Japanese tycoon Kazuo Okada increased its budget for the first phase of a Philippine casino by a third to $2 billion, in return for obtaining a government extension on the delayed project in the capital city Manila.
The total investment on the entire complex may reach about $4 billion, said Kenji Sugiyama, president at Okada’s Tiger Resort, Leisure and Entertainment Inc. The initial phase is scheduled to open in December next year and will have two hotel towers with 1,000 rooms, 500 gaming tables, a nightclub and an outdoor beach, he said.
“Part of our vision is to be the one-stop destination.,” Sugiyama said in an interview in Manila. “Once they come here, they don’t need to go out — everything is here.” The company will hire 8,000 employees for the first phase, he said.
Tiger Resort had sought to postpone the opening of its casino to December 2016, after it missed an earlier March 2015 deadline as Okada encountered delays finding a local partner, which was needed to meet a cap on foreign land ownership.
Okada’s group has teamed up with local businessman Antonio Cojuangco for the Manila casino, after selling its stake in a company that controls the project’s land site to a firm owned by Cojuangco, Sugiyama said.
State-owned gaming regulator Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. confirmed it had approved the request of Okada to delay the opening of the resort.
“Yes. It has been approved by the board,” Pagcor vice president for gaming license and development Thadeo Francis Hernando told reporters at the sidelines of the topping off ceremony of the project.
Among the conditions set by Pagcor in granting the extension, which Tiger Resorts agreed to comply, were proof that the company had available resource to complete the project, improvement of its good governance and appointment of independent directors in its board.
“They have submitted a couple of letters from their potential funders and we expect them to give us a more definitive letter in the coming weeks,” Hernando said.
Hernando said Tiger Resort requested for a delay in the opening of its casino project because it planned increase the scale of the project.
Tiger Resorts executive vice president Matt Hurst said in an interview phase 1 of the Manila Bay Resorts would include 1,000 luxurious hotels room, 500 gaming tables and 3,000 slot machines, 80,000 square meters of retail space, beach club and night club, an iconic dome, and the dancing water fountain.
Phase 1 covers 25 hectares out of the 44 hectares owned by Tiger Resort, with total investment cost of $2 billion.
Hurst said the remaining 20 hectares would be developed as phase 2 which might include the development of 1,000 hotel rooms, 20 of and beverage and retail of 75,000 square meters.
Okada said in a speech during the topping off ceremony Asia would become the number one location for gaming and entertainment facilities.
“We are very happy and excited that we are finally fulfilling our vision of developing a huge and integrated world-class entertainment property in the Philippines,” Okada said.
“This is just the beginning of that vision. All preparations are underway and our whole team is working hard in ensuring that everything gets finished properly on-time,” he said.
To comply with the land ownership issue, Tiger Resort has teamed up with All Seasons Hotel and Resort Corp. headed by businessman Antonio Cojuangco for the development. Bloomberg, with Jenniffer B. Austria