SJM Holdings has taken the wraps off the plans for its megaresort on Cotai—the Lisboa Palace, it’s called—a US$3.9 billion, 2,500-room blending of Chinese and European themes designed to reflect Macau’s history and identity as a confluence of the cultures of East and West.
The company founded by Hong Kong tycoon Stanley Ho said it has increased the budget for the resort by HK$5 billion to cover rising construction and labor costs and it expects to finalize a deal this year with SJM Executive Director and Macau legislator Angela Leong to add an adjoining 180,000 square meters she controls, tripling its total footprint.
Ms Leong is one of four consorts of Mr Ho’s and the mother of five of his children.
Hong Kong-listed SJM (Sociedade de Jogos de Macau) is the gaming operations successor to the casino monopoly Mr Ho held in Macau for 40 years under the auspices of privately owned Sociedade de Sociedade de Turismo e Diversões de Macau. SJM is still the largest operator in the territory, with 20 of its 35 casinos, three of them self-operated, 17 owned and operated by third parties sub-licensed by SJM in exchange for a cut of their revenues.
“We are mindful this is a new area we have come into, in which we compete with the other operators in Cotai,” Chief Executive Ambrose So told Reuters after a ceremonial groundbreaking for Lisboa Palace last Thursday.
At the same time, “We should always remain authentic and local, preserving our own characteristics,” he said. “We really integrate into society. We are a local company interwoven with society.”
Plans for the expanded Lisboa Palace call for three hotels, including a 270-room luxury tower developed in partnership with Italian fashion house Gianni Versace and another branded hotel to be announced, and a casino with as many as 700 table games and 1,200 slot machines.
The 1/200th scale model shown to the media on Friday by SJM and California-based architects WATG (who also designed Las Vegas Sands’ The Venetian on the Las Vegas Strip) was of an ornate complex modeled on the palace of Versailles and infused outside and in with Chinese motifs and materials. The hotels will be connected by outdoor gardens and pool areas. Michelin-star dining, retail shopping, a spa, a wedding pavilion, a theater and galleries displaying artworks and artifacts round out the core offering. A follow-up phase will include a traffic hub at the main entrance looking south onto what is the Leong parcel currently and modeled after the Qing Dynasty Summer Palace.
“We think the theme resonates well with mainland consumers,” investment analysts Union Gaming Research Macau wrote. “Ultimately, mainland consumers view Europe in general and France in specific as very aspirational destinations.”
Top to bottom, the resort will incorporate 521,000 square meters. Opening is slated for 2017.
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