Okada Manila defers opening to March
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by Land Asia Listings
- February 14, 2017
- Real Estate Updates
- 0
Posted on February 14, 2017
http://www.bworldonline.com/co
OKADA MANILA is formally opening next month with the commencement of casino operations catering to high rollers and the unveiling of the two-hectare dancing fountain, indoor beach and other facilities under its first phase.
The company of Japanese gaming tycoon Kazuo Okada had previously scheduled the grand opening of Okada Manila by end-February or two months after a “preview” of the development and a “soft opening” of the casino area.
“Our target has always been the end of first quarter,” Tiger Director of Public Relations Shariza Relova said in a mobile phone message, when asked what prompted the company to further defer the grand opening to March.
Okada Manila is the third, the largest and most expensive development to open within the Entertainment City owned by the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (PAGCOR) at the foreshore of the Manila Bay.
Tiger unveiled the integrated casino and resort’s brand in July 2016. At the time, the company scheduled the soft opening for November of that year.
A month before the scheduled launch, however, Mr. Okada’s Universal Entertainment Corp. disclosed development “has not markedly lagged behind the original plan although the progress has differed somewhat from the plan, affected by worse-than-expected weather conditions.”
Universal Entertainment released the statement amid the crackdown ordered by President Rodrigo R. Duterte on online gambling, which somehow cast a cloud of uncertainty over the government’s policy on casino operations.
Tiger would eventually hold a preview — instead of a soft opening — on Dec. 21 to comply with its licensing agreement with PAGCOR. In 2015, the regulator slapped a $2.2-million fine against the company and warned of the suspension of its license because of delays in the project.
“On Dec. 30 of last year, a portion of the Okada Manila casino and dining facilities were opened. Since that time, construction focus has been on the VIP casino floors, restaurants, world-class fountains and other facilities in preparation for the grand opening,” Tiger noted in the statement.
“We hereby announce that we have now reached the stage wherein we are targeting to hold the grand opening at the end of March 2017,” it added.
Tiger has invested $2.4 billion for the development of Okada Manila’s first phase, which covers 21.55 hectares of the 44-hectare property assigned to the company in the Las Vegas-like gaming and entertainment complex.
The first phase comprises a 41,000-square meter (sq.m.) casino with 500 table games and 3,000 electronic games; a two-hectare dancing fountain; two hotels offering 993 rooms; an indoor beach club that could accommodate 4,500 people; 21 food and beverage outlets; an 8,409-sq.m. upscale retail area; and a spa spanning 3,000 sq.m.
The company’s target is to open the entire first phase of the casino-resort complex before the end of March, Ms. Relova noted.
At present, Entertainment City is home to two operating casino-resort developments: Solaire Resort & Casino by the Razon-led Bloomberry Resorts Corp. and City of Dreams Manila by the partnership of Belle Corp. and Melco Crown Entertainment Ltd.
Alliance Global Group, Inc., the group behind Resorts World Manila in Pasay City, is working on the blueprint of the last casino-resort to open in Entertainment City. In partnership with Malaysia’s Genting Group, the company intends to develop 31 hectares into a leisure and entertainment township called Westside City.
The commencement of casino operations at Okada Manila should help the local gaming industry achieve a high single-digit growth in gross gaming revenues this year, Fitch Ratings had noted in a Jan. 27 special report.
The global debt watcher, however, flagged tighter competition ahead. Macau and other gaming jurisdictions in Asia and the Pacific may supposedly restrain the growth of private casinos in the Philippines in the longer term.
