The owners of Macau hotel THE 13 have launched an open bidding process in an effort to sell the troubled property, with an asking price of HK$2.4 billion (US$307 million), according to a report by TDM-Rádio Macau.
The bidding process, being overseen by Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL), will run until 5 April with the real estate firm said to have received interest from around two dozen parties.
Such a sale would no doubt require further investment to bring the hotel and its 196 hotel rooms up to code, given that many remained incomplete when THE 13 was declared bankrupt more than a year ago. Parent company South Shore Holdings had previously applied to the Macau court for voluntary liquidation of its wholly-owned subsidiary New Concordia Hotel Limited, the sole beneficial owner of THE 13 Hotel, amid pressure from its lenders.
The brainchild of long-departed Chairman Stephen Hung, THE 13 had been envisioned as an uber-luxury hotel with space for 66 VIP gaming tables aimed at capitalizing on Macau’s booming VIP segment of the early 2010s. Instead, a series of funding and construction delays saw the property open in September 2018 with no gaming and with a number of rooms unfinished – all at a cost of US$1.6 billion.
South Shore revealed in October 2021 that it had ceased all operations and was insolvent following a statutory demand issued by one lender demanding payment of HK$3.28 billion (US$423 million) in outstanding loans and interest or face a winding up petition against the company.
Long-time Chairman Peter Coker Jr, who stepped down from the company in October 2022, was arrested in Thailand in in January 2023 after being charged by the US Department of Justice with stock market manipulation.
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