Greg Roselli – Genting construction to begin in 2014

Re-Blogged by Greg Roselli

Last week, the Nevada Gaming Commission found Malaysian conglomerate Genting Berhad suitable to do business in the state; and company officials reported that construction would begin in summer 2014 on the $4 billion Resorts World Las Vegas, which will be located on the 87-acre north Las Vegas Strip site of the former Stardust casino hotel and the stalled multi-billion dollar “Echelon” development, on which construction was halted due to the recession.

Gaming Commissioner Tony Alamo Jr., who noted that he has ruled on 17 gaming industry debt restructuring and reorganizations since starting at the Commission in 2008.  Genting told executives the company would be a “welcome addition to the Strip and Nevada market.”

Gaming Commission Chairman Peter Bernhard added that Genting, which benefits from significant cash flows and limited debt, “clearly has the financial stability and business probity” to build Resorts World Las Vegas; “It will be a game changer.”

As outlined in Genting’s presentation, construction is expected to take several years and includes “at least two or three phases.”

The first phase will feature a 3,000-room hotel, a casino with an aggregate of 3,500 slot machines and table games, 30 restaurants and bars, a 4,000-seat entertainment venue, an “elaborate garden attraction” that will serve as the property’s front door to the Strip and a 50,000 sq ft, 58” tall aquarium that will feature a variety of exotic fish. The first phase is expected to create 8,500 direct jobs and 3,300 indirect jobs.

Greg Roselli-Genting Singapore, Landing Int’l propose $2.2 billion casino in South Korea

Re-Blogged by Greg Roselli

International casino operator Genting Singapore announced in a joint statement last week that it will team up with the Chinese property group Landing International Development Ltd. to construct and run a $2.2 billion casino resort on Jeju Island in South Korea.Greg Roselli

The project, expected to open in 2017 on a 2.3 square meter site in Jeju, will include casinos, luxury hotels, a theme park and shopping mall, among other amenities.

South Korea currently has 16 casinos limited to foreigners only, whose primary customers come from Japan and China. The country forbids citizens from gaming in casinos outside of Kangwon Land, an isolated resort three hours from Seoul.

Genting affiliates own and operate casinos in Malaysia, Singapore and New York; and have purchased land in Las Vegas and Miami, FL for potential future developments (subject to legislation in Florida). The company’s Resorts World Sentosa, just off the southern coast of Singapore , opened in early 2010 and cost just under US$5 billion. In New York, Resorts World NYC opened at the site of the former Aqueduct racetrack in Queens in October 2011.

Greg Roselli-Miami Casino Bill Headed Toward Another Quiet Death in Tallahassee

Re-Blogged by Greg Roselli

As reported by the Miami New Times, Florida House Speaker Will Weatherford has admitted that it is looking “more and more likely” that neither the House nor Senate will take action on a bill to add more casinos to the state in the 2014 session despite the completion of a 2013 study on additional casino supply. The gaming expansion bill floated this year would have allowed the construction of two “destination casinos” Greg Roselliin Miami-Dade and Broward counties; however lawmakers are unlikely to begin debate on the topic unless a new compact is negotiated with the Seminole Tribe of Florida. Weatherford would also like to see gaming expansion decided by voters via a constitutional amendment.

The current compact with the Seminoles was inked in 2010 between the Tribe and Gov. Charlie Crist; and sections of it begin to expire in August 2015. Governor Rick Scott has started closed-door negotiations with the Tribe although there has been little speculation that he’ll reach an agreement by the end of the 2014 legislative session. The Governor would have to reach a new agreement with the Seminoles that would allow for the destination casinos in order to maintain the current level annual revenue-sharing payments with the state, which are speculated at hundreds of millions of dollars.