Megawide Construction Corp. has chosen the group of Davao-based businessman Dennis Uy to develop a four-hectare property adjacent to the Mactan Cebu International Airport into a mixed-use real estate project with hotel and gaming components.
MR-Mactan-Cebu International Airport president Louie Ferrer said a formal lease signing agreement was scheduled this week to finalize the agreement.
The group of Uy plans to develop the property under a lease agreement lasting until 2038.
Uy’s group was one of the four companies that earlier expressed interest to team up with Megawide to develop the area. This will be the second casino project of Uy in Cebu.
Uy, through Udenna Corp., is building a $300-million integrated resort and casino on Punto Engaño peninsula in Mactan Island, Lapu-Lapu City.
The development called Lapu-Lapu Leisure Mactan will rise on a 12-hectare prime beachfront just six kilometers, or 20-minute drive, from the airport. It will be the country’s first integrated resort and casino outside of Metro Manila.
Lapu-Lapu Leisure Mactan will have iconic modern buildings and infinity pools. It will have a skydiving center on a pier, a retail complex, a convention center, luxury hotels and villas, specialty dining options, private residences and condominium-hotels.
The Uy group plans to complete the development in 2022, with the casino, retail complex and hotels scheduled to open as early as 2019.
The project is estimated to generate 4,000 employees during the construction period and 5,000 once the casino and hotel project become operational in 2020.
Udenna is considering tapping an experienced casino operator for the project. The two casino projects of Uy in Cebu are expected to complement each other.
Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. allows casino licensees to open facilities in two locations, subject to clearance from the local government concerned.
Owned by Megawide and India’s GMR Infrastructure, GMR-Megawide won the contract to expand and operate the Mactan Cebu International Airport in 2014.
It is transforming MCIA into a world-class facility while boosting capacity to 12.5 million passenger.
The Uy Group lately has embarked on an expansion mode. Clark Global City Corp., an affiliate of Udenna, the holding company of Uy, plans to invest an initial P6 billion to develop a 177-hectare land in Clark Freeport Zone into a new central business district.
“[We are initially spending] P6 billion on our side. This is for roads, drainage and other development,” Freddie Placino, vice chairman of Clark Global City Corp., said in December.
“What we will do is like BGC [Bonifacio Global City]. We develop it horizontally and let the other developers participate in developing vertically. Whatever mistakes in BGC [or] Makati, we’re correcting for [Clark Global City]. We will do [it] in phases over 10 years,” Placino said.
Placino said of the 177-hectare property of Clark Global City, 47 hectares were fully developed by the previous owner Global Gateway Development Corp.