Imperial Pacific International (IPI) won’t be taking over management of Saipan’s Mariana Resort & Spa any time soon after the RFP expired with no agreement reached with the Department of Public Lands (DPL).
IPI had been expected to assume the operations of Mariana Resort in the coming months following a recent announcement by Kan Pacific that it would cease running the property from 30 September 2018 after more than 40 years.
IPI quickly put its hand up to run the hotel instead but needed special permission from the Lottery Commission given that its Casino License Agreement specifically limits it to running five-star hotels. That permission was quickly granted on the condition that Mariana Resort would be the only hotel of less than five stars under its management.
Despite the approval, DPL Secretary, Marianne Concepcion-Teregeyo, told Marianas Variety this week that no agreement had been signed.
Instead, the DPL has now separated the property into three separate RFPs – one for the golf course, one for the race track and one for the hotel.
According to reports, IPI has since submitted new proposals for the hotel and race track while Kan Pacific has submitted a proposal for the golf course. All proposals will now be re-considered by the DPL, however the RFP for hotel operations has been put on hold with the property currently being used to house emergency services teams helping Saipan recover from the devastating impacts of Typhoon Yutu.
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