Galaxy Macau in $7.4 billion expansion plan

Sunday 25th of January 2015

Marking a push to diversify from gaming, Galaxy Macau says it is planning to spend US$7.4 billion in new developments, including a recreation of New York’s Broadway district.

The project, with the additions, is due to open its doors on May 27, 2015 and will double the size of the resort development to more than 1.1 million square meters, including six hotels with 4,000 rooms, suites, villas, as well as two spas.

The Broadway theme will include a range of entertainments from hawker-style vendors, to live entertainers and world class performers.

Chairman of Galaxy Entertainment Group (GEG), Lui Che-woo, says the projects are designed to contribute to the diversification of Macau and its development as a global center for tourism.

Galaxy executives say the goal is both to attract more tourists as well as giving them more reasons to stay longer.

In 2013, GEG acquired the Grand Waldo Complex and has since spent over HK$5.0 billion in investment.

Among the major hotel brands to open later this year to “serve all customer segments” are the Ritz-Carlton (Macau), J.W. Marriott Hotel (Macau) and the Broadway Hotel. The complex also includes theme parks and “family-friendly” entertainment.

Analysts say the investments mark a shift away from reliance on the high rollers as the Mainland Government of President Xi Jinping presses on with an anti-corruption campaign against a backdrop of a slowing China economy.

A target is also to attract vacationing Chinese, and other mass market gamblers as part of a strategy to build alternative income sources to the region. The economy is heavily dependent on taxes from gaming, accounting for more than 80 percent of government revenues.

Galaxy Entertainment says it has the capacity to add up to 500 gaming tables to the second phase of Galaxy Macau. The company is presently in talks with the authorities on this issue.

The announcement follows that by Melco Crown Entertainment which said it was opening a family entertainment center with Time Warner at its new $3.2 billion Macau Studio City.