Sands Casinos in Macau to Rise in 5 Years
World-renowned casino operator Las Vegas Sands has announced it would finish its projects in Macau, China earlier than expected. Sands—the second largest operator in the world, with a market value of $10 billion—plans to finish them in five years, underscoring its hefty presence in the Asian gambling hub.
Five Sands properties are set to be erected along the city’s fabled Cotai strip, a reclamation area lauded as China’s answer to the Las Vegas strip. Two have already begun construction, but were suspended at the height of the worldwide recession.
“We could finish all the properties easily within five years,” Las Vegas Sands CEO and founder Sheldon Adelson reassures the press at a conference in Singapore. “It depends on how fast we get approvals from the government.”
If Adelson were to let on, his company should inaugurate the first phase of the Cotai properties by the middle of 2011. Taking advantage of funds raised from listing its Macau unit, Sands China, in November, the company will further impart $500 million to the project.
When completed, the properties will augment two existing Sands casinos in the city, one of which is the world’s biggest: the Venetian Macau. All in all, the Cotai complex will house more than 20,000 hotel rooms; two million square feet of retail space; and more than 1.6 million square feet of convention areas.
With these projects, Sands joins a host of gaming companies determined to maximize the city’s highly bankable market. Among those that have taken root in the city are MGM Mirage, Wynn Macau, SJM Holdings, Galaxy Entertainment Group and Melco Crown Entertainment.
Down south, in Singapore, Adelson expressed high hopes for his multi-billion dollar casino project in the city-state to be completed in April 2010.
It could have been Singapore’s first ever legitimate casino but scarce labor and building materials postponed a 2009 opening. Costing $5.5 billion, the project calls for a casino-resort by the city-state’s famous Marina Bay.