Properties set to open have yet to request casino licenses

Monday 11th of September 2017

Two new properties in Macau, both initially expected be equipped with casinos, have yet to apply for the licenses for their operation through the six local casino concessionaires or sub-concessionaires, according to responses from the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau (DICJ).

The system in place allows for properties to request satellite casino authorization, set up under one of the six gaming licenses granted in the gambling enclave – MGM China, Sands China, Wynn Macau, SJM Holdings, Galaxy Entertainment Group and Melco Resorts & Entertainment.

The property gracing the end of the Cotai strip, envisioned by former banker and property investor Stephen Hung, initially labelled Louis XIII but later changed to The 13 in the wake of a series of sell-offs to raise capital, including a majority stake in the developer Paul Y. Engineering Group in June, has yet to request a license for the location it occupies.

In addition, another one of the seven new hotels earmarked to open within this and next year, and the third to open so far this year - following the Legend Palace Hotel (featuring its own casino) and the Roosevelt Macau Hotel (operating the Macau Jockey Club Casino) - the Hotel Royal Dragon, has not yet sent ‘an official letter’ via ‘any of the gaming concessionaires’ seeking the DICJ’s ‘approval for a new casino’. The new property is located on the Macau peninsula nearby the Rio Hotel and Casino.

Signage has been spotted on the Hotel Royal Dragon reading ‘Royal Dragon Casino’, albeit partially covered by a cloth.

Aside from those mentioned above, the upcoming hotel set to open within this year is MGM Cotai – estimated for the fourth quarter, while next year’s hospitality openings along the Cotai Strip will be SJM Holdings’ Grand Lisboa Palace and Melco’s Morpheus hotel tower at the City of Dreams.

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