The Suncity unit signs a lease for the Manila casino scheme
Hong Kong-listed Suncity Group Holdings Ltd says that a Philippines-based subsidiary has signed a lease agreement to use a site designed for a casino scheme located in that country’s capital, Manila. The deal was first announced in October last year as part of a move by Suncity Group Holdings to enter the Philippines as a casino operator.
The lease is valid until August 19, 2039 and is “renewed automatically” for another 25 years, unless otherwise agreed by all parties, according to a deposit on Monday by Suncity Group Holdings. The latter unit will pay an annual fee of US $ 10.6 million at the start of the casino’s operations, payable in two installments on a half-yearly basis, the document added.
The agreement was signed by the affiliate company Suncust Group Holdings Suntrust Home Developers Inc as the lessee, and Westside City Resorts World Inc and Travelers International Hotel Group Inc as the lessors.
Westside City Resorts World Inc is a subsidiary of Travelers International. The latter is in turn an initiative between the Philippine conglomerate Alliance Global Group Inc and the operator of cruise ships casino Genting Hong Kong Ltd.
Suntrust announced in October last year a “co-development” agreement with Westside City Resorts World Inc for a property identified as “Westside City Resorts”. Under the agreement, the landlords agree to rent the casino resort project site in Suntrust for the “hotel main casino development” of the complex, and Suntrust is to be named the “sole and exclusive operator and operator of the hotel’s main casino”.
Suncity Group Holdings had accepted pay an initial amount of $ 200 million to Westside City Resorts World Inc to develop and manage the casino scheme through Suntrust.
The Westside City Resorts project will be located in Entertainment City, a 120-hectare (297-acre) plot of reclaimed land in Metro Manila. Entertainment City as a whole is marketed by the Philippine authorities as a cluster of casinos intended to emulate the success of Macao’s Cotai neighborhood.
Suncity Group Holdings previously stated that the initial plan of the company for Westside City Resorts includes a total gaming capacity of 400 tables to serve the VIP and mass markets and 1,200 slot machines. It will offer 400 five-star hotel rooms, parking and “non-themed game facilities around poolside parties with a high-end pool club”. The property will begin operations “by the fourth quarter of 2022,” the company said in previous files.