Suncity Group has announced that its recently acquired, 51%-owned Philippines subsidiary SunTrust Home Developers Inc has signed a 45-year lease agreement with Travellers International Hotel Group Inc and Westside for the development and operation of a casino and hotel at Manila’s Westside City Resorts World.
The lease agreement formalizes the original announcement issued last October by Suncity Group that it had reached an agreement with Travellers parent MegaWorld and another entity called Aurora Securities, Inc to purchase the entire issued share capital in Suntrust, which in turn had reached an agreement with Travellers and Westside to lease the project site for the main hotel and casino at Westside City Resorts World.
Suntrust will be appointed as the “sole and exclusive operator and manager of the Main Hotel Casino,” Suncity said at the time.
In a weekend filing, Suncity Group said that Suntrust has now signed the lease agreement, which will see the company pay annual rent of US$10.6 million upon commencement of casino operations, payable in two installments on a semi-annual basis. The rental figure was calculated upon independent assessment of the market value of the project site at US$340 million. The original lease is valid for 20 years until 19 August 2039 at which time it will be automatically renewed for another 25 years unless otherwise agreed by all parties.
Westside City Resorts World is a sprawling, multi-billion dollar leisure and entertainment township being developed on 31-hectares in Manila’s Entertainment City precinct.
Suncity’s hotel and casino development is set to cost US$700 million and cover an area of around 44,000 square meters, with a building floor area of 182,000 square meters. The project will include 400 gaming tables and 1,200 slot machines across both VIP and mass gaming, plus 400 five-star hotel rooms and 960 parking spaces, due to open in 4Q22.
The Westside City Resorts World township will also offer additional facilities such as a Grand Theatre, shopping malls and 2,000 parking spaces.
