of some sort - hard or soft.
 
#143 ·
Galaxy Cotai Update

Recent release by Galaxy RE: Cotai - let's see if targets can be met!

Key highlights as follows for the half year to 30 June 2008:
-- Net loss HK$7,432 million, largely due to the one-time, non-cash write-
down of approximately HK$7 billion in net amount, which relates to
Galaxy's Macau gaming licence.
-- Group revenue HK$5,392 million in 1H 2008;

Dr. Che-woo Lui, Chairman of Galaxy, said, "The first half of 2008
experienced a slowing global economy and continued financial market
instability. At a local level, visa restrictions into Macau were introduced
as part of broader measures to control the growth of the gaming industry.

Galaxy Macau, our mega resort in Cotai, will redefine the gaming
experience in Macau and set a new standard for hospitality in Asia.

Galaxy Macau, themed "Mystical Oasis", will be a distinctive resort and
aimed at the discerning Asian consumer. At the heart of the development
will be a unique casino in terms of architecture and surprising Asian
features. This will include a retail boulevard presenting world renowned
fashion and cosmetic brands, lush podium gardens, a wave pool, white sand
beach, floating private villas and exclusive poolside cabanas. The white
and gold facade towering over Cotai is distinctively designed to
immediately capture visitor's attention.

Galaxy remains focused on the construction of area 1 of the Mega Resort
project, which is scheduled for completion in 2009. This will have
approximately 5 million sq. ft. of development across two towers, including
three luxury hotels and a casino.

The hotel in tower one, a 5-star 1,500 room property, will be operated
by Galaxy. Two additional hotels in the second tower will be managed by the
Japanese luxury hotel group Okura and the world's leading resort brand,
Banyan Tree, respectively. Both are due to open in late 2009.
 
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