# MACAU | Projects & Construction



## hkskyline

*New Macau casino bets on mainland, HK 
*
15 April 2009
South China Morning Post

The newest casino hotel resort on Macau's Cotai Strip expects to rely, at least initially, on the mainland for about half its visitors, with another quarter coming from Hong Kong,

"I think you'd expect a large proportion from the PRC and Hong Kong," City of Dreams president Greg Hawkins said. "The core visitation segments, realistically across all operators in Macau, are similar. Mainland China, particularly southern China, and Hong Kong are the primary inbound segments."

The casino-hotel development is the only project opening on the Cotai Strip this year.

With established long-haul markets the United States and the European Union hit hard by the global downturn, and with international travel in a slump, mainland and Hong Kong visitors are picking up much of the slack in Macau. In February just over half its 1.65 million visitors came from the mainland and nearly a third from Hong Kong, official figures show.

"We're conscious that they are the general inbound markets. At the same time, secondary markets, like Southeast Asia, Korea, Japan and Taiwan, to some extent, are important as well. They are much smaller markets but they generally tend to be multi-stay markets," Mr Hawkins said.

The heavy reliance on mainland and Hong Kong visitors will be reflected in the prices City of Dreams will charge. The first phase will open in June. It involves 620 rooms split between the Hard Rock Hotel and the more luxury-oriented Crown Towers, a casino, shops, restaurants and a dome-shaped theatre.

The five-star Grand Hyatt hotel will open in September or October and add another 600 rooms.

Mr Hawkins said: "Business plans and key strategies need to be adaptable to existing conditions. So we've very much looked at what's happening in the markets, making sure our strategies are appropriate for the current market."

Diversifying Macau's sources of visitors and extending their length of stay are key to the Cotai Strip's aim of becoming a tourism destination. Currently, The Venetian - the mammoth casino-hotel developed by Las Vegas Sands - is anchoring the strip. Other projects are on hold because of the financial crisis.

Mr Hawkins said the master plan for Cotai is at least four to five years from being fleshed out.

"I think it's when, from a consumer point of view, it's clear you have no reason to leave Cotai [that the strip will have arrived]. To me, that's about how diverse the experiences are across all of the properties - in a gaming, hotel, food and beverage, retail and entertainment sense {hellip} I would have thought it's when at least another two or three properties are completed."

The company behind City of Dreams is Melco Crown Entertainment, a co-chairman of which is Lawrence Ho Yau-lung, the son of casino mogul Stanley Ho Hung-sun.


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## hkskyline

*Lukewarm interest for Sands shopping malls *
14 April 2009
South China Morning Post

Interest among prospective buyers of two mega shopping centres attached to Las Vegas Sands Corp's Macau casinos appears lukewarm, given the company's aggressive pricing and challenging market conditions, sources said.

Several funds and large real estate investors have been approached by Goldman Sachs, which is managing the sale of the themed Cotai retail arcades attached to the Venetian and Four Seasons casino resorts.

Sources said Sands was asking would-be buyers to shoulder lower returns and bet big on bullish projections despite the down market and uncertainties in Macau.

The firm's targeted proceeds from the auction-style sale remain unclear, but the sources indicated rental income and yield percentages that would suggest an asking price of about US$1 billion. The company declined to comment.

Bids were due in to Goldman this week, the sources said.

Sands chairman and majority owner Sheldon Adelson announced last month that about 19 parties were potentially interested in the shopping centres. At 1.21 million square feet, they are about 1.5 times the size of the shopping area at IFC One and Two in Hong Kong.

"Maybe there will be someone who sees long-term potential, but there's no financing market now, so my guess is they don't get close to their number," said one source who passed up the deal. "They need the money badly but the auction will be a real crap shoot."

Sands has in recent months sought to cut costs and raise new funds from asset sales to avoid further risk of defaulting on portions of its US$10.5 billion in long-term debt.

In November last year, the company raised US$2.14 billion in a share sale to avoid tripping loan covenants on its Las Vegas financing, which could have resulted in banks calling in loans.

Selling the Cotai shopping centres has always been a part of the company's overall Macau strategy, but the timing of the auction process appears less than ideal.

Macau's tourism and retail outlook has been clouded by regional recessions and Beijing's 10-month-old restrictions on mainlanders travelling to the city. At the same time, many potential bidders are themselves strapped to raising funds for large-scale acquisitions.

The assets on the block include the 1.01 million square foot Grand Canal Shoppes on the upper floors of the Venetian, which opened in August 2007.

Also to be included in the sale is the 211,000 sqft luxury shopping centre attached to the Four Seasons, which opened in August last year.


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## hkskyline

*Jumeirah chief targets expansion in China *
27 April 2009
Hong Kong Standard

Jumeirah Group, the Dubai-based luxury hotel and resort operator, is in the final stages of negotiations about managing hotels in Beijing, Sanya and Hangzhou, executive chairman Gerald Lawless told The Standard.

It hopes to sign agreements to manage hotels in the three mainland cities over the next quarter and the hotels could open in three to four years, Lawless said.

Jumeirah, which runs the iconic sail- shaped Burj Al Arab hotel in Dubai, is also planning more hotels in China with an eye for first-tier cities and resorts, Lawless said.

The company would be interested in managing resort hotels near the Great Wall or in the so-called Shangri-la area of Yunnan province.

It is also discussing the introduction of its luxury apartment brand, Jumeirah Living, to three mainland cities as part of mixed-use developments. ``We will have more in China,'' Lawless said.

Jumeirah is part of Dubai Holding, a conglomerate controlled by the Gulf emirate's ruler, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum.

*Jumeirah is already set to operate a luxury hotel and apartments on Macau's Cotai Strip as part of a Shun Tak (0242) project set to be completed in 2012.*

The hotel operator plans to have more than 60 hotels in operation or under development by 2012, with 35 to 40 percent of those in East Asia, said Lawless.

``We see it as a great growth area ... a natural expansion area for Jumeirah out of the Middle East,'' he said.

Jumeirah is looking to add hotels in ``letterhead locations'' across the globe, including the Seychelles and Mauritius, as it seeks to compete with the likes of Mandarin Oriental, Four Seasons and Ritz-Carlton, Lawless said.

The hotel operator has already signed a management agreement with Guangzhou-based GT Land Holdings for a 200-room hotel in the city, as part of a project in Pearl River New City, Tianhe District, set to open in 2011.

The company will also operate hotels under development in Phuket, Bali and the Maldives.

Meanwhile, Lawless said Jumeirah is finding new opportunities amid the financial crisis in conversions of existing hotels. Some owners of unbranded hotels want to sign up with an international brand that has a central infrastructure already in place, he said.

``This is a great opportunity for an up-and-coming luxury brand like Jumeirah,'' Lawless said. Jumeirah has the advantage as a new brand, as exclusion agreements can prevent its competitors from managing more than one hotel in the same city.

To counter the effects of the economic downturn on its Dubai hotels, Jumeirah has been working with Emirates Airline and the Dubai Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing to promote the city as more affordable than it was.

After the crisis broke out, advance bookings showed occupancy rates at Jumeirah's Dubai beach hotels were going to plunge to the mid-50s or low 60s for February and March. But with discounts reducing average room rates by up to 22 percent, occupancy rates had returned to their normal level of 90 percent by February.

Occupancy rates at Jumeirah's business hotels in Dubai have risen again to about 70 percent, but are still down from the normal 85 to 88 percent.


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## hkskyline

*All In Neil Gough takes an eye-in-the-sky view of the casino trade *
1 May 2009
South China Morning Post

Surprise, surprise - the house is winning again. After spending most of last year in bearish hibernation, shares in Macau casino operators are back on a bull run.

SJM Holdings, Melco International Development and Galaxy Entertainment Group have risen 35-75 per cent so far this year. That compares with an anaemic 7.8 per cent rise in the benchmark Hang Seng Index.

The rally is partly driven by fundamentals. Casino revenues in Macau reversed three quarters of sequential declines to rise 8 per cent in the first quarter, according to official data released last month.

But the rebound also appears to have drawn a line under investors' sentiment towards the sector - which had all but collapsed in the wake of the financial crisis, Beijing's restrictions on mainlanders travelling to Macau, and a credit crunch among the VIP junket agents who bring high rollers to the city.

From a financing perspective, the good news couldn't have come soon enough. Casino companies have in effect been cut off from raising new funds for at least half a year. Equity deals in gaming have been frozen since Las Vegas Sands' painfully dilutive US$2.1 billion sale of new shares in November.

But the recovery in casino revenues and the rally in share prices appear to have initiated a thaw in the markets, allowing funds to flow again.

Wynn Resorts was first to test the waters. The company attempted to raise funds last month by selling 7 million new shares at the bargain price of US$19 apiece. Demand was strong and the size of the deal was increased by 37 per cent to 9.6 million shares, grossing Wynn US$209.76 million.

Next to tap the market was Melco Crown Entertainment. The Nasdaq-listed joint venture between Lawrence Ho Yau-lung's Melco International Development and Australian James Packer's Crown grossed US$165 million this week from the sale of new shares.

That deal was also priced low, at US$4 a share, and no doubt it was helped along after majority shareholders (Melco International and Crown) agreed to take up half of the offering.

Never mind that neither company really needed the money, not now at least: both already had decent cash cushions and had fully funded any construction projects in the pipeline. More likely, the deals were made as insurance measures to pay down debt and bolster balance sheets.

Still, the message is clear: the markets have successfully been prised open for business.

That's not to say all is back to normal. The syndicated loan market, which had bankrolled nearly all of Macau's glitzy new casino projects, is still in paralysis.

But the market for corporate bonds is showing signs of life. For example, Galaxy's Singapore-traded debt has bounced back from a November trough, and has risen to almost 90 US cents on the dollar from lows of about 40 cents (see second chart).

Of course, that rebound is partly because Galaxy has been taking advantage of the discount to buy back its own debt, including a purchase in early April of US$50 million worth of its US$240 million in convertible bonds due in 2011.

But Las Vegas Sands has not been buying back debt, and trading in its US$250 million bond due in 2015 has also seen a revival - despite that company's continued balance-sheet issues.

So, while casino companies appear once again able to raise money, so far their only option appears to be tapping the stock market.

Indeed, more companies are likely to take money shots while the shooting is good. Shareholders had better brace themselves for it.


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## hkskyline

*氹仔新盤入伙 帶動交投 澳門二手住宅租金趨平穩 *
30 April 2009
星島日報 

澳門租賃市場首季表現起伏，首季初期整體租金跌三成，至首季末回升，整體倒升一成至一成五，有代理預料，第二季租金可望平穩，預料上升百分之五至十。其中氹仔區因有新盤入伙，區內樓市被看好。

中原（澳門）董事總經理郭朝隆表示，澳門租金水平於首季初期錄得明顯跌幅，相比去年中，跌幅約兩成五至三成，但近期已回穩，並回升約一成至一成半，料第二季租賃市場將繼續表現穩定，並可望錄約百分之五至十的上升。

平均呎租較去年中升10%

他指出，首季入伙的幾個新盤租金跌幅較明顯，主因是租盤增加，令租金受壓，他舉例說，氹仔濠庭都會第三期於首季入伙，當時屋苑租金跌至每月六千至六千五百元，近期已回升至七千至八千元；太子花城亦於首季入伙，當時每月租金約六千至七千元，現時回升至七千五百至九千元水平。

郭氏指，除了因樓市回暖令租金回升，近期當地亦多了一批新購買力，如新濠天地年中開幕，以及一批打算入澳的交換生等，均帶動當地租賃市場，料氹仔區第二季表現會較澳門半島更佳。

美聯（澳門）行政總裁張一輝亦表示，澳門的租賃市場，去年受外資撤出影響，出現下跌，近期已經回穩。他舉例，以澳門半島東方明珠區的寰宇天下，早前租金最低曾見約六千元，近期已上升至七千至七千五百元。

太子花城低層月租7000元

氹仔區方面，美聯（澳門）營業經理梁國文表示，該行上月錄約四十宗租賃成交，本月亦相若，租賃交投持續活躍，他指出，當中逾半成交來自剛入伙的濠庭都會和太子花城。而即將進駐新濠天地的員工，開始於當地物色租盤，如太子花城二座低層H室，由一名來自香港的租客承租，據悉，他是新濠天地的員工，單位月租約七千元。

利嘉閣（澳門）區域董事余浩銘表示，現時租賃交投未算活躍，但租金水平相對穩定，如遠洋嘉園中層C室，面積約二千二百零四方呎，以每月一萬六千元獲承租，呎租七點三元。他預期，澳門租賃市場於第二季表現穩定。


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## hkskyline

*澳門官員表示新填海區不發展博彩業 *
21 April 2009
中國新聞社

中新社澳門四月二十一日電

澳門特區政府運輸工務司司長劉仕堯今日表示，澳門未來填海后所得新城區土地不發展博彩業和別墅項目。

劉仕堯今日下午出席立法會口頭質詢會議時表示，特區政府的新城填海計劃方案經聽取國家相關部委意見后，對原規劃作出適當微調。微調后用海面積由原來約五百公頃調整為約四百公頃，將新增用地面積約三百五十公頃。五個新填土區域分別在澳門半島東北、新口岸孫逸仙大馬路以南及凼仔以北。

他表示，政府在新土地的開發利用上，決定不發展博彩業和不開發低密度住宅項目(如別墅)，而新城區填海所得土地約六成以上規劃為道路、廣場、綠化空間和公用設施等非地產項目。另外將預留適量土地發展配合澳門產業適度多元化政策，同時也將預留適量公共房屋建設用地。政府將透過大量增加綠化、休憩及公共服務設施，美化澳凼兩岸海濱的城市景觀，為提升居民綜合生活質素提供必要的空間。

他強調，新城填海計劃現階段為初步總體規劃，在中央政府支持下，現已進入報批階段。待方案獲中央批準后，特區政府將就新城規劃設計方案向社會推介和咨詢。


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## hkskyline

*Melco Crown Entertainment To Open Macau Casino-Resort Jun 1 *
7 May 2009

HONG KONG (Dow Jones)--Melco Crown Entertainment Ltd. (MPEL) said Thursday its City of Dreams casino-resort in Macau will open June 1, though parts of the project are still awaiting regulator approval.

The Macau casino operator had said previously it would open the property in stages beginning in June.

The opening phase will contain two hotels of about 300 rooms each, plus a casino with 520 gaming tables and 1,350 gaming machines, Melco said in statement. The final phase, including a luxury apartment hotel of about 800 units, is on hold awaiting legal and regulatory approvals.

Melco is pressing ahead with its plans at a time when competitors, including Las Vegas Sands Corp. and Galaxy Entertainment Group Ltd., have delayed projects in Macau due to an industry slump.

Melco Crown Entertainment Ltd. is a joint venture between Hong Kong-listed Melco International Ltd. (0200.HK) and Australia's Crown Ltd. (CWN.AU).


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## hkskyline

*Macao's City of Dreams bets on attracting high rollers *
28 April 2009
Financial Times

The $2.1bn casino is a statement from the powerful Ho family, writes Justine Lau

On Cotai Strip, a reclaimed area in Macao billed as Asia's answer to Las Vegas, workers are busy putting the finishing touches on City of Dreams, the newest casino in the former Portuguese colony.

With a dome-shaped theatre, a Hard Rock-themed casino, stylish nightclubs and Harley Davidson motorcycles in the jackpot, Melco Crown Entertainment (MPEL) is betting that the $2.1bn project will be able to defy a slowing market in Macao and a deepening global recession when it opens its doors in June.

In 2008, gaming revenue in Macao grew by 31 per cent to $13.5bn but there was a sharp slowdown in September after Beijing imposed visa restrictions that curtailed visitors to casinos from some parts of mainland China. High-rollers, meanwhile, also found it more difficult to tap credit as the global financial crisis worsened.

For Lawrence Ho, son of "king of gambling" Stanley Ho and MPEL's chief executive, the success of City of Dreams is not only crucial for his company but also the empire of the Ho clan, the most powerful family in Macao.

When Macao ended Stanley Ho's 40-year gaming monopoly in 2002 and granted licences to international tycoons, including Sheldon Adelson of Las Vegas Sands and Steve Wynn of Wynn Resorts, some called it the end of an era.

Analysts predicted Sociedade de Jogos de Macao (SJM), Stanley Ho's gaming flagship, would lose its leading position as early as this year as bigger casinos and shinier gaming floors built by US rivals were expected to outdo his smoky gambling dens.

In 2004, when Mr Adelson opened Sands Macao, the first casino operated by a foreign investor, doors were smashed and fences broken as gamblers forced their way in.

The opening of Wynn Macao in 2006 and Venetian in 2007 continued to captivate the crowds and put more pressure on Stanley Ho.

But five years on, SJM is still the biggest casino operator in Macao, the world's largest gaming market.

Las Vegas Sands and MGM Mirage, SJM's heavilyleveraged foreign rivals, have recently been preoccupied with refinancing loans taken out during the boom times.

Las Vegas Sands has stopped construction of its partially-finished developments on Cotai, where most building work by other casino operators has also been halted.

Cranes now loom over idle building sites.

The company, which has been struggling to offload its real estate and retail properties at the Venetian, has also declined to comment on speculation that it would sell Sands Macao, saying only that it would continue to explore all options.

Analysts have speculated that cash-strapped MGM Mirage, which has a Macao joint venture with Pansy Ho, Stanley Ho's daughter, could be forced to sell its 50 per cent stake in the tie-up, most likely to its partner.

"By maintaining its leadership for so long, SJM has proved a lot of people wrong," says Billy Ng, analyst at JPMorgan, who expects Stanley Ho to maintain a lead until at least next year.

With Lawrence Ho and Pansy Ho, the Ho family has three of Macao's six gaming licences and control about half of the sector, which has grown about five times since 2002.

"Their market share may be smaller but don't forget the pie is much bigger now," says Gabriel Chan, an analyst at Credit Suisse.

Adding to this is Shun Tak, Stanley Ho's conglomerate, which has been benefiting from the territory's breakneck growth in the last few years thanks to its vast interests in Macao's property, transportation and hospitality industries.

All these give the Ho family an upper hand again.

City of Dreams is set to put MPEL, a partnership between Lawrence Ho and James Packer's Crown group, in the best position to benefit from any turnround in Macao's gaming sector.

The property is likely to be the only large-scale casino opening in the enclave in the next two to three years.

It is estimated to double MPEL's market share to about 17 per cent in 2010.

Although casino revenue in the first quarter of 2009 dropped 13 per cent from the same period last year, it was 8 per cent higher than the level in 2008's fourth quarter and in line with the third-quarter figure. This is in spite of the fact that the beginning of the year is traditionally a low season.

According to Morgan Stanley, gaming revenue in Macao is expected to decline 11 per cent in the first half of 2009 but is likely to rebound by 4 per cent in the second half of the year.

"The worst is likely to be over as long as there are no more big corporate problems," says Francis Lui, deputy chairman of Galaxy Entertainment, a Macao casino operator. "This year I am cautiously optimistic."


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## hkskyline

By *風繼續吹* from skyscrapers.cn :


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## SeeMacau

It is unusual to have a building standing this tall behind the Penha hill.


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## hkskyline

*Macau seeks public input on 5km harbour rail link*
22 May 2009
South China Morning Post

Macau is consulting the public on construction of a 5km rail link through the city's Inner Harbour area, which would be an extension of a planned 20km elevated rail line.

The government's Transport Infrastructure Office yesterday met social groups to explain some options for building the "phase two" link of Macau's light rail system.

Options of an underground line, an elevated line and an undersea coastline tunnel are being considered for this phase.

An underground line would cost 5-5.5 billion patacas, an elevated line 3.5-4 billion patacas and an undersea tunnel 6-6.5 billion patacas, according to government estimates.

The 5km line will run along the western side of the peninsula to form a loop with phase one, linking the Border Gate checkpoint, Ilha Verde, Ponte 16 and the A-Ma Temple.

Preparatory work has started on the first phase, the 20km line that will run along the eastern and southern fringes of the Macau peninsula and onto Taipa Island via a bridge, linking casinos with the Border Gate checkpoint, the Hong Kong-Macau ferry terminal and the airport. The government estimates the first phase will cost about 4 billion patacas.

Michael Lam Soi-hoi, consultant for the office, said project management had recently started for phase one. This phase was planned to ease traffic congestion, which rose amid the casino boom. But work has been repeatedly delayed. The first-phase plan was finalised in 2007 after rounds of consultations, and was scheduled to start last year and be completed in 2011.

The second-phase line will run through Macau's lower-income areas, in response to criticism that the first phase favours casinos and bypasses poor areas.

Mr Lam said the government had not set a construction timetable for construction of phase two. He said it might choose one of the three options or combine them after further studies. Residents are invited to send their views about phase two to the government before July 9.

Sin Chi-young, a community leader and deputy head of the government's consultation agency on Taipa and Coloane islands, said construction of phase two should start as soon as possible to ease traffic jams.

"Phase one has started and we hope phase two will quickly get off the ground," Mr Sin, vice-director of the General Union of Neighbourhood Associations, said. "There are too many vehicles and too little land in Macau," he said.

Mr Sin also said the tunnel option was preferred for part of the Inner Harbour area that directly faced the sea, while the elevated line was preferred for Fai Chi Kei and Ilha Verde.

Government experts said an elevated line would be the easiest to build and cost the least, but might affect views and the environment. An undersea tunnel would be less functional than elevated or underground lines, but it would minimise the impact on city views. It would also be the most complicated to build.


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## hkskyline

*Las Vegas Sands ready to restart Macau projects *
26 May 2009
Agence France Presse

Las Vegas Sands chief Sheldon Adelson has said he may have arranged financing necessary to restart stalled construction projects in Macau and the United States by the end of 2009.

The company, facing a credit crunch and a stock price in freefall, halted the building of two resorts in Macau in November as well as a condominium project in Las Vegas and parts of a site in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

The Macau stoppage resulted in the loss of around 11,000 construction jobs in the former Portuguese colony, a Special Administrative Region in southern China neighboring Hong Kong that is now a casino hub.

However gaming tycoon Adelson said he was now confident that all of the Sands' stalled projects could resume.

"I just came back from Macau and we have five or six different options that we can pursue, each one of which would solve our liquidity problems," Adelson told AFP.

"The best of the options out there would provide us with sufficient liquidity that we will restart all of our projects by the end of the year.

"We will finish Bethlehem, we will finish Lots five and six (in Macau), and I don't know if I want to finish the condos in Vegas yet just because of the market."

LVS has charted an ambitious 12-billion-dollar building plan on an area of reclaimed land in Macau known as the Cotai Strip that, upon build-out, is slated to include 11 resorts with a collective 20,000 hotel rooms.

The Venetian Macao and Four Seasons Macau are open; Lots 5 and 6, which include Shangri-La and Sheraton-branded hotels, are under construction.

The company also owns the Sands Macao, a casino-hotel on Macau's peninsula area where casinos have been clustered and where LVS' American rivals Wynn Resorts and MGM Mirage have opened properties in recent years.

The only US gaming corporation building on Cotai is LVS, although Wynn owns property in the region.

Adelson did not disclose details of the possible financing arrangement, but gaming industry analyst Bill Lerner speculated it could involve selling existing assets or equity in the new projects.

"It suggests that there's a financial and/or construction partner that would take equity in sites 5 and 6," said Lerner, a former Deutsche Bank analyst now with his own firm, Union Gaming Group.

"They will either sell the Sands Macao or some of the retail areas at the Four Seasons and Venetian Macao."

LVS stock has plummeted from a high of 148 dollars in October 2007 to a low of less than two dollars earlier this year, hovering above nine dollars on Tuesday.

Adelson, 75, was the third wealthiest American according to Forbes Magazine as recently as 2008 but fell to No. 178 this year as his personal wealth tumbled from 28 billion dollars in 2008 to 3.4 billion dollars this year.


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## hkskyline

*Las Vegas Sands to Tap ‘Improving’ Capital Markets*
By Chia-Peck Wong and Frank Longid

June 3 (Bloomberg) -- Las Vegas Sands Corp., controlled by billionaire Sheldon Adelson, plans to raise funds to restart its $12 billion casino-resort project in Macau after the freeze in credit markets eased. 

“There are obviously improving conditions in the capital and financial markets and we intend to take advantage of that as well as we can,” Las Vegas Sands’ Asia President Stephen Weaver said in an interview in Macau today. “I’m spending a lot of time talking to the capital markets and financiers.” 

The casino operator last year stopped work on its 20,000-room complex of hotels and casinos on Macau’s Cotai Strip amid the seizing up of the credit markets, dwindling revenue and the risk of defaulting on some loans. Adelson has said he’s considering a bond sale and is looking at a “private or public” minority investment in the company’s Macau properties. 

“Floating the company makes sense to me,” Gabriel Chan, a Hong Kong-based analyst at Credit Suisse Group, said in an interview in Macau today, citing Las Vegas Sands’ share-price gains this year. “It’s very difficult for them to sell assets like malls because whoever buys has no control over the casino.” 

Potential Investors 

Las Vegas Sands dropped 6 percent to $9.78 in U.S. trading, the most in three weeks, trimming its gain this year to 65 percent. The company lost 94 percent of its market value in 2008. 

Since the start of this year, MGM Mirage has dropped 46 percent, Wynn Resorts Ltd. has declined 6.5 percent and Melco Crown Entertainment Ltd. is up 75 percent. 

Adelson on March 10 said he’s in talks with four groups of potential investors in Las Vegas Sands’ operating Macau properties, the Sands, Venetian and Four Seasons. About 19 parties have indicated interest in two shopping malls the company is selling in Macau, he has said. 

“Selling of assets doesn’t include selling of casinos,” Weaver said today. 

Equity markets have recovered this year, with 90 of 92 global stock benchmarks tracked by Bloomberg gaining in the past month. In the 12 preceding months, only Venezuela’s main share index advanced. Debt markets have also been active, with international bond sales of $2.1 trillion this year, a first-half record according to data compiled by Bloomberg. 

‘Interested Parties’ 

Since halting its Macau project, Las Vegas Sands has raised capital and cut worker hours and jobs to trim more than $470 million in costs. 

The casino operator’s target is for the Cotai project to resume construction this year, Weaver said. 

“At the moment we have a number of options, a number of interested parties,” Weaver said at the Global Gaming Expo Asia conference in the former Portuguese enclave. “We’re not going to commit. We are continuing to investigate the alternatives.” 

Las Vegas Sands hasn’t “formally appointed any bank,” Weaver added. “We’re close to a number of them. It’s not a leap of faith to think we will appoint Goldman Sachs. It will be a number of banks.” 

Unfinished Complex 

Adelson has also said he’s met with two construction companies that may invest in the stalled Macau project to get the buildings finished. 

Part of the unfinished complex is next door to the $2.1 billion City of Dreams, whose opening night Weaver attended. 

“It’s fabulous, I am impressed,” Weaver said of the new rival casino. The venture “should do well.” 

Success for the Melco Crown Entertainment Ltd. casino should benefit all operators, he said. 

“The more critical mass there is, it’s very clear that the more people are attracted to the Cotai Strip.” 

Macau’s gambling revenue and visitor arrivals have fallen since January 2008 amid the global recession. Curbs on visits by mainland Chinese to the city, the only part of China where casinos are legal, aggravated the slowdown. 

Macau’s casino gambling revenue was 26 billion patacas ($3.3 billion) in the first quarter. While that’s 13 percent lower than a year earlier, it’s 8 percent higher than the previous three-month period.


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## hkskyline

*Nightmare averted *
6 June 2009
The Economist

A new casino heralds a return to health for the world’s biggest gambling centre

IN WHAT only a few months ago would have seemed like an act of despair but now passes for revelry, James Packer and Lawrence Ho each grasped a guitar by the neck and smashed it into a pedestal. With the ritual, they formally unveiled their joint project, a new Hard Rock hotel and casino as well as various adjoining properties that are collectively known as the City of Dreams, the latest of Macau’s many new developments. The opening on June 1st, attended by vast crowds, is the result of five years of planning and, at least as important, a willingness in recent months to press on when many believed Macau’s prospects had collapsed.

In March, Mr Ho himself expressed fears that the end was nigh not only for the City of Dreams, but also for other new casinos in Macau. That would have marked the end of an extraordinary boom that began in 2004 when the Las Vegas Sands Corporation broke a gambling monopoly held for decades by Mr Ho’s father, Stanley. It first built a casino called Sands, and then, in 2007, the larger Venetian. In 2006, a second Las Vegas operator, Wynn Resorts, also opened a ritzy development in Macau. The tiny Chinese territory quickly became their largest source of income and the biggest casino market in the world.

Growth began to taper off last June, and by the end of the year revenues were contracting. The troubled global economy was one factor; so was a decision by China to restrict visits by citizens from the mainland. The stockmarket took note. By February this year, investors were valuing firms with casinos in Macau at less than the book value of their assets, implying that they would be more valuable if liquidated than as going concerns (see chart). The collapse was particularly calamitous for Las Vegas Sands, which had financed its developments with a bit of equity and lots of debt, producing staggering wealth on paper at first and then widespread concerns over bankruptcy.

Responding to the change, numerous projects in Macau were put on hold, including four huge hotel-casinos being built by Las Vegas Sands next door to the City of Dreams. Messrs Ho and Packer may have persevered only because they were in too deep to turn back. The gambling licence alone for the City of Dreams project cost a record $900m, more than 40% of the $2.1 billion cost of the development.

Panic began to ebb in March as the contraction in revenues eased, as did concerns over bankruptcy. The price of the shares of Las Vegas Sands jumped sevenfold, and those of its rivals rose strongly too. Along with economic optimism, there is growing confidence that China’s restrictions can be circumvented—by the rich through second passports and by the masses through package-tour operators.

At any rate, eager hordes queued for hours in the humid Macau heat for the opening of the City of Dreams. Despite the crowds at the new casino, the tables were still busy across the street at the Venetian and across town at the older Mr Ho’s Grand Lisboa and at the MGM Mirage, in which his daughter Pansy owns a stake. Just how large the potential market for gambling might be in Macau no one knows, but the consensus view is, bigger. On June 3rd, Las Vegas Sands announced it was raising money to restart its unfinished projects.

Nonetheless, future developments may be different. The gaming tables may be busy again, but the flashy new venues have not been wholly successful. In the casinos of Las Vegas, only 26% of revenues come from gambling, the rest from ancillary activity including shows, dining and shopping, says Gabriel Chan, an analyst at Credit Suisse. But in Macau non-gambling revenues are trivial. As the casino firms have discovered to their delight, this is a place where making money comes first.


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## hkskyline

*Gaming giants join to win big *
4 June 2009
Hong Kong Standard

Relations between rival gaming operators in Macau have thawed in the recession, paving the way for cooperation to confront regional challenges.

Although the sector is not seen recovering for a few years, the world's biggest gaming center by revenue faces competition from US$9 billion (HK$70.2 billion) gambling projects in Singapore and other countries now preparing to enter the market.

Lloyd Nathan, the MGM Mirage president for global gaming development, said casinos in Vietnam could be ready by 2012, while Taiwan and Japan want large-scale gambling.

``A lack of understanding of different business practices of US and local operators has caused friction, with the American model seen as unfair competition from 2004 to 2006,'' said Ricardo Siu Chi-sen, coordinator of the University of Macao's gaming management program.

Competition in a downturn could mean huge losses, he added, but cooperation could help business when gambler growth was less than expected.

Stanley Ho, handed the Visionary Award at the Global Gaming Expo organized by the American Gaming Association, said casino operators, the government, the economy and society could benefit from cooperation.

But US ideas might not work in Macau, he said. ``The success of one market model may not migrate to another because of different geographical, historical and socio-cultural characteristics.''

Ho, who lost a gambling monopoly in 2002 _ five concessions and sub-concessions went to other operators _ continues to generate increased revenues despite his market share falling to 30 percent, according to the founder of Macau Business magazine, Paulo Azevedo.

AGA chief executive and president Frank Fahrenkopf said Ho had already set the ball rolling with the setting up of a Macau gaming operators' association.

``The time is ripe to start cooperating on issues from the standardization of junket commissions to creating a common framework to deal with responsible gaming,'' he said. Singapore was set to capture the resort and convention markets, he said, but competition could help Macau.


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## hkskyline

*Gamble on a dream *
7 June 2009
Sunday Times (Perth)

CHINA'S eastern jewel, the city of Macau, has never struggled to turn over a quid.

Annual takings from the city's casinos are greater than the combined revenue from Las Vegas and Atlantic City, attributed almost entirely to the Chinese ``whales'' -- slang for punters who feast on Macau's promise of big wins.

An Australian is involved in a group that has just added variety to Macau, focusing on hotels and entertainment to attract holidaymakers. He's no regular Australian though -- it's James Packer, son of a renowned ``whale'', the late Kerry Packer.

Stories of Packer Sr's lavish gambling benders were legendary and now Packer Jr is hoping to equal the legend. But rather than working the tables, Packer Jr is aiming to make his name by working the casino's business.

Melco Crown Entertainment, a joint venture between Packer and Macau gaming heir Lawrence Ho, son of the city's original tycoon, Stanley, have launched City of Dreams at its Hard Rock Hotel.

The $2.99 billion complex has more than 500 casino tables and 1500 gaming machines, restaurants, shops, hotels and an entertainment venue.

It has been built on reclaimed swamp land and is the first step towards the dream of making the new Cotai Strip emulate the glamour of Las Vegas.

Despite fears about the health of the world economy, City of Dreams' grand opening was spectacularly lavish, marked by a huge fireworks display as the background to queues of hundreds of punters trying for luck on the new tables.

Mr Ho, co-chairman and chief of Melvo Crown Entertainment, says the goal with City of Dreams, his flagship development in Macau, is to set a new standard of gaming and entertainment in Asia.

``I believe that we will achieve this goal,'' he said.

``City of Dreams is a `must experience', next-generation resort like no other in Asia, or perhaps the world, comprising distinctly branded casino floors, three separate world-class hotels, a unique shopping precinct, The Boulevard, which wraps around the casino floors and links the three hotel towers, and an awe-inspiring, fully immersible multimedia show housed in the unique theatre, The Bubble.

``With more quality attractions . . . and more diverse entertainment, I think gone are the days where our visitors are purely here for gambling.''

The development is expected to create close to 7000 new jobs for Macau.

The rest of the gaming development world is waiting to see how City of Dreams will work before committing. But early reviews are Mr Packer and partners have got it right.


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## hkskyline

*DEALWATCH: Las Vegas Sands Macau Plans Back On Table *
8 June 2009

HONG KONG (Dow Jones)--Improving sentiment and the June 1 opening of Melco Crown Entertainment Ltd.'s (MPEL) flashy new Macau casino resort has resurrected Las Vegas Sands Corp.'s (LVS) efforts to complete its development plans for the Cotai Strip gaming area in Asia's gaming capital by tapping the markets for new funds.

Sands is reportedly considering numerous financing options to resume construction of its Cotai developments sometime this year. It should press ahead with selling equity in its Macau ventures, be it via a flotation or private sale.

Capital markets have certainly recovered since March's nadir. Leveraged, high beta names like Sands have rallied more than others on the rebound, and its stock has spiked just over sevenfold since March to close at $10.01 Friday.

Theoretically, that makes fresh capital raising - new debt, partial asset sales or listing of assets - a lot easier to execute than its $1.5 billion equity recapitalization in November.

But Sands has two problems. Firstly, it wants to raise capital to complete at least phase-1 development of a huge hotel and casino complex on sites 5 & 6 of the Cotai Strip. This would require around $1.4 billion, according to filings. Secondly, and not unrelated, it must delever its balance sheet.

Although short-term liquidity has improved following November's recap - the company's quick ratio stood at 2.1x at March-end versus September's 0.9x - neither interest coverage nor leverage at the gaming giant are in sterling shape. March coverage, for example, was 0.5x.

Other headaches are imminent tightening of debt load covenants at its U.S. and Macanese loan facilities - to 6.5x adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization from 7x from September in the U.S. and similarly to 3.5x from 4x for the Macau facilities.

Even with better sentiment, it's a tough sell to get markets bankrolling a firm that, according to its filings, is 'highly leveraged'.

Spinning off the Macau shopping malls and apartment portfolio has been mooted. But the real gems in the crown are its casino assets, so it's hard to see why buyers would be prepared to pay top dollar for these sideshows.

Sands should press ahead with selling equity in its Macau ventures via an IPO or private sale. Macau already accounts for the lion's share of earnings power. It contributed 65% of Sands' Ebitda before rent last quarter.

Equity raised would also allow it to delever both its Macau and U.S. balance sheets, then relever the Macau division with debt funding to complete at least the semifinished phase-1 site with new money.

Equity Value

The key though is how much equity is in Macau?

Total Macau level-debt is about $3.4 billion. Sands' operating casinos are worth around $4.5 billion and its ferry line around $350 million, suggesting a book value of around $1.5 billion for the business.

Applying a 2.3x multiple to the casino assets would suggest around $2.65 billion in value. The unprofitable ferry line should be worth around book value, suggesting a total $3 billion for the functioning Macau businesses - just under around half of Sands' total market worth.

The unfinished Cotai sites are recorded at $1.7 billion.

Assume the 790 tables and 3,500 slot machines at the new casino generate a very conservative $1.95 billion in revenue annually, with a 15% Ebitda margin that results in about $290 million annually. Given other operators easily trade at 9 times enterprise value to Ebitda that suggests a $2.6 billion value for the casino alone.

Realistically, though the sites unless completed have limited value. But if Sands earmarked new funds to paying down debt and restarting development it could be a draw for investors looking for equity access to new Cotai properties. Bankers and management could plausibly argue the unfinished sites are worth book value, pushing Macau's equity value to around $4.7 billion.

Selling off just under half of the Macau assets at, say, $2.5 billion would allow the Adelson family to keep their close hold on their casino empire as well as finish off at least part of their vision for the Cotai Strip.

In the meantime, Sands management will probably be watching across the road at Melco's new City of Dreams complex. Competition may have heated up in Macau since Sands first opened up in 2004 breaking a local gaming monopoly but it should hope Melco's own gamble pays off. For City of Dream's success is likely to be the barometer by which new investors judge how keen they are to ply fresh capital into indebted Las Vegas Sands.


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## hkskyline

*澳門《舊區重整法律制度》配套行政法規爭取年內 完成起草工作 *
2 June 2009
新華社中文新聞 

澳門《舊區重整法律制度》配套行政法規爭取年內完成起草工作

新華社澳門６月２日電（記者劉衛國）澳門特區政府土地工務運輸局局長賈利安２日表示，澳門《舊區重整法律制度》草案已進入立法程序，特區政府跨部門工作小組正起草配套行政法規，爭取在今年內完成起草工作。

賈利安在回復立法會議員有關舊區重整書面質詢時表示，特區政府對舊區重整的方針有兩方面，一是抓緊法律草案及其配套行政法規的起草、討論、諮詢工作；二是通過整建修復、街道美化等措施整治舊區，提升居民的生活環境及營商環境。

他表示，行政長官２００７年批示設立“土地發展諮詢小組”，從城市規劃、歷史建築文物保護以及環境保護等方面進行研究併發表意見。

賈利安表示，為強化土地發展的諮詢制度，特區政府去年年底開始推行“土地批給公開旁聽會”，以便讓更多不同界別的人士參與意見，增加土地批給信息的透明度。（完）


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## hkskyline

*限量推售約40伙 以高層為主 氹仔皇族下半年現樓登場 *
11 June 2009
星島日報 

偉興旗下氹仔區皇族，發展商計畫下半年重推餘貨，涉及四十餘伙，集中高層單位，由於物業接近入伙期，重推時將以現樓形式推售，包括複式及少量頂層單位。 

仲量聯行（澳門）住宅部主管黃智威表示，由該行代理的氹仔區皇族，發展商偉興正部署下半年重推餘貨，涉約四十餘伙，集中高層，包括七個位於極高層的複式單位，以及少量頂層單位，暫時未定售價，將會按之後市況變化再決定。他表示，由於物業接近入伙期，重推時將以現樓形式登場。 

單幢式設計 

資料指，皇族以單幢盤設計，提供約一百九十八伙，分別為一百八十六個分層單位、九個複式單位及三個頂層單位，大部分單位望海景及氹仔開揚景。分層單位一梯六伙，間隔包括兩房及三房，面積介乎一千至二千八百八十八方呎不等；複式單位每兩層三伙，面積介乎二千八百至三千五百方呎；頂層單位則每層僅一伙，面積約五千方呎。 

該盤去年三月首度登場，據悉，至今已累售約一百五十伙。黃智威表示，市場憧憬第三季新特首上台，將帶動樓市上升，而近期樓市觸底回升，除了與周邊地區樓市氣氛好轉、銀行「放水」等有關外，四厘補貼計畫即將落實，亦為成交量增加的原因之一。 

累售約150伙 

他預料，第二季每月住宅成交量將回升至約五百宗，第三季會進一步回升到七百至八百宗。樓價方面，黃智威指，第二季至今已見到升幅，由於樓市由用家主導，中小型物業升幅較顯著，與首季比較，上升約一成至一成五，而豪宅物業上升速度則較慢，幅度僅一成，預料第三季整體樓價將在百分之五窄幅徘徊。除了用家外，近期開始有外地投資者趁低吸納，估計近月成交中有兩成由投資者承接。美聯營業經理梁國文表示，如早前就有一名投資者，一口氣購入氹仔區濠庭都會第八座四個單位，涉資一千四百餘萬元，而另一名內地投資者近日購入第五座中層B及C室，涉資約九百四十萬元。


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## hkskyline

*HOUSE OF CARDS - His fortune waning, James Packer bets it all on the City of Dreams*
7 June 2009
Sunday Telegraph

The fortunes of one of Australia's wealthiest families are riding on an audacious attempt to dominate the Macau gambling scene, Paul Barry writes.

Kerry Packer was a huge gambler who lost hundreds of millions of dollars on the gaming tables. And his son is beginning to resemble him -- in more ways than one.

James Packer, is physically huge, for a start, and, at 41, looks just like his father. He's also betting big. Since the old man died in December, 2005, James has been making far bigger bets than Kerry ever dared.

And he's lost almost every one of them. In Las Vegas alone, Packer's company, Crown Ltd, has dropped more than $1 billion since late 2007. Way more than Kerry lost in a lifetime.

Last week, Packer slammed another $3 billion on the table with City of Dreams, Melco Crown Entertainment's new mega-casino/resort in Macau.

It opened with a spectacular fireworks display for 600 VIP guests, 500 Asian journalists and thousands of eager Chinese punters.

Today, Packer is waiting nervously to see whether he has backed a winner at last.

He knows that if this bet fails, it could spell the end of his dream to become a world-class casino operator.

He knows, too, that a loss will make another dent in his fortune, which has already halved to $3 billion, relegating him to sixth place on Australia's BRW Rich 200 list.

The centrepiece of Packer's glitzy development on Macau's Cotai Strip -- a swath of reclaimed marshland that joins two small islands in the former Portuguese colony -- is a huge casino whose gambling floor is twice the size of the Sydney Cricket Ground.

With its 519 gaming tables, 1350 poker machines and (hopefully) hordes of Chinese punters, it should pack a much bigger punch than Crown in Melbourne or Sydney's Star City.

But please don't call it a casino. Lawrence Ho, Packer's partner in the joint venture, managed to get through his welcome speech in Macau last week without once using the ``c'' word. And Greg Hawkins, City of Dreams' Australian chief executive, almost repeated the trick.

They ran through at least a dozen different euphemisms, calling it an ``international entertainment resort'', a ``leisure and lifestyle experience'', an ``urban entertainment centre'', a ``food and beverage and retail experience'' and even a ``multi-day-stay leisure and recreation destination''.

Perhaps this was because gambling is illegal in mainland China, where many of the journalists were from.

Perhaps it was because a new casino is old news in Macau, which now has 15 times as many gaming tables as Melbourne and 20 times as many as Sydney.

Or perhaps they just couldn't call a spade a spade.

James Packer didn't have to perform any verbal gymnastics, because he didn't open his mouth. Not in public anyway.

He ducked the morning media conference and declined to say anything at the ribbon-cutting ceremony or at the guitar-smashing show to christen City of Dreams' new Hard Rock Hotel.

The most he could manage was an awkward, ``Great, great'' as he and his wife, Erica, hurried away from a crafty ambush by Mark Burrows, from the Packers' old TV network, Channel Nine.

So it was left to Greg Hawkins to tell us that James had ``walked through the property'' and was ``amazed and very excited''.

By evening, Packer was certainly beaming. At the VIP gala dinner, barred to the media, he was relaxed and smiling.

According to an observer, he hugged the casino's builder, Leighton's Wal King, and put an arm around one of his bankers, Deutsche Bank's Rob Rankin.

By this stage of the proceedings, Packer was clearly feeling relieved. And it wasn't just the vintage Dom Perignon champagne or the free-flowing Chateau Latour that lifted his mood.

The new casino had been built, it looked fabulous, and the launch had gone off without a hitch.

Better still, when the doors had been flung open at 8pm, as the last sparks sank into the artificial lake, thousands of Chinese gamblers had streamed in.

By morning, no fewer than 40,000 visitors -- from Macau, Hong Kong and the adjoining mainland -- had come through the property. And many had stayed to lose money on the tables.

How did Packer's people know this? Because City

of Dreams has hi-tech, infrared people counters on its entrances.

Halfway through the celebration dinner, Hawkins dragged his media-shy boss to the gaming floor to show him the joint was jumping.

``Yeah, James is very pleased,'' Hawkins told me when I ran into him in the casino just before midnight.

And Packer had every reason to be cheerful. In the past few weeks, there have been several signs his nightmare run is over.

For a start, stock markets are picking up. The share price of Melco Crown Entertainment, the joint venture that owns City of Dreams and the older Crown Macau casino, has more than doubled in recent months.

Even better, the price of Packer's Australian flagship company, Crown Limited, has bounced back from $4.50 to $7.35 since March.

Shares in Consolidated Media Holdings (which owns seek.com.au, half of Fox Sports and a quarter of the pay-TV operator Foxtel) have also recovered.

Together, these factors have restored almost $1 billion to Packer's fortune. And, boy, did he need it.

Until recently, he was down by more than $4 billion -- two-thirds of what he inherited from his father.

Some of that loss reflects falling share prices, but Packer has lost real money, too. And his judgment has been shocking.

After pulling off a great coup by selling Channel Nine and his magazine empire for $5 billion at the very top of the market, he went on a huge spree in Las Vegas and splashed out on four big casino deals at wildly inflated prices.

All of these went horribly wrong, with total cash losses to his flagship company, Crown Limited, of around $1 billion.

Packer's 2007 punt on a new Crown Las Vegas, at the shabby north end of the Strip -- in what was to be the world's tallest building -- failed because the banks wouldn't fund the project.

Locals never believed it would get off the ground, anyway. So that was goodbye to $45 million.

Next came a $333 million wager in mid-2007 on a 20 per cent stake in the new Fontainebleau Las Vegas Resort, which is being built next door to the abandoned Crown Las Vegas site.

It was due to be finished in October this year, but all work stopped a month ago when bankers pulled the plug. Kiss another $333 million goodbye.

Then there was a $242 million flutter on a five per cent stake in Station Casinos, the largest suburban casino operator in Vegas.

Sadly, Station went bankrupt in March, and Packer is unlikely to pull anything from the wreckage. Bye-bye to a further $242 million.

Shortly afterwards came a $172 million wager on a 2.5 per cent stake in Harrah's, the world's largest casino operator. Harrah's, too, is teetering on the edge of bankruptcy, so Packer has probably lost the lot again.

Then there was Crown's venture to buy casinos in Canada with the Macquarie Group. It has so far resulted in losses of $49 million.

And it would have been even worse but for a miraculous escape.

Crown's biggest deal, struck in December, 2007, was to spend $US1.8 billion on Cannery Casino Resorts, which owns three casinos in Vegas and one in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

A year later, as Pennsylvania regulators pondered whether to give Packer a licence, these casinos were worth about half what Crown had agreed to pay.

Then, by a great stroke of luck, Gretel Packer and three secretive Packer trusts, based in the Bahamas, suddenly decided they could tolerate no further investigation.

Soon afterwards, the deal fell apart, and Crown agreed to pay as much as $US250 million in penalties. But this saved Packer's company from taking a potential $900 million hit.

Until now, Packer's fortunes in Macau haven't been going much better.

Since 2005, his venture with Lawrence Ho -- son of Dr Stanley Ho, who held a monopoly on casino gaming in Macau for 40 years -- has accumulated losses of almost $US300 million.

Part of the problem is that Melco Crown paid $US900 million ($1.2 billion) for its casino licence, whereas its competitors mostly got in for free. Another is that Packer and Ho arrived much later than their rivals.

But that's not all. Their first casino, the $US600 million Crown Macau, is miles from the main gaming area and was a hopeless, mass-market casino.

Within weeks of its opening in June, 2007, Packer and Ho were ripping out the baccarat tables and poker machines and redesigning the casino for VIP gamblers. They then had to hire a so-called ``junket consolidator'' to bring in high-rollers.

For a short period in early 2008, Crown Macau was the busiest casino in the world, but made little money because it paid the junketeers huge commissions.

Then business fell off again, and Melco Crown slumped to last place in the market. During the most recent quarter, it recorded a $US35 million loss.

Some say Packer and Ho have done well, given that Crown Macau's so bad. But James didn't go to China to lose money and come last. He went to make a fortune, which he hopes City of Dreams will do.

Certainly, the new casino will spread the cost of Melco Crown's $1.2 billion licence and tap into the much more profitable mass market. So it should improve the company's fortunes, and it certainly looks great.

But will City of Dreams succeed? Analysts have called it the ``sink or swim moment''. Lawrence Ho has described it as ``the endgame'' and warned that it could be curtains for Melco Crown if things don't go well.

Certainly, it's a brave time to be opening. After three years of 30 per cent growth, the Macau market has recently been shrinking.

Casino revenues during the latest quarter were 13 per cent down on the corresponding period in 2008. Casinos, including Crown, have been laying off staff, cutting wages and forcing employees to take leave.

Other casino operators have put their development projects on ice.

A kilometre along the Cotai Strip from City of Dreams is the half-finished shell of Galaxy's new Mega Resort. Its owners decided it was a lousy time to open, and stopped construction.

From the Hard Rock Hotel, you can see an even bigger building site. Only 100m from City of Dreams there are four unfinished casinos and another 6000 would-be hotel rooms.

Work stopped suddenly last November when the developer, Las Vegas Sands, ran out of money, and 11,000 workers were sacked. Seven months later, there's no sign of a restart on the project, which has already consumed $US2 billion.

Back then, Las Vegas Sands was on the brink of bankruptcy and its American founder, 75-year-old Sheldon Adelson, was going out backwards.

In 2007, Adelson had been the world's third-richest man, with a fortune of around $US60 billion. Eighteen months later, his shares had lost 99 per cent of their value and Adelson was down to his last billion dollars.

All of which makes James Packer's recent problems seem pretty mild.

But even Adelson appears to have escaped. In the past six weeks, Las Vegas Sands shares have risen sixfold and the threat of bankruptcy has receded.

However, he may still be forced to sell one of his completed Macau properties, which include two huge casinos, the Sands Macao and the even bigger Venetian, just across the road from City of Dreams.

The Venetian is a full-scale reproduction of medieval Venice, including St Mark's Square, the Bridge of Sighs and the famous bell tower. It's also the fourth-largest building in the world, with a casino more than twice the size of the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

It draws 50,000 visitors a day and makes $US500 million a year in profit, before interest and tax.

Unfortunately, even that hasn't been sufficient to keep the banks at bay, because Adelson borrowed $US3 billion to build this megalith and a further $US10 billion on similar monuments to extravagance in Las Vegas and Singapore.

All the same, the Venetian's performance is what Packer's City of Dreams

is aiming for.

The idea is to steal some

of the Venetian's customers, or combine with the Venetian to pull punters from casinos in Macau's more popular downtown area.

Research shows that punters typically go to three casinos while they're in the territory, losing 50 per cent at the first, 30 per cent at the second and 20 per cent at the third.

The aim is to get City of Dreams and the Venetian into those top two positions by making the Cotai Strip punters' first port of call.

That's why there has been a huge TV campaign to sell City of Dreams to Asian customers. And that's why Packer's people paid to fly 500 journalists from China, Taiwan, Korea, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam to the opening. For the

record, The Sunday

Telegraph counted only three journalists from Australia, all of whom had to push hard for an invitation.

So far, brokers' analysts are optimistic. So is Lawrence Ho, who says the worst is past for Macau, the market is ``buzzing'' and he and Packer are ``confident'' of success. Analysts predict City of Dreams will make close to $1 million a day in profit (before interest, tax and depreciation) on roughly $4 million a day in revenue.

That would involve 40,000 people losing an average of $100 apiece -- and lose they certainly will. That's the beauty of casinos. As James Packer discovered from watching his father, punters never win. And they longer they gamble, the more they lose. Unfortunately, as James has also discovered, the owners don't always benefit unless they have a monopoly -- as Crown does in Melbourne and Perth. In Macau, there are 31 other casinos to compete with.

But if it does go wrong, James will have some comfort. The $5 billion that has been invested in City of Dreams, Crown Macau and the casino licence is largely other people's money. There's more than $2 billion from the banks. Then there's $2 billion-odd from (mainly American) shareholders in Melco Crown. Finally, there's $500 million apiece from Packer and Ho's respective companies. Remarkably, this relatively small contribution has given Packer and Ho roughly three-quarters of the action between them, and three-quarters of any profits.

The net result is that Packer and Ho are well ahead on their investment, even though ordinary shareholders have lost two-thirds of theirs. All of them will be hoping City of Dreams is a success.


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## hkskyline

*Macau housing picks up *
29 July 2009
South China Morning Post

Despite suffering from a decline in gaming revenues and a fragile economic outlook, Macau's residential market has shown signs of improvement since the second quarter.

While the rate of recovery is not yet comparable to the rebound in demand and prices in the Hong Kong and mainland markets, property consultants said transaction numbers and prices had picked up since March - thanks to low interest rates and government measures to boost property buying.

The number of residential sales transactions rebounded from a trough of less than 200 in January to close to 800 in May, according to Jones Lang LaSalle.

"The mass residential market was the main beneficiary of the government's incentive measures, while the high-end market was not given quite the same boost," said Jeff Wong, Jones Lang's head of residential in Macau.

"But coupled with the low interest rate environment and the recent rebound in the region's stock markets, sales of residential properties have rebounded to pre-crisis levels," said Mr Wong.

The Macau government announced two sets of incentives this year: a 4 per cent home loan interest rate subsidy scheme and a mortgage guarantee programme.

High-end residential properties showed an average 2.2 per cent rise in value in the first half of this year, according to Jones Lang. In the mass and medium residential market, capital values rose 12.1 per cent.

Across the board, Savills said, average residential prices in Macau had declined before the recent recovery by 30 per cent from their peak in the fourth quarter of 2007. The property consultant also noted some early signs of recovery in the second quarter of this year in the middle to high-end market segments.

The positive news came as the city posted negative economic growth of 12.9 per cent year on year in the first quarter - the largest fall in the last 10 years.

However, the residential leasing market remained subdued, as the number of expatriates continued to fall and housing budgets were reduced. High-end residential rents fell 12.6 per cent in the first half. Rents for mass residential properties declined 3 per cent during the same period.

The office market remained weak, with vacancy rates rising to 26 per cent at the end of the first half.


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## hkskyline

Some major projects - notice the Venetian in the background :










More reclamation :










New Lisboa :










All photos were previously posted : http://www.skyscrapers.cn/forum/viewthread.php?tid=182351&extra=page=1&page=1


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## hkskyline

*Macau property regains luster on lower cost of borrowing *
29 July 2009
The Standard

Macau's residential market is showing signs of improvement because of low borrowing costs and surges in the stock market, according to property consultant Jones Lang LaSalle.

Prices of mass residential units over the next 12 months are expected to increase 10 percent, while prices of luxury apartments may rise 15 to 20 percent in the period, said Jeff Wong Chi-wai, the firm's head of residential sales in Macau.

To stimulate the residential market, the Macau government has outlined two sets of incentives that include a 4 percent home loan interest rate subsidy scheme and a mortgage guarantee program.

``Coupled with the low interest rate environment and the recent rebound in the region's stock markets, sales of residential properties [have] bounced back to their pre-crisis levels,'' Wong said.

The number of residential sales rebounded from the trough of fewer than 200 in January to close to 800 in May. Wong estimates the monthly figure will reach 1,000 in the second half of this year.

The consulting firm also expects the residential leasing market to see 5 percent growth in rents over the coming year. With the suspension of Las Vegas Sands' expansion projects and the government's tightening of impact labor policies, the number of expatriates in Macau has fallen.

Rents this year were generally on the decline but at a slower pace compared to the fourth quarter last year.

High-end residential rents declined 12.6 percent in the first half of the year, while rents for mass residential properties edged down 3 percent during the same period.


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## hkskyline

MGM Grand Macau
Source : http://www.pbase.com/agostinho/hotelmgm


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## rajesh jagetia

Macau, a greatt city (specially for gamblers).


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## hkskyline

*Las Vegas Sands targets $400 million bond sale *

HONG KONG, Aug 1 (Reuters) - Las Vegas Sands, the world's largest casino firm, is seeking $400 million in short-term funding to help boost cash and restart construction of its stalled resort in Macau, local media reported on Saturday.

The company controlled by U.S. billionaire Sheldon Adelson is offering convertible bonds with interest of up to 16 percent to hedge funds and pension fund managers, South China Morning Post said, citing people who saw documents prepared by investment bank Goldman Sachs.

The paper said the sale is linked to Sands' plan to raise $2.5 billion in a Hong Kong initial public offering of its Macau operations early next year. The bonds may be swapped for the IPO shares. Sands has tapped Goldman Sachs to look at a potential Hong Kong listing for its Macau assets.


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## hkskyline

*MGM Mirage posts loss, but revenue tops estimates *

ATLANTA, Aug 3 (Reuters) - MGM Mirage posted a second-quarter loss on Monday as it discounted hotel rooms in a bid to attract conventioneers to its Las Vegas resorts, but its shares gained 5 percent as it cited better revenue trends.

The casino operator also said convention and business group bookings were improving and added it was likely gaining market share. Declines in hotel revenue in Las Vegas slowed in the second quarter from the first period, and that sequential trend is expected to continue, the company added.

"The operating environment we think will remain choppy in the near term," MGM Mirage Chief Executive Jim Murren said during a conference call. "However, we see extremely positive signs especially as we go into 2010 or even into the fourth quarter."

MGM also said it expects CityCenter, the multi-tower project on the Las Vegas Strip it is developing with joint venture partner Dubai World, would help recharge growth in the Vegas market and at its surrounding properties. CityCenter is on track to start opening later this year.

The No. 2 casino operator, whose largest shareholder is billionaire Kirk Kerkorian, reported a net loss of $212.6 million, or 60 cents a diluted share, compared with year-earlier net income of $113.1 million, or 40 cents a share.

The results included a cash impairment charge of 34 cents a share from an investment in a convertible note, and other special items.

Excluding items, the loss came to 12 cents a share, while analysts on average had expected a loss of 9 cents, according to Reuters Estimates.

Revenue, adjusting for promotional allowances, fell 21 percent to $1.49 billion, compared with $1.48 billion forecast by analysts.

Susquehanna Financial Group analyst Robert LaFleur said MGM did a "good job" controlling expenses in the quarter.

"It was from our view sort of an in-line quarter," LaFleur said.

MGM, whose holdings include nine Las Vegas Strip casino-hotels, gambling resorts in Mississippi and Michigan, and joint ventures in New Jersey and China's Macau, said $2.65 billion of debt and equity issuances completed in the quarter improved its financial position.

The company is looking to further expand in Asia as decreased business travel pressures casinos. It said in June that it was in talks with investors to develop a casino in Taiwan and also was eyeing potential projects in Japan and the Philippines.

But the company faces scrutiny in the United States tied to its joint venture in Macau with partner Pansy Ho.

Last week, the state of New Jersey reopened its review of the gaming license held by MGM and Boyd Gaming Corp's -- a 50-50 venture that operates Atlantic City's Borgata.

The move is tied to issues raised earlier this year by an investigation of the Macau venture. In May, New Jersey's gaming enforcement division issued a report recommending that MGM sever business ties with Ho.

MGM said it looks forward to presenting evidence at a hearing before state gambling authorities.

"I don't think this is going to result in anything near term," LaFleur said of the New Jersey investigation. "I think we're in the very early stages of a long, drawn-out process."

Shares of MGM, which fell before the market opened, were up 36 cents, or 5 percent, at $7.59 at mid-afternoon on the New York Stock Exchange. Other casino stocks rose, with market leader Las Vegas Sands up 6.8 percent at $9.99 and Wynn Resorts up 4.9 percent at $53.66.


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## hkskyline

*ANALYSIS-Las Vegas Sands, Wynn IPOs seen as sure wins *

HONG KONG/LOS ANGELES, August 6 (Reuters) - With Las Vegas struggling, investors keen to place bets on casino companies will plunk their money down on U.S. casino archrivals Las Vegas Sands and Wynn Resorts IPOs in Hong Kong for a stake in Macau, the world's biggest gambling market.

Their initial public offerings appeal on several levels. They will be among only a handful of "pure plays" in the lucrative Macau gaming sector, the others are Melco Crown Entertainment, Galaxy Entertainment Group and SJM Holdings.

That gives investors a chance to confine their exposure to Macau, unburdened by both companies' struggling Las Vegas operations. Gaming companies in Las Vegas are fighting uphill battles amid the economic downturn and a glut of new casinos.

Analysts say the offerings will also be regarded as proxy plays on China, the world's best-performing major economy.

Sands, the world's most-valuable casino company, could tap the Hong Kong IPO market as early as this month, hoping to raise up to $3 billion for some of its Macau assets.

Wynn, the world's No.2, is following suit, planning to raise up to $1 billion by the fourth quarter..

Of the two, Wynn's offering is a better bet compared with debt-heavy Sands, due to Wynn's lower debt levels, good track record and minimal project commitments, analysts said.

"Wynn has a very premium brand name, it might be more favourably received," said Sanford Bernstein analyst Janet Brashear. "If the IPO goes first and it's successful, then it will benefit Las Vegas Sands too."

The IPOs are coming to market at a time when Hong Kong's stocks are rallying and analysts forecasting the former Portugese colony of Macau will recover faster than Las Vegas.

After dropping 21 percent in the first three months of the year, Hong Kong's benchmark Hang Seng Index has risen about 81 percent since its lows in March, making IPOs a more attractive proposition.

Macau's ace in hole is China, a mere day trip away. The world's biggest gambling market draws a daily flood of risk-loving Chinese as they head to the only place in China where casinos are legal.

"Chinese people love to gamble and they have more money every day," said Susquehanna Financial analyst Robert LaFleur.

Macau's gross gaming revenues are set to rise 11 percent year-on-year in the fourth quarter, according to BNP Paribas.

WYNN WIN ?

Most analysts are putting their money on Wynn.

"The Wynn IPO is a war-chest manoeuvre. They're very opportunistic about raising money when money is available," said Sanford Bernstein analyst Janet Brashear."

The ratio of net debt to EBITDA for Wynn is estimated to be 4.6 times, much lower than Sands at 10.8 times, by the end of 2009, according to a report by JP Morgan.

Sands, which operates the Palazzo and Venetian resorts on the Legas Strip, has come close to violating loan agreements and has suspended work on several projects and laid off hundreds of workers. The company operates two casinos in Macau, including the Venetian, the world's largest casino resort.

It will open a gambling resort, billed as the world's most expensive casino resort, in the city-state of Singapore next year.

The companies have different strategies.

Sands, owned by billionaire Sheldon Adelson, draws a mostly mass-market crowd. This brings high margins because "junkets," which bankroll VIP gamblers, cut out about 40 percent of a casino's profits in commissions, Brashear said.

With its plush carpets and chandeliers, Wynn's Macau casino has managed to attract direct VIP customers without the use of junkets because of its reputation, according to analysts.

PRICEY BETS?

Exposure to the world's hottest gambling market will not come cheaply for investors.

Brashear estimated that the IPOs could be priced at 10 to 12 times enterprise value to earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA), higher than the multiples of 6 to 8 for the companies' U.S. shares.

Macau's inflated property market is one reason for the difference. "The Asian investor pays up significantly for real estate," said T. Rowe Price portfolio manager Joseph Fath.

Analysts warned increasing competition in Macau means a return to explosive growth rates seen earlier this decade is unlikely, with three more new casinos expected to open within the next two years.

The weak global economy, further competition from Singapore and concerns Beijing will clamp down harder on Chinese tourist visits into Macau could also make the IPOs risky investments.

And as one analyst pointed out, a bet on these two casino listings could prove to be, well, a bit of a gamble.

"The valuations of their assets could vary at any point in time," said Moody's analyst Kaven Tsang. "We maintain a negative outlook for the sector. The overall economy and gaming revenues are not showing a significant rebound yet."


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## JUAR92

i would like to go there some day, do you think macau's strip is better than las vegas??


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## hkskyline

Julio-arias said:


> i would like to go there some day, do you think macau's strip is better than las vegas??


It's not as developed so far. Most of the reclaimed lands sit empty now on the Taipa side where the new casinos will pop up going forward. There are a few hotels around the Venetian, but so far it is mostly concentrated on indoor attractions. The street-side is a bit boring.


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## c6josh

hkskyline said:


> MGM Grand Macau
> Source : http://www.pbase.com/agostinho/hotelmgm


definitely one of the most largest and beautiful casinos in the world.


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## hkskyline

*Tycoon to leave huge hole in the city he built*
15 August 2009
The Australian

AS Stanley Ho, the 87-year-old billionaire gambling tycoon, remains in hospital in Hong Kong after surgery to remove a clot on the brain, there are questions about what his uncertain succession could mean for Macau and its complex relationship with China.

The colourful Ho dominated the $18billion Macau casino industry for 40 years until it was opened up to competition in 2002. Led by the flagship Grand Lisboa, his interests still account for 30 per cent of the industry in the city, the only part of China that has legalised casino gambling.

Thousands of mainland Chinese flock across the border from Zhuhai or fly in from other parts of the country to gamble in Macau, which has become an officially sanctioned outlet for the hot money of China and an unofficial centre of financial transactions with North Korea.

With four ``wives'', 17 children, an angry sister and a string of lieutenants, co-investors and business associates, there are concerns that when Ho dies, the stability that has derived from his godfather-like role in Macau could come under threat.

With no clear successor for Ho's $10billion international empire, Macau residents are bracing themselves for a soap opera-style scramble for control of his assets, which cover almost every aspect of daily living in Macau, from casinos and property to transport, the airport and Air Macau.

Ho has been involved in bitter court cases with his sister Winnie, who still holds a key stake in the empire, in which he revealed publicly the family secret that her husband was not the father of her son.

While he has lost his monopoly grip on the casino industry in Macau, Ho has also played a role in attempting to foster co-operation between the six casino licence-holders, which include a joint venture between James Packer and Ho's oldest living son, 32-year-old Lawrence Ho.

Some have also dared to speculate about whether the end of the Stanley Ho era in Macau could see a return to some of the bad old days of standover activities and violence in the city.

Now a Special Administrative Region of China, along the lines of Hong Kong, Macau comes under the watchful eye of Beijing. A new Beijing-sanctioned chief executive, Fernando Chui, a member of a wealthy Macau family and an old friend of Ho, is due to take over in December -- the first change of leader since Macau's return to Chinese rule in 1999.

Ho has had strong links with the leaders in Beijing where he has a seat on the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and his comments on issues of the day in Macau are given considerable weight.

His ambitious fourth wife, Angela Leong, is an elected member of the Macau legislative body. While Lawrence is Stanley's oldest son, his older sister Pansy, 45, has been running one arm of the family business, Shun Tak, which has interests in property and the fast ferries between Hong Kong and Macau.

Many have seen her as the heir apparent for the family business, while others speculate that Leong, who is in her late 40s, might also be keen to have a greater say in the running of the empire.

Lawrence Ho has set up his own Hong Kong-listed company, Melco, and has been at pains to set himself up as an businessman in his own right. Under Macau law no one can control two casino licences, so Lawrence would not be able to take over his father's licence in the city.

As with many members of the Ho family, it is not clear how much Lawrence would stand to benefit from his father's estate.

Although the eldest son has the status in Chinese families, the situation is vastly different from that of the Packer family where James Packer automatically stepped into his father's shoes.

Once Ho dies, his three living wives are expected to battle for the empire. Pansy has her own casino licence as part of a joint venture with US operator MGM Grand.

The rapid expansion of the Macau casino business in recent years, with the introduction of more Western-style casinos and hotels, has attracted many workers from Australia, including executives from Packer's Crown group, poker machine company Aristocrat Leisure, construction company Leighton, and others working in areas of food, services as well as horse and dog racing.

Airline Viva Macau operates services three times a week between Sydney and Macau.

Stanley Ho, who attracted attention recently for his donations to the NSW Labor Party and has property on the Gold Coast, lives in Hong Kong and is a director of more than 150 companies around the world.

His business interests stretch from China to Africa to Portugal and North Korea as well as Macau and Australia. Buyers for Ho are regular attendees at the horse saleyards of Sydney and the Gold Coast while Australians in the racing industry in Hong Kong work closely with him.

Ho's colourful reputation and allegations of links with organised crime (which he has denied) have counted against him in his moves to enter the casino industry in Australia and around the world. Yet Ho has been a force for stability in Macau.

He was recently behind the negotiation of an agreement to put a cap on commissions paid by casino operators in Macau, heading off a situation where operators were bidding against each other to attract junket operators and high-roller gamblers to their premises.

The rapid expansion of Macau in recent years has led to local concern about rising prices and an influx of foreign workers, which has prompted unease among locals.

There has also been concern that the city's best and the brightest are lured away from their studies to work as croupiers.

Beijing would be concerned at any unrest or outbreak of crime in the city, which now hosts more than 10 million visitors from China a year. Chinese officials have already sought to restrict visas to the city, concerned at the potential for visitors to lose their hard-earned money.

Ho's passing, when it happens, will leave a power vacuum in the region that many different interests may scramble to fill.


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## hkskyline

*eSun Holdings: Pact With Taubman On Macau Proj Terminated *
23 August 2009

HONG KONG (Dow Jones)--Hong Kong-listed eSun Holdings Ltd. (0571.HK) said Friday its 40%-owned Cyber One Agents Ltd. has terminated an agreement to sell a 25% stake in the retail operations of its Macau casino resort project to U.S.-based retail mall developer Taubman Centers Inc. (TCO).

The Hong Kong company said in a statement the agreement was terminated because the parties weren't able to secure all necessary construction financing for the project within a specified timeframe - a precondition to the venture with Taubman.

Cyber One Agents, which is also 40%-owned by U.S.-based New Cotai LLC and 20% held by Singapore developer CapitaLand Ltd. (C31.SG), signed an agreement in January 2008 to sell a 25% stake in the first phase of the retail operations of its Macau Studio City casino resort to Taubman for HK$424 million.

eSun said Cyber One has returned the sum of HK$424 million in cash paid by Taubman for the deal back to the U.S. company.

However, eSun said it is working with other shareholders and Taubman to see 'whether it might be possible to revive or reconfigure the arrangements with the Taubman Group,' but said it can't 'give any assurances that this will be achievable.'

The first phase of the Macau Studio City project, which is scheduled to open some time this year, will have a gross floor area totaling 3.7 million square feet, and will include several hotels and a casino, Macau Studio City said earlier. However, the company hasn't set an official opening date for the project.

New Cotai LLC, a consortium of U.S.-based investors including Oaktree Capital Management LLC will manage the casino along with U.S.-listed Melco PBL Entertainment (Macau) Ltd. (MPEL), one of six gambling license holders in Macau.


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## hkskyline

*Barclays gets IPO role from Sands *
31 August 2009
SCMP

Casino operator Las Vegas Sands has handed Barclays its first role in a Hong Kong initial public offering in a decade.

Sands, which wants to sell US$2.5 billion of shares in its Macau unit to repay debt and restart stalled casino projects, added the British bank to the deal alongside its regular adviser, Goldman Sachs.

Barclays won the plum job after helping Sands secure a crucial debt covenant lifeline from its banks after the casino firm nearly breached Macau loan agreements earlier this year, two people briefed on the situation said.

Barclays has not worked on a Hong Kong share sale since closing its BZW investment banking unit in the late 1990s. In Asia, it is best known for lending companies money and selling bonds and does not have a local team that specialises in helping companies go public.

Sands owes US$3.2 billion to its Macau lenders out of a total debt pile of US$10.4 billion. This month, Sands won a crucial six quarters of relief from its Macau loan covenants.

Goldman Sachs and Barclays, as lead arrangers of the loan Sands took out in 2006, helped persuade the rest of the lenders to allow the covenant waiver.

Goldman's role in the share sale was unsurprising, though. It has been advising Sands on fund-raising strategies for over a year.

Hong Kong's status as foreign investors' gateway to China means initial public offerings are a major money-spinner for banks here.

If Sands' share offering happens, Goldman and Barclays could share US$75 million in advisory fees, according to standard industry payment terms. And rival bankers, keen not to face even more competition in town, are already talking up what they perceive as Barclays' lack of credentials on this deal.

"Goldman may have to do a lot of the heavy lifting [on this IPO]," one senior banker at a rival firm said.

Barclays declined to comment.

The public offering has potential pitfalls. Sands' bankers must show it is a good time to invest in Macau, where the casino business is insecure because Beijing often restricts the number of trips mainland citizens can take to the gaming enclave.

They will also have to persuade money managers to take a rosy view of a highly indebted firm that has been grappling with project over-runs and delays. Sands suspended construction on its Cotai hotel and casino development in Macau last November, causing 11,000 job losses.

Competitor Wynn Resorts, which has not delayed any of its projects, is also planning to raise up to US$1 billion in a Hong Kong share sale in October. The Sands share sale may not be ready until next year.

Fund managers have said they may not have space in their investment portfolios for two Macau businesses.

Before Sands won the Macau covenant reprieve earlier this month, it was close to breaching the terms of the loan it took out in 2006 to fund its vast Venetian and Sands Macao resorts. Sands' Macau lenders required the firm to make a dollar of profit in the gaming city for every four dollars of cash it borrowed.

Sands just hit this target in the second quarter, reporting a debt to profit ratio of 3.83 times. In the second half, the loan-to-profit targets were to become more stringent. But now lenders are gambling on Sands raising cash in this offering, they have freed the casino giant from having to hit these targets for 18 months.

Barclays purchased the US and European businesses of collapsed Wall Street bank Lehman Brothers last September. Lehman was a lead arranger of Sands' Macau loan, and Barclays inherited that job when it bought Lehman.


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## hkskyline

*Las Vegas Sands adds bonds 
Casino operator raises $600 million debt ahead of Asian IPO *
3 September 2009
The Wall Street Journal Asia

HONG KONG -- Las Vegas Sands Corp. secured US$600 million in short-term financing through its bankers at Goldman Sachs to shore up its balance sheet ahead of a planned Hong Kong IPO of its Macau assets.

The Las Vegas-based casino operator, which runs the Sands Macao and the massive Venetian Macao resort-hotel in the Chinese gambling center of Macau, has made efforts to regain its financial footing after a difficult year in which its heavy debt burden and ambitious growth plans weighed on the company.

Las Vegas Sands, which opened a new casino in Pennsylvania earlier this year and is scheduled to finish a major project in Singapore next year, was forced to halt construction on several sites in Macau's Cotai area, where Las Vegas Sandschairman and chief executive Sheldon Adelson has bet heavily for future growth.

With the rebound in financial markets in recent months, Las Vegas Sands has been able to amend its US$3.3 billion Macau credit facility, as well as push ahead with plans to sell a piece of its Macau assets to Hong Kong investors.

The bonds, which will be exchanged into common shares of the Las Vegas Sands subsidiary at a 10% discount upon listing, will give the company an upfront financial boost, though it didn't say what it would use the proceeds for.

"The actions we have taken in recent weeks, together with the right-sizing of our cost structure and our on-going efforts to implement efficiencies across our operations, have clearly helped to strengthen our balance sheet," said Michael Leven, the company's president.

As the company's finances have recovered, New York-listed shares in Las Vegas Sands have risen more than eightfold from its bottom in mid-March.

The bonds will bear an annual interest rate of 9% for the first year and ultimately rise to 15% before they mature in 2014.


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## hkskyline

By *ivan0201 * from dchome :

MGM










Other skyscrapers


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## SilentStrike

wow that looks awesome


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## hkskyline

*Macau gaming shares soar *
4 September 2009
The Standard

Macau stocks soared yesterday, as reports of record gaming revenues in August prompted analysts to call the start of an economic recovery in the territory.

``While the competition in the gaming sector could remain tough, we believe the growing revenue pie is likely to stimulate further new investments and a better employment outlook,'' Credit Suisse analyst Cusson Leung said.

JPMorgan's Billy Ng said revenue in the Macau gaming industry will continue to grow strongly for the rest of the year.

Shun Tak Holdings (0242), a Macau- focused conglomerate controlled by the family of ``casino king'' Stanley Ho Hung-sun, rallied 10.7 percent to HK$5.79.

Credit Suisse yesterday hiked its target price for Shun Tak by 52.8 percent to HK$6.83, from HK$4.47, and kept its ``outperform'' call on the stock. ``Shun Tak remains the preferred play on Macau's economic recovery,'' Leung said. Shun Tak's earnings could surprise on the upside because of its columbarium project on Taipa Island, Leung said.

Shares of SJM Holdings (0880), Ho's gaming flagship, rose 9.5 percent to end the day at an all-time closing high of HK$3.56. Dore Holdings (0628), a VIP junket operator, surged 16 percent to 29 HK cents. Galaxy Entertainment (0027), controlled by Lui Che-woo, added 7.7 percent to HK$2.51.


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## hkskyline

*Zhuhai and Macau reveal grand plan for the island they will run *
15 September 2009
South China Morning Post

A more detailed blueprint for the island, Hengqin , that will be jointly developed by Zhuhai and Macau, was revealed by Zhuhai authorities yesterday, targeting a gross domestic product of 56 billion yuan (HK$63.5 billion) by 2020.

The scale of that ambition is apparent when it is considered that the bleak 106 sq km island has only 4,000 residents and recorded a meagre GDP of 128 million yuan last year. Mainland authorities had discussed its development a decade ago but it had been delayed because of the difference in political and legal systems.

Zhuhai mayor Zhong Shijian said the island had been divided into different areas for development and that the blueprint included one sq km for a new campus of the University of Macau.

Authorities said the island, part of the Zhuhai Special Economic Zone, would also pilot co-operation projects with Macau in customs, financial and revenue systems and land management

Niu Jing , deputy director of Hengqin's administrative committee, said that an innovation in customs arrangements would allow Macau students and staff to commute via a tunnel without going through immigration checkpoints. "Because the new campus will be operated according to Macau laws, both the university and we expect to make it a self-contained area that is separated from other parts of the island," he said, adding that the project could cost 3 to 5 billion yuan.

But Zhuhai authorities refused to say whether Macau would be able to send police to the campus.

Other projects on the island include a huge China National Offshore Oil Corp gas terminal; gas-engine generator projects costing 12 billion yuan; and a massive ocean-themed entertainment centre, said to be the largest in Asia.

It was last month that the State Council Standing Committee approved Hengqin island to pilot co-operation schemes between Zhuhai and Macau.

An expert who jointly drafted the Hengqin blueprint said that only enhancing cross-border co-operation could boost development in Zhuhai and Macau. "Neither Macau nor Zhuhai can be the big brother on the west coast of the Pearl River Delta," the expert was quoted as saying by 21st Century Economic Report.


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## hkskyline

*Macau uni gets slice of China *
The Standard
Tuesday, September 15, 2009

A one-square-kilometer site in Zhuhai has been handed over to the Macau government for the relocation of the University of Macau.

The university zone, which will be developed starting next year in Hengqin at a cost of least six billion patacas (HK$5.83 billion), will be 20 times bigger than the existing campus in Taipa and can house six to eight colleges.

Liu Jia, head of the new zone, said the land will be under Macau's jurisdiction for 40 years. "The Hengqin authority has laid the foundation for water and electricity supply as well as drainage," Liu said.

Situated near a business zone, the new campus will rise opposite Coloane Island. Dormitories, sports facilities, supermarkets and a clinic would also be built on the campus, scheduled to be completed within three years. 

Hengqin welcomes universities, including those in Hong Kong, to set up regional research and development on the island, Liu said.


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## hkskyline

By *fatshe* from skyscrapers.cn :


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## hkskyline

*Developer goes back to basics *
30 September 2009
SCMP

Nearly a year after global gaming giant Las Vegas Sands Corp suspended work on two expansion projects on Macau's Cotai Strip and brought the city's explosive construction activity to a halt, a developer believes the key to picking up the pieces in Macau's property sector is in "going back to basics".

Hong Kong-based Telok Macau Real Estate Fund I, which describes itself as a "boutique closed-end opportunistic investment fund", says that the shattering experience of seeing what happened when Las Vegas Sands pulled the plug on its Macau construction programme, has taught it to adopt a "more resilient business model of focusing on local demand".

"Before the announcement from Las Vegas Sands, major developers focused on building large glamour projects when they came to Macau," said Genevia Lam, a vice-president of Telok Real Estate Partners, the investment manager of Telok Macau Real Estate Fund.

"They ignored the reality that these luxury apartments were beyond the reach of the general public."

Telok Real Estate Partners was founded in 1976 and, including its Macau "Verde" development now under construction, has a total of US$400 million in assets under management, comprising mainly retail properties in the United States.

As a consequence of the Macau focus on glamour projects, the market was flooded with new luxury residential units, measuring from 1,200 to 2,700 square feet and priced at upwards of HK$3 million each in anticipation of growing overseas demand, Lam said.

"That put them beyond the budget of the great majority of first-time homebuyers," she said.

To get back to basics and serve a local end-user demand, Telok Macau Real Estate Fund is building its second residential project, Verde, to be offered for private sale, followed by public sales later.

Units will be priced between HK$1.3 million and HK$3.5 million or at an average of HK$3,000 per square foot.

The seven-storey Verde, a single residential block with 68 one to two-bedroom flats between 424 and 1,150 sq ft, has a total development cost of HK$88 million and is scheduled to be completed in October next year.

Lam said the fund's positive experience with its first project, Loft-iTO, had reassured it that demand for smaller units was strong. Loft-iTO was a renovation project which converted 30 old units into furnished flats that were fully taken up at monthly leases of HK$4,200 per month and upwards when it was released 18 months ago.

"It proved to us that the business model was right as many expatriate employees are looking for units at monthly rentals of HK$3,800 to HK$6,000 against the background of an economy which remains depressed," said Lam. "We believe the selling price of the Verde units will also prove attractive."

Martin Sim, a Malaysian expatriate who has worked in a head-hunting consultancy firm in Macau for 1-1/2 years, is one of the tenants of Loft-iTO and says he was attracted by its flexible lease terms.

He moved from an 800 sq ft flat to a 650 sq ft unit at Loft-iTO a year ago for a monthly rental of HK$6,500. That was the same as he had been paying, but the move brought other advantages.

"As the new apartment is within walking distance of my office, I can save HK$1,000 on commuting costs. Also, though it is more expensive per square foot, it is fully furnished and is nicely designed.

"I can also use the rooftop for barbecues and it is close to food markets and surrounding shops," said Sim, who has now renewed his lease for another six months.

Ronald Cheung Yat-fai, the chief executive of Midland Realty (Macau), said there were fewer than 10 such small-sized new developments on the market.

"When we show our clients units offering better quality, lots of them are three-bedroom units of 1,700 sq ft. They joked that they are not looking for a place to play baseball in, just to sleep," he said.

To save costs by sharing the rent required finding suitable flat mates, added Cheung, and this was not always easy. "So small units will become sought after," he said.

Cheung predicted that mass residential prices in Macau would rise to between HK$3,500 and HK$4,000 per square foot from the present average of HK$2,800 per square foot.

Jeff Wong, the head of residential at Jones Lang LaSalle, said residential prices in Macau remained some 30 per cent below the market peak in December 2007.

Jones Lang LaSalle is the marketing consultant for Verde and Wong said the project would benefit from the Macau government's interest subsidy and mortgage scheme to encourage ownership.

Meanwhile, casino operator Las Vegas Sands has planned to launch a US$2.5 billion initial public offering in Hong Kong to repay debt and restart stalled casino projects in Macau and says it hopes to resume its Macau construction plans before the end of the year.


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## hkskyline

*Possible Gambling Restrictions Could Damp Macau Growth *
14 October 2009
Dow Jones

The full impact of new efforts aimed at regulating the size of Macau's gambling industry isn't yet known, but one thing appears clear: the breakneck growth of Macau's recent past is unlikely to return anytime soon.

The Macau government said Monday it would review the size of the gambling industry, including the number of gambling tables in the city, but offered few details and no timeline.

On Tuesday, Ambrose So, chief executive of SJM Holdings Ltd., which owns more than half of Macau's 33 casinos, said all six holders of casino licenses in Macau 'reached a consensus that the gaming industry should not expand without any limits.' He added that 'the government is inviting proposals from the operators' on how to control the size of the industry.

Mr. So stressed that the gambling industry should grow 'at a healthy and sustainable rate.'

A spokesperson for local casino operator Galaxy Entertainment Group Ltd. said Tuesday that 'we fully support this proactive government-led initiative,' saying it would 'ensure that Macau will achieve long-term sustainable growth and that the market be developed in an orderly and managed fashion.'

Aaron Fischer, a Hong Kong-based analyst with CLSA Asia-Pacific Markets, says it's inevitable that Macau's explosive growth in recent years, which he calculates at an annualized rate of 29% over the past six years, will end.

'We'll be reverting back to more normalized, yet still impressive growth,' he says, of about 15-20% per year, based on a multiple of income growth among mainland Chinese.

Some believe Macau's current casino operators could benefit from government efforts to rein in excess growth. 'Any kind of restrictions on new capacity is helpful to protecting existing casinos there,' said Joseph Greff, an analyst with JP Morgan.

Stanley Ho, who ran a gambling monopoly in Macau for four decades and controls SJM, has previously suggested that Macau's government set a cap of 1,000 gambling tables for each of the six gambling concession-holders.

Macau currently has 4,390 tables, over 1,400 of which are located in Mr. Ho's SJM casinos, according to Citigroup estimates, with another 100 or so coming in the next few months. So new limits could help SJM maintain an edge if it is allowed to maintain its existing capacity. If it isn't, SJM might have to close down some of its older tables, Mr. Greff notes.

Steve Wynn, chairman of Wynn Resorts Ltd., said in discussions with some of his executives last week that he mentioned 1,500 tables as a possible cap, though he said that was just a very rough estimate and not an official proposal. That would still give Wynn, which currently has 380 tables, plenty of room to grow.

Hong Kong-listed shares of SJM fell 3.7% in trading Tuesday to close at HK$4.43 a share, while Wynn Macau Ltd. recovered from an early morning dip to close at HK$10.88 a share, up 1.1% on the day.

Las Vegas Sands Corp., which operates the massive Venetian Macao casino-resort, operates about 1,300 tables in Macau, according to Citigroup, with another 300 set to come on the market in coming years.

Sands is preparing a Hong Kong listing of its Macau operations. A major selling point of that IPO is expected to be the company's prospects in the Cotai area of Macau that Sands chairman Sheldon Adelson has long championed as a growth driver. Sands halted construction last year on two major projects there that would add even more tables to Sands' portfolio, choosing instead to focus on its Marina Bay project in Singapore.

A Sands spokesman declined comment ahead of its coming IPO.

The new efforts to regulate Macau's gambling industry come after previous restrictions limiting arrivals from mainland China were eased, boosting business for the casinos after a rough period. The unpredictability of these policy moves has emerged as a source of risk for operators trying to exploit Macau's proximity to mainland China.


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## hkskyline

*Macau's black-faced spoonbill at risk from key delta works*
1 November 2009
SCMP

Macau's only wintering site for the endangered black-faced spoonbill is at risk, with construction of transport links to Hengqin island expected to start soon. The island, just 200 metres from Cotai, has been earmarked as a base for co-operation between Guangdong, Macau and Hong Kong.

A decade ago, the mangroves were rescued from reclamation work for the land needed to build the Cotai casino strip and were replanted at the current site under the Lotus Bridge between Macau and Hengqin, which is part of Guangdong.

But even though Macau officials have recognised the eight-hectare site as an "ecological protection zone", a railway line and a cross-harbour tunnel will soon be built in the area.

Joseph Lam Tak-va, director of the Macau Association for Ecological Study, said the work could ruin the ecologically precious mangroves and would damage the habitat for the black-faced spoonbill.

"Noise, welding light and waste from the construction work could damage the ecosystem of the mangrove," Lam said. "It would be an irreversible loss to Macau if the black-faced spoonbills stopped coming."

There are only about 2,000 black-faced spoonbills in the world and 50 of them winter in Macau's mangroves. In Hong Kong, the birds are commonly seen in the Wetland Park in Yuen Long and the Mai Po nature reserve.

An annual global census released in February showed that the population in Hong Kong had dropped for the first time in nearly a decade. The number of black-faced spoonbills in the city this year dropped by 9 per cent, to 335.

Planning officials from the central government and Guangdong met in Macau on Wednesday to explain the strategic importance of developing Hengqin, an 87 square kilometre island administered by Zhuhai .

The State Council in August approved a plan to develop Hengqin. Beijing has told Macau to diversify its gambling-dominated economy, but the city faces a shortage of land for non-casino use. A key aim of Hengqin's development is to provide Macau with the land for economic diversification.

A railway will be built along the Lotus Bridge to connect Macau with a planned Guangzhou-Zhuhai rail link and thus to the mainland's network. A station is being built next to the bridge for Macau's light-rail system. A cross-harbour tunnel will be built to link Cotai with a new University of Macau campus on Hengqin.

Macau officials have indicated that the two infrastructure projects will begin soon, although dates have yet to be decided.

With the flurry of activity centred on development, protection of the mangroves has been ignored.

At a media briefing on Wednesday a planning official said the Macau government cared about conservation, but gave no details about how it would protect the mangroves.

Wong Chan-tong, director of Macau's transport and public works minister's office, was asked how the mangrove could be protected.

He said: "It's vital to have a seamless connection between Macau's rail system and that of the mainland. The government attaches great importance to the balance between development and conservation. The Environmental Bureau will try to minimise the projects' impact."

The construction of Hong Kong's Lok Ma Chau spur line, a rail link to Shenzhen, was initially planned to cut through part of the city's wetlands. But strong opposition from environmentalists led to its rerouting. However, it is hard for Macau's construction of cross-border links to bypass the mangroves due to the city's shortage of land.

Lam suggested the government use ecological screens to separate the mangroves from construction works.

"It won't be difficult to build eco-screens using live plants and materials made out of plants," he said.

Lam called on the government to launch a public consultation on how to protect the mangroves before pressing ahead with the projects.

The Cotai casino strip was built on reclaimed land between Taipa Island and Coloane Island. Landfill work started before the 1999 handover and threatened to ruin the mangroves to the south of Taipa by cutting them off from seawater.

From 1999 to 2002, government workers moved thousands of plants from the dying mangrove area to the current site. Mangroves are ecologically valuable as they protect coastal areas from erosion, storm surges and tsunami. They serve as filters since their root system slows down tidal water to allow sediment to settle.

Regarded as a Macau icon, the black-faced spoonbill became the mascot for the 2nd Asian Indoor Games held in the city in 2007.

In Hong Kong, black-faced spoonbills are a protected species.


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## staff

Macau probably isn't a "lesser known city", but I don't think we have a dedicated thread to that city.. so here goes:

http://www.worldarchitecturenews.com/index.php?fuseaction=wanappln.projectview&upload_id=12654


> *CASINO! is set to lead the way for a new area of casino resorts in Macau, China*
> 
> Gensler's 7.5 million sq ft project, consisting of 4,000 hotel rooms, 200 residential units, casino, retail mall, convention meeting rooms, and theatre, CASINO! pushes the current trend of casino resort design to a new level of contemporary architecture.
> 
> The building’s form is a response to the programmatic challenges given by the client to keep the interior casino space column-free, and to have a bold, memorable presence on the main strip. Historically, casino forms have been driven by an attempt to keep the gaming space open. This has led to a formulaic architectural diagram: placing the casino in the center and pushing hotel towers out to the periphery. CASINO! completely redefines this casino design formula by creating an “X” shape in plan directly over the gaming space. The towers pull away from the perimeter edge of the site, thus setting back the main mass of the building from the strip. This has the dual purpose of creating a more dynamic perspective from the strip, while simultaneously acknowledging and embracing the park directly across the street.
> 
> To keep the interior gaming space column-free, the towers push up in the center, creating two 80-meter tall arches that span over the casino / retail space below. To expose the tower legs, the podium is cut back from the site edge, carving out a smooth concave form to meet the strip. The entire project, both interior and exterior, seeks inventive, bold architectural moves.


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## SilentStrike

thats truly amazgin


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## hkskyline

*City of dreams faces nightmare of water rationing *
10 November 2009
The Times

Macau, Asia's foremost den of neonsoaked excess and sleazy glamour, has expanded to the brink of catastrophe and may be forced to ration drinking water as reservoirs run dry.

Indeed, to the horror of big casino operators, there are signs that non-essential supplies may be cut off as early as this weekend as authorities struggle to keep non-toxic water flowing through the taps.

Even the briefest spell without water would be a devastating blow to a hotel industry that has just installed thousands of luxury bathtubs and to a city whose GDP is derived almost entirely from opulence-hungry visitors.

Some forecasts suggest that Macau may have only ten days of fresh water left. Stocks of bottled water may have to be shipped in unless a deal can be struck with water companies in Guangdong province — suppliers who are already under intense strain to keep Hong Kong's taps running as the water shortage takes hold.

Casino operators have not been told what to do as drought day approaches. A construction boom over the past four years has propelled Macau past Las Vegas to become the world's biggest gambling centre and several of the newest resorts feature immense waterworks.

The City of Dreams has a sprawling wave pool as its centrepiece, while the Venetian boasts three indoor canals and an outdoor lagoon sufficient to float 51 gondolas.

The looming crisis could not come at a worse time for the Macau unit of Las Vegas Sands, which plans to raise nearly $4 billion (£2.4 billion) through a listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. The operator of the Venetian, credited with Macau's transformation into a Vegasstyle destination, was forced to halt construction on a colossal project last year as the credit crunch bit. The offering, being pitched to investors in London, will allow the company to resume building work.

Analysts at CLSA, a brokerage that covers Macau's gaming industry, said that the government of the special administrative region — the other is Hong Kong — was likely to step in to do whatever was necessary to protect its main revenue source from drought.

But Macau's usual water sources are in trouble. Reservoirs across the Chinese border in Zhuhai, which normally supply the gaming hub, have been ravaged by a drought that has affected a vast sweep of southern China and exposed the fragility of the country's water system. Years of mismanagement have come back to haunt China, a country where pollution, illegal dumping, logging and mass urbanisation have left a deadly legacy for freshwater supplies.

Unlike Hong Kong, which struck a deal last year with Guandong province that would guarantee water supplies "even in a drought", Macau has less visible contingency plans in place. Some MPs have said there are, in reality, none.


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## hkskyline

By *2233445566* from skyscrapers.cn :


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## hkskyline

*Galaxy ups budget 40 pct for mega-resort in Macau*

HONG KONG, Nov 12 (Reuters) - Galaxy Entertainment , one of six gambling license holders in the Chinese enclave of Macau, has raised the estimated cost of its mega project in the emerging Cotai Strip by 40 percent, media said on Thursday.

The company now expects the project will cost about HK$14.1 billion ($1.8 billion) due to design changes, from a previous estimate of HK$10 billion, the South China Morning Post reported.

Galaxy, which is controlled by the family of Lui Che-woo, is seeking new funding for the project, which will include three hotels with 2,200 rooms on the reclaimed land.

The project is on an area known as the Cotai strip alongside other mega projects operated by U.S. gaming giant Las Vegas Sands and local heavyweight Melco Crown . Promoters say Cotai could become Asia's equivalent of the Las Vegas Strip.

Galaxy officials said on Wednesday the new resort will have an opening date of the first quarter of 2011, implying construction could soon resume at full speed after a slowdown last year during the financial crisis.

They said the budget increase is due to a change in scope for the project, which will include Galaxy, Okura and Banyan Tree-branded hotels and a series of swimming pools atop a casino podium. The resort would also feature an artificial beach with 350 tonnes of white sand.

A resumption of normal construction would come as Galaxy rival Sands prepares an IPO for its Macau properties that could raise more than $3 billion.

Sands already operates the Venetian resort in Cotai, but suspended construction last year on several other mega projects in the area to conserve cash at the height of the financial crisis. It hopes to use money from the IPO and other sources to resume some construction in the near term.


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## hkskyline

*Macau's Cotai Sees Revival of Building Boom *
12 November 2009
The Wall Street Journal

HONG KONG -- The stalled casino-and-hotel building boom in Macau's once-barren Cotai area is back on track, bringing closer to reality the dream of recreating the Las Vegas Strip in mainland China's backyard.

Sheldon Adelson's Las Vegas Sands Corp., which already operates the enormous Venetian Macao casino-hotel in Cotai, will resume construction on an even larger project there in January, according to people close to the company. That project is slated to add 13.3 million square feet of gambling space, conference halls and Shangri-La, Traders and Sheraton hotels by June 2011, these people said.

Work on the project ground to a halt last fall as global financial turmoil hit Macau's gambling revenues and dented the company's cash flow.

On Wednesday, Hong Kong-based Galaxy Entertainment Group Ltd., another of Macau's six casino license holders, said it would aim to launch its own 5.9 million-square foot integrated resort project in the first quarter of 2011 after it delayed the project last November citing market conditions. The US$1.82 billion Galaxy Macau resort will feature 2,200 hotel rooms, 600 gambling tables and what the company calls the world's largest rooftop wave pool.

The reviving of both projects is a reflection of the suddenly improved fortunes in Macau, the world's largest gambling market and the only place in China where casinos are legal. Even as Las Vegas and Atlantic City continue to show year-on-year declines, Macau has produced three consecutive months of record-breaking gambling revenues. It earned US$3.72 billion from gambling revenues in October alone.

The new projects could lead to a glut of hotel rooms and put pressure on casino operators' profit margins.

"I'm a long-term believer in the Cotai story, but all these properties are opening at about the same time," says Gabriel Chan, Hong Kong-based casino analyst for Credit Suisse. He says as many as 8,000 rooms could come on line in the space of a few months, adding to the existing supply of about 5,000 hotel rooms currently on Cotai, shocking the market.

In addition, Macau's government is attempting to ratchet back the hyper-growth of previous years as concerns grow about the social strains caused by excessive reliance on gambling for the city's growth. Last month, Macau's top gambling official said the government was raising the entry-age for casinos and considering a cap on the number of gambling tables.

The renewed plans by Las Vegas Sands and Galaxy would create four massive casino-resort complexes within walking distance of one another on Cotai. The revival of the projects adds significant momentum to the development of a stretch of reclaimed land that both Mr. Adelson and rival Steve Wynn regularly trumpet as the global gambling industry's most promising growth opportunity.

Wynn Macau Ltd. is awaiting approval to lease a 52-acre parcel of land in Cotai; Mr. Wynn has said he hopes to begin work there as soon as next spring.

Meanwhile, Mr. Adelson, the area's biggest booster, is trying to have the words "Cotai Strip" registered as a trademark, hoping to capture some of the buzz that surrounds the Las Vegas Strip.

After Mr. Adelson opened the Venetian Macao there in August 2007, nearly two years passed before gambling scion Lawrence Ho, the son of local gambling tycoon Stanley Ho, opened his City of Dreams casino-resort across the road.

Analysts and Macau watchers still say the area needs more critical mass to draw business away from Macau's peninsula -- the traditional gambling center that is home to the Wynn Macau, the MGM Grand Macau and Stanley Ho's 20 casinos.

Operators say that while Macau's peninsula is a bastion of hard-core gamblers, Cotai's megaresorts will help Macau grow as a diversified, family-friendly tourist destination -- one with longer lengths of stay than the current average of about 1.4 days. Promised infrastructure plans, including a light-rail system and a second ferry terminal, would make Cotai even more formidable, says Aaron Fischer, an analyst for CLSA Asia-Pacific Markets.

As part of its revived plans, Las Vegas Sands will hire 12,000 to 13,000 construction workers over the next 12 to 18 months to restart work on its stalled project, which currently has its concrete shell and some ceiling-work finished, according to the person close to the company.

The company is also seeking to raise as much as $3.83 billion from an initial public offering in Hong Kong for its Macau assets. It plans to use roughly $500 million from that offering to finance Macau construction, the person close to the company said. Much of the additional money raised through the IPO is expected to go toward paying down debt and paying off intercorporate loans.

Las Vegas Sands operates casinos in Las Vegas, Bethlehem, Pa., and Macau. The company is also planning to open a $5 billion resort in Singapore next year.


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## hkskyline

*Cotai gains as building boom restarts in Macau 
Casino hotels embark on expansion overdrive*
23 November 2009
South China Morning Post

A year after the financial crisis put the brakes on several resort developments in Macau, the city is now set to resume a building boom that will largely shift the balance of new casino projects towards the Cotai area.

Occupancy levels and room rates have recovered in recent months as the traffic of Macau-bound travellers rebounded and monthly casino revenues shot to record levels. Still, the risk of oversupply looms as a series of massive projects in the pipeline is set to push the city's total stock of hotel rooms up 42 per cent to 26,884 rooms over the next two years, says Bill Lerner, an analyst at Las Vegas-based Union Gaming.

The latest entry to an increasingly crowded hotel market in Macau is an 800-room, twin tower Grand Hyatt that opened this month at Melco Crown Entertainment's US$2.1 billion City of Dreams, adding to the resort's Crown and Hard Rock hotels, which have 300 rooms each.

By offering three hotels at different price points within the same complex, Melco Crown is attempting to leverage "a diversity of choice instead of one massive themed resort", said City of Dreams senior vice-president of operations Michael French.

"We are coming out of a recession and people have a lot of pent-up demand," said French. "Our struggle in Cotai is convincing people on the Macau peninsula to headquarter here during their stay."

Recent trends suggest Macau's casino hotels have turned a corner and are back on track. Hotel occupancy across the city has recovered from the six-year low of 59.4 per cent seen in May, and stood between 72-80 per cent in August and September.

Rates and occupancy at the Venetian Macao, the city's largest hotel property with 3,000 rooms, saw a significant uptick in the three months to the end of September. Its average revenue per available room recovered to US$175 during the period from a record-low US$153 in the previous quarter. Occupancy rose to 88.1 per cent, up from 76.2 per cent.

French and others said more competition from new projects on Cotai would only help add to the area's pull, despite the enormity of some of the future casino resorts.

Venetian owner Las Vegas Sands Corp this month said it would use new loans and proceeds from its HK$19.41 billion Hong Kong share offering to finish work on a US$3.7 billion, 6,000-room Cotai mega resort it will open in phases from mid-2011.

Also this month, Galaxy Entertainment raised the budget for its own Cotai project to HK$14.1 billion and set a first-quarter 2011 opening date for the resort, which would include three hotels covering 2,200 rooms.

"Supply begets demand," Las Vegas Sands chairman and majority shareholder Sheldon Adelson told reporters on November 15. "The propensity of the Asian people, particularly the Chinese, to play is such that we don't see a limit on the horizon."


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## [email protected]

Any recent photos of the 'Arc of Triumph'? It should be topped out by now.


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## hkskyline

*Macau To Support Hydro Project To Ensure Water Supply - Xinhua *
26 November 2009

DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

Macau and China signed an agreement Thursday under which Macau will provide CNY800 million to support the Datengxia Hydroelectric Project in China's Guangxi province, aiming to safeguard Macau's long-term water supply, Xinhua news agency reported Thursday.

The funds will mainly be used for the relocation of residents and soil and water conservation in areas affected by the project's construction, the report said.

Lau Si Io, Macau's secretary for transport and public works, said the project will cost CNY 25 billion and take nine years to complete, the report said.


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## hkskyline

*MACAO LOGS OVER 10,000 RESIDENTIAL UNITS UNDER CONSTRUCTION IN Q3 *
23 November 2009
Asia Pulse

MACAO, Nov. 23 Asia Pulse - Macao saw more than 10,000 residential units being constructed during the third quarter of 2009, according to the figures released on Saturday by the city's Land, Public Works and Transport Bureau.

There were a total of 83 private buildings under construction by the end of the third quarter, which will provide up to 10,000 residential units, 338 commercial units and 10 office units, the figures showed.

Another 198 private building projects were being examined by the Bureau by the end of the third quarter, which have a gross building areas of 3.143 million square meters. Once completed, these buildings can provide some 22,000 residential units and seven hundred commercial units.

According to the latest figures from Macao's Statistics and Census Service, the average transaction price of Macao's residential units rose by 27.6 percent quarter-to-quarter to 24,154 patacas (3,057 U.S. dollars) per square meter of usable area in the third quarter.


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## hkskyline

*Las Vegas Sands' Hong Kong IPO Flops*
Sands China closed 10.2% below its IPO price as investors remain wary of gaming tycoon Sheldon Adelson's ambitious plans for his Macau properties
1 December 2009
BusinessWeek

In keeping with tradition at the Hong Kong stock exchange, the Nov. 30 debut of Sheldon Adelson's Las Vegas Sands Macao spin-off was toasted with mid-morning Champagne. He had reason to celebrate: Only a year ago, as the Las Vegas billionaire fought off creditors and was forced to suspend construction on new casino properties to preserve cash, people were wondering if Adelson had overplayed his hand in China's gambling haven.

The $2.5 billion initial public offering of Sands China Ltd.comes as a vindication of sorts for Adelson. The festive mood on the trading floor didn't last long, though. Within minutes of the opening bell, Sands China shares dropped 15%. By the end of trading the stock closed 10.2% lower than its offering price of $1.34 per share, even as shares of other casino operators, including Wynn Macau and SJM Holdings, closed higher.

Worse still for Adelson, the first-day decline may be the least of his worries. Ever since winning a Macao license in 2002, the gaming tycoon has trumpeted his vision of transforming a seedy former Portuguese colony into a Las Vegas clone with luxury hotels, wholesome entertainment, and packed convention halls. But his "if you build it they will come" approach has yet to pay off. Nongaming revenues account for just 14% of Sands China's sales, compared with about 50% for Las Vegas Sands back home. There are plenty of empty seats at the company's purpose-built theater for Cirque du Soleil shows, as many gamblers -- of whom more than 50% hail from China -- prefer to leave the wife and kids at home.

"lots of execution risks"

The singing gondoliers at the mammoth retail mall attached to the Venetian in Macao have also done little to inspire shoppers to open their wallets. That makes it more difficult for Sands China to sell off its mall properties, a long-stated goal. In contrast, the Louis Vuitton (LVMH.PA) outlet in Wynn Macau has the highest sales per square foot of any of its outlets in the world, thanks to its downtown location and modest size.

The stock's disappointing debut did not come as a surprise to many who observed that shares of Wynn Macau, the Hong Kong-traded spin-off of Wynn Resorts (WYNN), have also traded below their IPO price recently after raising $1.63 billion on Oct. 9. "I appreciate that Sands has a longer-term growth story in the next five years, but between now and then there are lots of execution risks," says Gabriel Chan, gaming analyst at Credit Suisse. "That's why I think the IPO was overpriced."

Those risks involve possible cost overruns or further delays in the construction of casino and hotel properties adjacent to the 3,000-room Venetian Macau and Four Seasons Hotel, Cotai Strip, a patch of reclaimed land that boasts little but casinos and an airport. The lack of attractions has prevented Cotai from achieving a critical mass of visitors. To do so, Adelson and others must spend billions more building additional properties, knowing a payoff may take several years. "It's a chicken-and-egg situation," says Chan.

China Sands also suffered the fate of being the last of four Macao casino operators to list in Hong Kong, offering investors plenty of ways to get exposure to Macao's dynamic growth prospects. Gaming revenues hit a monthly record of $1.59 billion in October, up 42% from a year earlier and nearly 18% from September. Investors looking to take advantage of that growth can choose from Wynn Macau, Melco International Development (MPEL), Galaxy Entertainment, and SJM Holdings, which is controlled by 88-year-old Stanley Ho, who brought Macao gaming back in the 1960s. SJM, which enjoyed a four-decade-long monopoly before Macao liberalized the gaming sector in 2002, has managed to claw back market share this year from rivals by attracting a bigger share of mass-market Chinese gamblers who don't go to Macao for the frills offered by the likes of Las Vegas Sands. That helped strengthen SJM's position as the leader in gross revenues.

The IPO funds will allow Sands China to resume construction of its new properties in Macao, while proceeds from the parent company's 23.2% stake will give Adelson some breathing room as he rushes to finish the $5.4 billion Marina Bay Sands set to open in Singapore in the first half of next year.


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## hkskyline

*Over half of reclaimed land "earmarked for public facilities": Macao official *
1 December 2009

MACAO, Dec 1 (Xinhua) -- Over half of Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR) government's future land and reclamation areas approved by the central government have been earmarked for the development of public facilities, the local Macao Post Daily reported Tuesday.

The SAR government would set aside "suitable areas" of the reclaimed land for the development of industries in line with its economic diversification goals, as well as for the construction of public housing units, Secretary for Transport and Public Works Lau Si Io was quoted as saying. The public facilities will include transport infrastructure and green spaces.

The local government announced on Monday the central government's approval of its proposed 3.61-square-kilometer land reclamation projects for the creation of "new urban zones" in line with environmental protection requirements.

According to Lau, the actual land reclamation area will be about 3.5 square km, covering five different areas. The land reclamation project will raise Macao's land area by 12.3 percent, from 29.2 square km to 32.8 square km.

Lau did not say when the land reclamation project will get off the land.


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## hkskyline

*Shun Tak To Gain From Macau Reclamation Plan -JPM *
1 December 2009

0257 GMT [Dow Jones] STOCK CALL: JPMorgan keeps Shun Tak (0242.HK) at Overweight as property prices in Macau have remained firm, stock trading at over 40% discount to NAV. No price target given. Says Macau's proposed reclamation plan to expand land by 12%, used for public facilities, green areas, for next 2 decades improves infrastructure, housing supply "so that the city can have sustainable long-term growth." Says, plan won't put pressure on Macau property prices in short-term, but offers long-term opportunities for Shun Tak to replenish land bank. Stock +3.0% at HK$5.15. (JYC)


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## hkskyline

*Timetable for Macau LRT *
9 December 2009
The Standard

Macau will have a light rail system connecting the peninsula with Taipa Island and the Cotai Strip in four years, it was disclosed yesterday.

Construction will start soon on the light rapid transit system, which will eventually be extended to include Hengqin Island, an area destined to become a major education base for Macau and neighboring Zhuhai.

There is also a plan to eventually link the LRT system to the future Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge.

Macau transport infrastructure office consultant Michael Lam Soi- hoi told a Pearl River Delta conference in Hong Kong that the 7.5 billion pataca (HK$7.28 billion) phase one of the railway will be completed in 2014. He said the Macau government may subsidize the project so the railway can start operating sooner and costs can be recouped more quickly.

While fare levels have yet to be decided, Lam said it is expected to be between four and six patacas, which will be sufficient to recover the cost within a relatively short period.

``The government is now looking into the feasibility of different fare levels. We expect it will stay in the red in the first few years, but we hope to be in the black by 2020,'' he said.

The Macau government currently subsidizes public bus fares.

The Macau Post Daily reported last week that the government had proposed two sets of fares for the first phase. It said travel within the Macau peninsula will cost four patacas, while trips between the peninsula and Taipa will cost two more patacas. An alternative proposal puts the fares at five and seven patacas.

Based on current cost estimates, the subsidy for early operations could range between 20 million and 110 million patacas a year.

Tenders are now being called for the supply of rolling stock and systems, with a March 12 deadline.

The project, first announced in 2007, will have 21 stations along a 21-kilometer track in the first phase and cost 7.5 billion patacas, almost 80 percent higher than its initial estimate.

Passenger capacity will reach 14,000 at peak hours in 2020.


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## Þróndeimr

Rendering of One Central Towers.


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## hkskyline

*INTERVIEW-UPDATE 1-Melco Crown sees no equity-raising plans *

HONG KONG, Dec 9 (Reuters) - Macau casino operator Melco Crown Entertainment does not plan to raise capital through the equity market, its chief financial officer said, thwarting speculation that the firm would have to raise funds in the near term.

Shares of Melco Crown, a joint venture between Hong Kong-listed Melco International Development Ltd. and Australia's Crown Ltd , have nearly halved since hitting their highest level in over a year on Sept. 23 on concerns of potential fund-raising.

"I will tell you this today...we will not be raising more equity to replace debt, which is what people are speculating we will do and which is what is putting pressure on our share price," CFO Simon Dewhurst told Reuters in an interview.

"My two shareholders won't take dilution and neither should any of our existing shareholders either," he said.

Instead, the firm, which has seen lacklustre performance at its six-month-old casino resort, would refinance its debt through a possible combination of fixed-coupon, long-term bonds and bank debt that is set to be completed by early to mid-2010, he said.

Melco Crown was founded by Lawrence Ho, son of Macau gambling tycoon Stanley Ho, and Australian billionaire James Packer, son of late media tycoon Kerry Packer.

In June, the firm, which had an overall market share of about 17 percent of Macau's gambling market in the third quarter, opened its $2.1 billion "City of Dreams" mega-casino resort on the Cotai Strip, a dusty stretch of reclaimed land developers are promoting as Asia's answer to Las Vegas' neon alley.

COMFORTABLE WITH DEBT

"This company, at its current operating levels, can comfortably carry $1.5 billion-$2 billion worth of debt," Dewhurst said. "If it's any less than that, we have an inefficient capital structure.

Melco Crown missed expectations with its third-quarter adjusted EBITDA of $55.6 million, due to weaker-than-expected revenues at the City of Dreams, even though the results were a huge improvement from EBITDA of $20.8 million in the same period in 2008.

"If the City of Dreams is not going to see any ramp-up from now till 2011, that would be a big disaster," Credit Suisse analyst Gabriel Chan told Reuters before the interview. "With Galaxy opening their casino in 2011 and sites 5 and 6 coming on, (Sands China's upcoming casino resorts), there would be cannibalisation among all these properties."

Macau casino revenues could rise 20 to 25 percent by the end of 2010 from 2009 levels, on the back of strong economic growth in neighbouring China, Dewhurst said.

"If we assume that China is growing at 10 percent year-on-year, the gaming industry in Macau will grow for the next 20 years at 20 percent," Dewhurst said. "I have never found a better proxy for consumer behaviour in China than the Macau gambling story."

Melco Crown's stock has risen about 29 percent so far this year. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> has risen about 38 percent while shares of Galaxy Entertainment Group have more than tripled in the year to date.


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## hkskyline

* Plenty of liquidity *
16 December 2009
SCMP




























_Renderings from : http://www.paul-andreu.com/pages/projets_recents_macao_gb.html _

If water is a symbol of money, Casino Oceanus can expect to be swimming in it.

The unexpected heavy rain in Macau yesterday forced the inauguration ceremony of the city's 34th casino to be held inside the multicoloured building that has been covered in the same material as Beijing's famous Olympic "Water Cube".

The rain not only captured the aquatic theme but also gave the guests plenty of reason to stay inside the latest casino belonging to Stanley Ho Hung-sun's SJM Holdings.

If that's not enough, the former New Yaohan department store building is right next to the Macau ferry terminal.


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## hkskyline

*Sands can complete Macau casinos in 5 years*
Reuters
By Kevin Lim and Sui-Lee Wee Kevin Lim And Sui-lee Wee 
Mon Dec 21, 5:01 am ET

SINGAPORE/HONG KONG (Reuters) – Las Vegas Sands (LVS.N), the world's No. 2 casino operator by market value, could completed all its planned developments on Macau's Cotai strip in five years, sooner than expected, hugely expanding its presence in the world's biggest gambling market.

Billionaire Sheldon Adelson, the founder and CEO of Sands, said business in Las Vegas was recovering and could return to normal levels by 2011. He brushed off suggestions its Singapore casino project could be delayed by months.

Sands -- which last month raised $2.5 billion from listing its Macau unit, Sands China -- plans to build five properties on the Cotai strip, a swathe of reclaimed land some Macau developers have touted as the next Las Vegas strip.

Those properties, including two that are half built, would complement the firm's two existing casinos in Macau, one of which is the Venetian Macau, the world's largest.

"We could finish all the (Macau) properties easily within five years," Adelson said at a news conference in Singapore. "It depends on how fast we get approvals from the government."

Sands suspended construction of its Cotai projects due to the global financial crisis but has since resumed work.

Aaron Fischer, CLSA's head of Asian consumer and gaming, said he was surprised by Adelson's bullish forecast. "It's quite aggressive," he said. "Five years is a bit earlier than I thought, but it's a good thing."

Shares in Sands China (1928.HK) fell as much as 6 percent on Monday as some analysts fretted how much the firm may borrow to grow its business.

"In term of debt structure, Wynn Macau (1128.HK) is a better choice than Sands China," said William Lo, an analyst at Ample Finance Group in Hong Kong.

Sands, valued at $10 billion, competes in Macau with Wynn Macau, Galaxy Entertainment Group (0027.HK), SJM Holdings (0880.HK), Melco Crown Entertainment (MPEL.O) and MGM Mirage (MGM.N).

The typically upbeat Adelson said Sands expects to open phase one of the two half-completed projects, sites five and six, on the Cotai strip by June 2011. The Las Vegas firm will inject another $500 million into the project using funds raised from the Sands China IPO.

When fully developed, the Cotai strip will house more than 20,000 hotel rooms, over 1.6 million square feet of meetings and convention space, and over 2 million square feet of retail malls.

SINGAPORE DELAY

Adelson rejected local media reports that the Singapore casino's opening slated for end-March could be delayed until June. "If everything goes OK, we'll open in the early days of April," he said.

Sands originally planned to open the first phase of its $5.5 billion Marina Bay Sands casino-resort on the edge of Singapore's central business district this year, but the opening date was later revised to end-March due to a shortage of sand and labor.

The firm has suffered massive cost overruns on its Singapore project, which was originally budgeted at around $3.2 billion.

Adelson said Singapore's two upcoming casinos could compete with Macau for the same high-rollers, but not in the mass market given the geographical distance between the two cities.

Singapore's other casino, Genting Singapore's (GENS.SI) Resorts World at Sentosa, looks set to open before the start of the Chinese New Year on February 14, overtaking Sands in the race to become the city-state's first casino operator.

Genting Singapore, a unit of Malaysia's Genting Bhd (GENT.KL), hosted a charity concert over the weekend, giving guests a glimpse of its almost-completed facilities, which include a Universal Studios theme park.


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## hkskyline

*Beijing at a loss about casino industry in Macau *
WATARU YOSHIDA, Staff writer 
28 December 2009
Nikkei Weekly

MACAU - This city marked the 10th anniversary on Dec. 20 of its reversion to China from Portugal. However, Beijing has yet to draw a clear picture of the former Portuguese colony's future, and is still wondering how to develop the entertainment industry, primarily gambling/show casinos in luxury hotels in the Las Vegas style, while cooling off the overheated casino industry.

Regarding Macau as the entertainment industry's hub, China has supported the region by allowing Chinese tourists to flock there from the mainland. With the casinos' prosperity far surpassing initial expectations, Macau is turning out to be a cause for concern for the central government by fomenting social problems such as corruption.

A ceremony to celebrate the 10th anniversary was attended by Chinese President Hu Jintao. After hailing the remarkable growth of the Macau economy over the past decade, Hu stressed in his speech that the "one country, two systems" approach would be further promoted. On the occasion, Chui Sai On was sworn in as the new chief executive of the Macao Special Administrative Region.

Macau is one of China's two special administrative regions - the other is Hong Kong - where free market economic activities are allowed under the "one country, two systems" formula adopted by Beijing for the reversion of both former colonies. In the special regions, China has been continuing its experiments with a free market economy, seeing Hong Kong as the financial center and Macau as the base to nurture the entertainment industry.

In 2003, Beijing lifted a ban on the personal travel of mainland Chinese to Macau, giving a major boost to the casino sector. Banking on spending splurges by mainland tourists, the U.S. casino operators have rushed to open their facilities in Macau since 2004. Partly due to their business model of giving Las Vegas-style glamorous shows, the Macau casino industry has grown into the world's biggest in terms of sales.

The region's casinos combined earned 110 billion patacas ($13.7 billion) in 2008, nearly five times the level in 2002, sharply boosting the region's gross domestic product. Casinos are virtually prohibited on the mainland, spurring avid gamblers to travel to Macau to visit the many casinos there. An estimated 80% of casino customers are currently mainland Chinese visitors.

Overheated casinos

The casino promotion policy, which was driven both by the Chinese central and the regional governments, faces a turning point, however, as the Chinese authorities have turned to calm down the overheated casino industry in the region.

Four unfinished and deserted building towers in a city of luxury hotels and casinos reflect the shifting approach as well. The Las Vegas Sands Corp., the U.S. major casino resort operator that runs the Venetian Macao-Resort-Hotel, halted the construction of luxury hotels in November 2008. Galaxy Entertainment Group Ltd. of Hong Kong has also postponed the opening of a new hotel.

The government of neighboring Guangdong Province has restricted the issuance of visas for its residents to go to Macau since May 2008. Meanwhile, the Macau government has announced a plan to restrict the expansion of casino facilities in accordance with Beijing's intentions.

Behind the tighter regulation on entertainment lies growing concern of the Chinese government about an intensifying casino fever. Not a few regional governments' officials have been found having received bribery to get money for gambling in casinos while rumors never stop that North Korea continues to use casinos in Macau for money laundering.

The sudden tightening of regulatory stance toward casinos appears to indicate the Chinese government's bewilderment as to how much free had it should give to the entertainment industry. The future growth of Macau hinges on the intention of the Chinese government. Yet to clearly envision the future of the gambling industry, however, the central government will likely continue a trial-and-error process in Macau.


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## hkskyline

*Cotai work to lift luxury home prices *
6 January 2010
SCMP

Macau luxury properties could play catch-up with price rises elsewhere in the region in the New Year, driven by a confidence-boosting resumption of work on its Cotai mega-resort and a fresh influx of expatriate construction and casino staff.

"The top end of the property market in Macau has lagged the recovery in Hong Kong and could be in line for about 30 per cent growth in prices this year to an average of HK$9,000 per square foot from the current HK$7,000," said Ronald Cheung Yat-fai, the chief executive of Midland Realty (Macau).

"The economy here will certainly get a big boost if Las Vegas Sands resumes work on its resort development on the Cotai Strip, and the property market will benefit."

Cheung is referring to Sands China's widely expected resumption of construction work in the first half this year on its 6,000-room Cotai mega-resort across the street from its 3,000-room Venetian Macao. Sands China is the Hong Kong-listed arm of New York-listed parent Las Vegas Sands Corp.

In a move that hammered the group's New York share price and sentiment in Macau, work on the resort was suspended in November 2008 to help preserve cash and raise money for projects under way in Singapore and Pennsylvania.

To date, prices of top-end properties in the gambling enclave have not yet fully recovered from the blow. But estate agents say the resumption of work on the latest mega-resort in the gambling enclave, along with the start of construction last month on the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau bridge - which will halve travelling time between Hong Kong and Macau to 30 minutes - will entice investors back into the market.

Signs of a revival are already evident, according to Cheung.

Units on upper floors of Macau's prestigious housing project, One Central Residences that offers sea views, are selling for HK$6,500 to HK$6,800 per sq ft, from a low of HK$3,700 in January last year after the added blow to confidence caused by the global financial crisis.

But compared with the average price of HK$20,000 per sq ft fetched by Hong Kong luxury flats, there remained ample room for further price gains, said Cheung.

He said luxury home prices in the enclave remained 30 per cent below their HK$10,000 per sq ft peak reached in 2007.

Patrick Wong, the chief executive of Tenacity Real Estate Group, which owns an office-retail project at 39 Avenida Alemida Riberio in the core business district of Macau, said: "Lots of banks are looking for office space for expansion and this is signalling that Macau's economy is improving."

Ma Iao Iao, the chairman of San Kin Wa Construction and Investment, a major developer in Macau, is also bullish about the market's prospect.

The firm plans to release the remaining units in its Bay View residential development, about 10 minutes' walk from the Macau ferry pier, for pre-sale early this year.

Ma believes Hong Kong buying interest will return to bet on the capital appreciation as the construction of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau bridge has started. The link will greatly improve Macau's accessibility when the bridge is completed by 2016.

He hopes the upcoming sale of Bay View, a medium-priced residential development due to be completed in June, will achieve a price of HK$3,000 per sq ft, about 7 per cent higher than current secondary market deals.

Gregory Ku, the managing director of Jones Lang LaSalle Macau, expects the market will continue to be dominated by domestic demand. He sees steady growth in deal volumes in the mass residential market driven by upgrader demand as salaries rise.

Ku first invested in Macau property in late 2004 when he bought a unit in the Kingsville development for HK$3 million. He resold that for a 30 per cent profit and bought another unit for HK$4 million in 2005 that he sold for HK$5 million in the same year.

But other estate agents say Macau mass-market prices have already rallied significantly, in particular units worth HK$1 million to HK$2 million each, mainly because of the government introducing mortgage subsidy and loan guarantee schemes.

Under the scheme introduced in the second quarter of last year, Macau permanent residents aged at least 21 years old who had not bought a property in the past three years qualified for a 4 per cent home loan interest rate subsidy scheme.

That helped fuel a 40 per cent rise in prices of mass- to medium-level housing, said the agents, who expect prices to remain broadly unchanged from present levels this year.


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## hkskyline

*Hu oversees 'opening' of long-delayed centre*
20 December 2009
South China Morning Post



















A futuristic new Macau landmark partially designed by architect I.M. Pei will open early next year.

President Hu Jintao yesterday officiated at a ceremony purported to be the opening of the Science Centre. But the complex, which took nine years and more than 300 million patacas to design and build, has not opened to the public.

A tilted cone, a dome and a low three-dimensional rhomboid distinguish the complex from a jungle of glittering casino buildings. I.M. Pei was involved in the project's early conceptual stage, said his son, Sandi Pei Li-chung, a partner in New York-based Pei Partnership Architects. The firm was responsible for designing most of the complex.

"He was involved in affirming the basic geometries of the project, mostly on the external form and materials," Sandi Pei said of his father.

The centre is on a 44,500 square metre parcel of reclaimed land off the southeastern shore of the Macau Peninsula, across from the Cultural Centre. Much of the complex is covered in shimmering metal, giving it a distinctive presence. It features 6,500 square metres of exhibition galleries around a skylit central atrium within an asymmetrical conical form.

There is a 150-seat planetarium, a 500-seat hall in the low 3-D rhomboid and a ground-floor children's zone with natural light.

An external viewing platform accessible by escalators takes full advantage of the complex's prime waterfront location. Visitors can enjoy a view of the water and the city from the 26-metre-high platform.

The complex has 23,000 square metres of gross floor area.

Sandi Pei said the conical form would offer an exciting spatial experience to visitors, and the museum would promote scientific knowledge among the public. Galleries are organised as trays reached by a spiral ramp that ascends within the cone.

"It can prevent people from having 'museum fatigue'," he said.

The designing began in February 2001 when little of what is now Macau's skyline existed.

"Macau today is a riot of new buildings," Sandi Pei said. "That all happened since we began work on the Science Centre."

Groundbreaking started in October 2006, shortly before the Ao Man-long corruption scandal broke. Ao, the former public works minister, took bribes from Tong Lei Engineering and Construction over the tendering of the right to build the centre.

Graft investigations forced work on the centre to be suspended in 2007 and last year.


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## hkskyline

*FOCUS: Macau Casinos Give Property Market New Lease On Life *
20 January 2010

HONG KONG (Dow Jones)--Macau's property market, hobbled by the global financial crisis and a major corruption scandal, is getting new legs as the enclave's casino industry is back on a roll.

As Las Vegas Sands (LVS) restarts development on the world's biggest casino resort on the Cotai area, real estate demand is rising. However, the headiness seen a few years ago isn't likely to return anytime soon.

"Over the next two years, Macau will experience a significant population increase and there is a strong possibility that the property market will increase across the board," said Jonathan Nichols, director of agency services for CB Richard Ellis' Macau office.

The commercial real estate services firm projects the population will surge 10% per year.

Nichols said although the residential market is leading the way in Macau, he is fielding more inquiries about office space on the former Portuguese colony from companies that provide products and services to the casinos.

Las Vegas Sands said earlier it would resume construction this month on two parcels of land across its massive Venetian resort, generating thousands of new construction jobs. Both Las Vegas Sands and rival Galaxy Entertainment Group Ltd. (0027.HK) had earlier delayed their large projects on Cotai amid a crippling credit crunch and the global economic slowdown.

The resumption of these projects "means more people will have to come back to Macau to work and the casinos will start to recruit hotel executives," said Gregory Ku, managing director at surveyor Jones Lang LaSalle's Macau office.

Improved transportation and infrastructure projects will also help foster a resurgence in the Macau property market. New developments include the construction of a mega-bridge linking Hong Kong with neighboring Macau and Zhuhai, Guangdong province.

Home to half a million people on just under 30 square kilometers of land, Macau saw its real estate market soar between 2006 and the beginning of 2008. Foreign investors and private equity funds made huge investments on luxury apartment developments on expectations the casino industry would attract many new residents.

The average residential price peaked in the fourth quarter of 2007 at 24,567 patacas (US$3,078) per square meter. By the end of the third quarter 2009, average prices rose back to MOP24,154 from about MOP17,000 earlier in the year, as a government home subsidy program fueled demand, according to data from CB Richard Ellis.

The number of residential sales, however, was down 63% through the end of the third quarter 2009 from the market's 2007 peak. Macau's real estate market is lagging a sharp recovery in Hong Kong where residential prices rose 27% in 2009 from a year earlier.

"What drove Macau prices significantly higher in 2006 and 2007 was speculative demand in the financial services community," said Anil Daswani, global head of gaming for Citigroup. "It's going to take a little longer to return to those frothy highs. This (cycle) now is more demand driven."

Nonetheless, residential prices are expected to rise at least 10% this year overall, property experts say.

Macau's slump was exacerbated by the conviction in 2008 of Ao Man-long, the former secretary for transportation and public works. He was sentenced to 27 years imprisonment for taking bribes and kickbacks on construction contracts.

The scandal compelled the government to investigate all its land approvals, complicating efforts by developers to secure financing for their projects.

"Many are still being delayed," said Jones Lang's Ku. He noted hope that Macau's new chief executive Fernando Chui will speed up the approval process.

One important harbinger is One Central, a blue-tinted shimmering, mixed-use building that opened on Macau's peninsula in December. The sprawling complex, which is co-developed by Pansy Ho, daughter of casino kingpin Stanley Ho, contains apartments and retail space that connects to the MGM Grand Macau.

Some 98% of the units have been sold, mostly to buyers looking for investment properties. The fetching price for a unit at One Central is HK$6,000 to HK$6,500 per square foot, down from the market's peak of HK$7,500, said Ku, adding that he expects the price to rise to HK$7,000 this year.


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## hkskyline

*Tourism rebound buoys occupancy at Ponte 16*
The Standard
Tuesday, February 02, 2010

Occupancy at the Ponte 16 Resort Hotel in Macau improved last month as tourism rebounded.

Operating conditions of the Inner Harbour hotel also improved, according to Ambrose So Shu-fai, chairman of the entertainment resort jointly run by SJM Holdings (0880) and Successuniverse (0487).

So is expecting even more tourists - for the Lunar New Year and for what is claimed to be the world's only Michael Jackson memorabilia exhibition. The items are showcased at a gallery launched yesterday.

So hopes the MJ Gallery will become a new scenic spot in Macau and draw more tourists to both the city and Hong Kong. The gallery has over 40 exhibits. Ponte 16 is planning to buy more items associated with the late popstar. 

Meanwhile, So said phases one and two of Grand Lisboa Hotel have been operating for a while. Shareholders are negotiating the details of an uncompleted plan for building phase three. So hopes the plan can be finalized as soon as possible.


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## hkskyline

*Melco Crown's City of Dreams in need of white knight *
4 February 2010

HONG KONG, Feb 4 (Reuters) - Eight months after its launch, Melco Crown Entertainment 's City of Dreams mega-casino is still searching for daylight, sparking buzz that ownership changes may be needed to revive the $2.1 billion Macau resort.

Talk has been heating up that Melco Crown, a joint venture between Hong Kong-listed Melco International Development Ltd and Australia's Crown Ltd , could be gearing up for a makeover as its flagship property struggles with lackluster results.

Investors got a rare piece of good news this week as January gambling revenues came in better than expected due to reduced junket commission rates. But even so, analysts remain cautious about whether a quick turnaround is on the way.

"We can't give the full benefit of the doubt to Melco Crown that the turnaround is sustainable," said Gabriel Chan, a Credit Suisse gambling analyst. "We want to wait for more clarification from the company on revenues in the next few months."

In its quarterly report issued on Tuesday, Melco Crown gave an encouraging outlook for January due to improving visitor volumes, even as its net loss widened to $89.7 million in the fourth quarter from $18.9 million a year earlier.

The glimmer of good news was quickly overshadowed on Wednesday when Moody's downgraded its outlook on Melco Crown to negative from stable, affecting $1.75 billion in debt.

With the clock ticking on Melco Crown to engineer a sustainable turnaround, talk is swirling that the company may need a strategic investor with more casino-operating experience to get the wheels spinning back toward the black.

Some have said Australian billionaire James Packer, Crown's chairman and son of late media tycoon Kerry Packer, may be losing patience with the venture and looking to sell his 35 percent stake.

Crown's investor relations head, Anthony Klok, said his company remains committed to the venture. An Australian-based banker close to Packer said he was unaware of any process under way, adding it was unlikely Packer would exit the venture.

Melco Crown shares have underperformed rivals SJM Holdings and Galaxy Entertainment Group , falling 37 percent since it opened the City of Dreams in June on Macau's Cotai Strip, a dusty stretch of reclaimed land developers are promoting as Asia's answer to Las Vegas' neon alley.

WHITE KNIGHTS

The problems dogging City of Dreams have led many to speculate, both publicly and privately, that an experienced outside gambling operator is needed to fix the resort.

Two names cited most often are U.S.-based Harrah's Entertainment [HAMLEH.UL], the world's largest casino operator, and Malaysia's Genting Bhd .

"Harrah's and Genting want to get into Macau," said Aaron Fischer, CLSA's head of Asia gaming research. "But I'd still be surprised if Crown exits Macau. Macau is the fastest-growing gaming market globally."

Boutique U.S. brokerage Sterne Agee made headlines in Australia last week when it cited unnamed contacts saying Macau's chief executive, Fernando Chui, has asked lawyers to review a potential transfer of Crown's stake in Melco Crown to Harrah's.

Melco CEO Lawrence Ho, son of Macau gambling tycoon Stanley Ho, dismissed the Sterne Agee report as "total nonsense," according to the Sydney Morning Herald, citing an analyst call.

Harrah's, owned by private equity firms TPG Capital [TPG.UL] and Apollo Global Management, is the last major U.S. casino operator without a presence in Macau, the world's largest gambling market, which generated record gambling revenues in January to 14 billion patacas ($1.8 billion).

It has long expressed interest in entering Macau, but has been effectively locked out by the government's tight rein on the number of gambling concessions. 

"We'd like to do that, but there are not many options to do it," said Michael Chen, Harrah's president for Asia, referring to the firm's interest in Macau. He declined to comment on any particular interest in Melco Crown.


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## hkskyline

*Dairy Queen to open in first restaurants in Macau and Egypt in 2010 *
9 February 2010

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - Ice-cream and burger chain International Dairy Queen Inc. said Tuesday it will open its first stores in Macau and Egypt in 2010.

Dairy Queen is owned by billionaire Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc.

In Macau -- which along with Hong Kong makes up the two special administrative regions of China -- the Hon Hoi Group (International) Co. Ltd. will open two Dairy Queen locations. The Macau enclave is the only place in China where gambling is legal.

In Egypt, Boraie Development, an Egyptian company with businesses in New Jersey and Egypt, will open the first DQ Grill & Chill restaurant in Cairo this summer. Boraie could also eventually open 40 to 50 restaurants in four or five other Egyptian cities.


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## hkskyline

*Las Vegas Sands Corp. Reports Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2009 Results*
http://investor.lasvegassands.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=445408

Sands Macao's fourth quarter operating performance reflected solid gaming volumes with adjusted property EBITDAR increasing to $56.4 million in the quarter, an increase of 7.8% compared to the fourth quarter of 2008. EBITDAR margin decreased to 19.8% in the quarter, compared to 21.2% in the year-ago quarter. The quarter's results reflected an increase in reserves for slower paying customers of $12.4 million during the fourth quarter of 2009, compared to the fourth quarter of 2008. Sands Macao gaming volumes remain healthy across the board, including slot handle which was up 39.6% compared to the same quarter last year, and continue to reflect the strong market positioning of the Sands Macao on the Macau peninsula.

The Four Seasons Hotel Macao and Plaza Casino delivered $20.4 million of adjusted property EBITDAR for the fourth quarter, an increase of $15.8 million, or 343%, compared to $4.6 million during the prior year quarter. Net revenue for the property was $97.8 million during the fourth quarter, with casino revenues representing $77.4 million of that total. The property's performance benefited from the first full quarter of its Paiza mansion suite offerings, which drove healthy Rolling Chip volume of $3.75 billion during the quarter. Rolling Chip win percentage for the quarter was 2.12%, below our expected Rolling Chip win percentage of 3.0%. Approximately 29% of that Rolling Chip play was generated in our higher-margin direct rolling program. The mass gaming business at the Four Seasons Hotel Macao and Plaza Casino continued to grow during the quarter with $79.7 million in slot handle, an increase of $49.4 million, or 163.0%, over last year's quarter, while Non-Rolling Chip table games drop was $85.2 million. Hotel occupancy reached nearly 70%, up from approximately 32% in the same quarter last year.


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## hkskyline

*Macao plans revamping areas surrounding World Heritage sites *
23 February 2010

MACAO, Feb. 23 (Xinhua) -- The government of Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR) Tuesday introduced its blueprint for the development of the urban area surrounding local landmark and World Heritage site Ruins of St. Paul's. 

Being Macao's most famous tourist hotspot, the Ruins of St. Paul's is located at the core of the Historic Center of Macao, which is a living representation of the city's historic settlement, encompassing 22 outstanding examples of architectural legacies interwoven in the original urban fabric that includes streetscapes and urban squares. 

The Center was listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage site in 2005. 

As more and more tourists coming to Macao in recent years, problems concerning traffic jams, air and environmental pollution, and the lack of connection among different heritage sites became evident, which have dented Macao's tourism image, said Lau Yung, an official from the Lands, Public Works and Transport Bureau of Macao Special Administrative Region. 

Under the new urban development plan, the old districts surrounding the Ruins of St. Paul's will be divided into different functional areas, which include museum and culture, leisure and shopping, dining, and arts, Lau also said at a press conference. 

The SAR government has already formed an inter-departmental group to handle the matter. The group has invited experts from the National University of Singapore to make an on-site investigation of the heritage sites' redevelopment plan. 

The experts from Singapore will submit their proposal concerning the matter within the first quarter of this year.


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## hkskyline

*Macau Gaming Is Safe ... For Now*
Jeanine Poggi
02/23/10 - 11:48 AM EST

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Fears in the casino industry that spending and travel restrictions could hamper growth in Macau are waning after comforting signals from Chinese leaders.

According to the South China Morning Post, Mainland leaders intend to continue fiscal stimulus spending and appropriately loose monetary policies in 2010.

This, of course, is exactly what investors in the area's gaming stocks wanted to hear. Casinos with operations in the area, like Las Vegas Sands and Melco Crown Entertainment, had addressed concerns over tightening measures in their earnings calls over the past month.

Macau has become the primary source of growth for casinos, as gaming in the U.S., specifically on the Las Vegas strip, has experienced a steep drop amid the recession.

In January, Macau saw a 63.3% surge in gaming revenue to a record $1.58 billion.

Looking to capitalize on Macau's robust growth, Sands and Wynn Resorts completed initial public offerings of their Macau assets last year. And following the success of these two deals, MGM Mirage(MGM Quote) is currently in the process of undergoing an IPO of its own.

Still, despite the news, casino stocks are falling after consumer confidence showed a much-steeper-than-expected decline in February. Las Vegas Sands is sinking 2.7% to $16.07, Wynn is off 3 cents to $63.05, MGM is dropping 4.1% to $10.42 and Isle of Capri Casinos is tumbling 5.4% to $8.05.

-- Reported by Jeanine Poggi in New York.


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## mikelee

*Cotai Strip No. 1 Residence Tower 5*



SeeMacau said:


> *City of Dream Crown Hotel Tower and Hard Rock Hotel Tower - 28F*
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> Source : Wikipedia (30 June, 2008)
> 
> 
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> 
> *Cotai Strip No. 1 Residence Tower 1 to 5 - 28F*


What are the chances to get these residence towers approved? Has construction been approved yet? If not, when will it be approved? What is the price for Unit J ? Thanks!


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## hkskyline

Source : http://mccy88.xanga.com/


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## hkskyline

*Macao to initiate archeological exploration near World Heritage sites*

MACAO, Mar. 10 (Xinhua) -- The government of Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR) Wednesday announced that it will start demolishing two government-owned apartment buildings near local World Heritage site Ruins of St. Paul's, so as to launch archeological exploration in that area.

The SAR government has formed a trans-department group to handle the urban plan of revamping the areas surrounding Ruins of St. Paul's, and the archeological exploration is part of the government's effort to extend the deeper historical value of the heritage sites. Another two government-owned apartment buildings in that areas will also be removed for the redevelopment plan in that area.

Being Macao's most famous tourist hotspot, the Ruins of St. Paul's is located at the core of the Historic Center of Macao, which is a living representation of the city's historic settlement, encompassing 22 outstanding examples of architectural legacies interwoven in the original urban fabric that includes streetscapes and urban squares. The Center was listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage site in 2005.

In November last year, the SAR government has invited experts from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences to assess the archeological value of the areas surrounding Ruins of St. Paul's, and they concluded that it was still possible to made archeological findings in the areas, according to the trans- department group.

Aside from archeological exploration, under the new urban development plan, the old districts surrounding the Ruins of St. Paul's will be divided into different functional areas, which include museum and culture, leisure and shopping, dining and arts.


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## hkskyline

*Upswing in Macau market draws stronger play by HK agencies *
17 March 2010
SCMP

Hong Kong property agents have extended their competitive battlefield to Macau, lured by a recovery in the property market on the island.

Major Hong Kong agencies Midland Realty and Centaline Property Agency plan to boost their presence in the market by adding branches and staff, while Hong Kong Property Services (Agency) has announced its foray into the city with intentions to open five branches in the first phase of development.

Announcements of the plans came in anticipation of a market boost to be unveiled yesterday in the first policy address by Macau Chief Executive Fernando Chui Sai-on.

Those expectations proved accurate when Chui said he would review immigration laws to address labour shortages and add 142 hectares of reclaimed land for development.

The land would not be reserved for casinos.

Speaking ahead of the address, Hong Kong Property chief executive Richard Lee Chi-shing said he expected good news for the Macau economy that would benefit the property market. "We expect the new administration to introduce stimulus measures to improve the economy."

Hong Kong Property plans to invest HK$5 million in its Macau expansion.

Centaline Property is targeting three new branches this year, bringing its network to a total of seven.

"We will also increase the number of staff to 120 from the existing 80," said Stanley Poon, managing director of the agency's Macau office.

Ronald Cheung Yat-fai, chief executive of Midland Realty (Macau), said the agency would increase its network by one or two branches on top of the existing five.

According to the Macau government, newly approved residential mortgage loans amounted to HK$6.6 billion in the fourth quarter of last year, three times the sum lent in the third quarter of the year.

The market recovery has also lured Rico Kwok, former chief of Centaline's Macau office, to set up his own business in Macau.

"I am optimistic about the growth of the real estate sector," he said. His Macau agency will open on March 26 with an investment of HK$1.5 million. It was the right time for the move since the Macau market was now riding an upward trend, he said.

Prices of luxury flats were recovering but at an average of HK$7,000 per sq ft, they were still more than HK$2,000 below the market's peak of more than HK$9,000 per sq ft, according to Midland's Cheung.

The number of sales in the Macau housing market slumped to fewer than 200 deals in January 2009, shortly after the global financial crisis struck, according to Hong Kong Property. This amounted to just 10 per cent of the 2,059 deals clinched during the market's peak in January 2008, but sales activity had rebounded to 1,297 deals in January this year, it said.

The average transaction price has meanwhile rebounded by 40 per cent to HK$2,381 per sq ft, from HK$1,678 at the end of 2008.

Agents said the resumption of work on the latest mega-resort in the gambling enclave, along with the start of construction on the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau bridge - which will halve travelling time between Hong Kong and Macau to 30 minutes - will entice investors back into the market.

Signs of a revival are already evident, according to Poon of Centaline. More than 200 units of the mid-ranged housing development The Bayview were sold over the weekend.

He expected Macau home prices to grow 15 per cent this year.

While unveiling their expansion plans, all agents said that hiring sufficient sales people to cope with the future growth was proving to be a challenge.

"Macau is a small market and much of the manpower has already been absorbed by the gaming industry," Cheung said.


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## hkskyline

*Macau To Cap Gambling Tables To Rein In Rapid Growth*
25 March 2010

HONG KONG (Dow Jones)--The Macau government won't approve new casino projects and will only allow 500 additional gaming tables in the next three years, raising questions about major expansion plans of operators.

The decision comes as the government, which currently draws around 70% of its revenue from gaming, seeks to diversify the city's economy away from the gambling industry, with the goal of developing Macau into a popular leisure and entertainment destination.

At the moment, Macau has around 5,000 gambling tables and six licensed casino operators, some of which have projects under construction that could add around 1,300 tables by next year.

But Macau's top gaming official, Francis Tam, told legislators Tuesday that the total number of tables will be capped at 5,500 until 2013, adding that all unapproved projects have already been halted to promote healthy and orderly development of the casino market as gaming revenue continues to soar.

"Those casino developments that have already been approved may continue to complete their construction," said Tam, who is Macau's secretary for economy and finance. "So within the next three years, casino tables will only reach 5,500."

Tam said the casino industry's development in the last few years has become much more orderly, with an annual growth rate of around 4%-5%, compared with much bigger increases in capacity from 2003-2006.

Even so, Tam's comments come as Macau's gaming revenue skyrocketed 66% in the first two months this year, according to media reports, raising concerns the city's gambling market is expanding at an unsustainable pace.

The Chinese government has urged Macau's leaders to cool the city's gambling industry growth because of concerns that many mainland Chinese are gambling away their savings in Macau, the only place in China where casinos are legal.

Casino projects already approved include Galaxy Entertainment Group Ltd.'s (0027.HK) flagship project on Cotai, which will have 600 gaming tables, as well as Sands China Ltd.'s (1928.HK) expansion project that could add 700 tables, based on CLSA estimates.

Both projects are scheduled to be completed by mid-2011, the casino operators have said.

But the math doesn't add up with the cap in place unless operators scale down their plans for new tables or remove some of their current tables, raising concerns over how the government will be able to implement the policy cap fairly, casino industry watchers say.

They said there is confusion as to whether the additional table capacity will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis, benefiting those who have built big early, or if the cap total will be divided evenly among the operators.

"We need a lot more clarity on the policy. It's also unsettling for investors who may now be less willing to finance projects in Macau given the potential for policy changes like this," said Sean Monaghan, managing director at AG Leisure Partners.

"There's never been a cap before so it's not going to be a level playing field for operators," he said.

In response to Tam's comments, Sands China President Steve Jacobs told Dow Jones Newswires Thursday the company believes "the Macau government is sincere in its efforts to diversify and that it recognizes the integral part sites five and six play with regards to growth in hospitality, business, leisure tourism" and exhibition businesses. Sites five and six refer to Sands' Cotai expansion project under development. "We believe in the future of Macau and Sands China remains committed to working in partnership to help diversify the economy," Jacobs said.

Among other operators, Galaxy declined to comment, while Wynn Macau Ltd. (1128.HK) referred requests for comment to remarks in its 2009 earnings statement Wednesday.

Melco Crown Entertainment Ltd. (MPEL), SJM Holdings Ltd. (0880.HK) and MGM Mirage (MGM) didn't immediately respond to requests seeking comment.

CLSA analyst Aaron Fischer said he would be surprised if Sands wasn't able to complete its project because of the table cap. "I don't know why the government would punish companies that are building projects that will attract the mass market and therefore have the potential to boost non-gaming revenue," he said

The Macau government said Thursday it had no further comment on Tam's speech on Tuesday.

Tam's statement to legislators Tuesday also suggests operators that have discussed plans to build on Cotai such as Wynn, MGM Mirage and SJM may not be given approval anytime soon.

Wynn Macau said in a statement accompanying its 2009 earnings it is awaiting approval from the Macau government to lease a plot of land on Cotai that would enable it to build an integrated casino and resort there.

The planned table cap follows earlier efforts by the government to rein in fast growth of the gambling industry.

Last week, Macau Chief Executive Fernando Chui said the government will take steps to repossess any idle land being held by casino developers without concrete plans to develop it.

However, analysts largely wrote off the tough talk as political posturing, given complaints about rising property prices.


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## hkskyline

*Macao SAR gov't mulls taking back 24 idle land cases*

MACAO, April 1 (Xinhua) -- Secretary for Transport and Public Works of Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR) Lau Si Io has said that the government is investigating a total of two dozen cases of underdeveloped plot of lands and will take back any of them if their leaseholders failed to demonstrate any developments on them, the local Macao Post Daily reported Thursday.

Lau made the comment during the first of a two-day plenary debate about his 2010 policy portfolio at the legislative hemicycle.

The newspaper quoted Lau as saying that among some 100 cases of underdeveloped plots recorded by the Land, Public Works and Transport Bureau, the situation of these 24 cases is more " serious".

Lau said that the government had already sent notifications to the developers concerned, adding that the government would examine the subcontractors' explanations as to why development had not taken place before taking any action to repossess the lands.

Concerning any new agreements or renewal of agreements in the future, Lau said the government would increase the penalty for developers who failed to develop their plots of land as agreed and the penalty would be linked to the price of land concessions.

Chief Executive of Macao SAR Chui Sai On promised in his 2010 Policy Address delivered early last month that the government would repossess the idle lands granted to casino operators or other entities, transforming them into public housing and small- sized residential apartments.


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## hkskyline

*Sands China Says Macau Expansion on Track*
19 April 2010
The Wall Street Journal

SHANGHAI—Sands China Ltd.'s expansion project in Macau's Cotai area is on track to open in the third quarter of 2011 and the casino resort will have roughly 670 gaming tables at the opening, Chief Executive Steve Jacobs said Monday.

The Macau unit of casino operator Las Vegas Sands Corp. cancelled a news conference last month for a signing ceremony with contractors to re-start construction of the project, raising concerns it would face further delays after construction was halted in 2008 at the height of the financial crisis.

The cancellation came days after the Macau government said it would cap gambling tables in Macau at 5,500 until 2013 from the current 5,000 despite operators' major expansion plans.

A person familiar with the matter said last week rival Galaxy Entertainment, which also plans to open a major expansion project in Cotai in early 2011, would be given permission to put at least 400 new tables in its casino, driving speculation Sands China would need to take tables from its existing casino operations in Macau to open its new project.

Mr. Jacobs declined to comment on how many new tables Sands China will be allocated and said the company was still in talks with the government on those details.

"We support the table limitation approach that is being taken by the government. We think it's good for Macau because it forces the other concessionaires to invest as we have in non-gaming operations to drive their businesses forward," he said.

His comments came despite concerns among industry watchers that the table cap will affect Sands China the most negatively due to the project's ambitious scale.

"It's clear that if the government wants to diversify...that we've got to lead that effort," added Mr. Jacobs, who had just returned from a 12-city roadshow in China, which he said was aimed at promoting both Sands China and Macau as a destination for meetings and exhibitions, shopping and entertainment.

Mr. Jacobs reiterated the casino and hotel expansion project in Cotai would open in phases with the first comprising two casinos, retail and restaurant space, 3,700 hotel rooms from the Traders, Shangri-La and Sheraton brands along with some "new features" which will be announced in the coming weeks.

He said the first phase would be completed by the third quarter of 2011, while the second phase, which will add 2,300 rooms, will be finished four to six months later. There is no timeline for the third phase, which was planned to include the St. Regis hotel, nor is there clarity on whether it would be built.

"We're in the process of ramping up the construction of the project," Mr. Jacobs said, adding the company won't re-schedule the construction signing ceremony.

He said the company has been given the labor quotas needed to complete the project. Analysts have raised concerns the Macau government would be reluctant to offer substantial quotas to construction companies to employ workers from China as local Macau workers have criticized the government for importing too much foreign labor.

"It typically takes anywhere from two to three months to get everybody on site," Mr. Jacobs added. "If you stop by the site today, you'd see we have several thousand workers underway."

Mark Russell, senior vice president of sales and marketing at Venetian Macau, one of Sands China's properties, told reporters there has been a pick-up in meetings and events this year, and that he is seeing more clients make long-term commitments in their bookings.

About 12% of Sands China's revenue comes from non-gambling businesses such as restaurants and hotels.

Sands China, Macau's second largest casino operator by revenue after SJM Holdings, is due to report its first-quarter earnings May 7.


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## hkskyline

*Tang to persuade HK entrepreneurs to tap Hengqin island development*
23 April 2010
SCMP

Hong Kong entrepreneurs will be encouraged to take part in the development of Hengqin, a Guangdong island earmarked as a key base for cross-delta co-operation, Chief Secretary Henry Tang Ying-yen said in Macau after meeting Macau Chief Executive Fernando Chui Sai-on.

Tang met Chui at the Macau government headquarters before attending a forum on cross-delta economic ties in the former Portuguese enclave.

"Mr Chui invited Hong Kong to take part in the development [of Hengqin]," Tang said. "I'll further introduce Hengqin to Hong Kong enterprises and see what suitable investment opportunities there are."

He said Hong Kong companies may have an advantage in Hengqin's development, which is centred on tourism, convention, exhibition, leisure and cultural industries.

Guangdong officials said in December that the province would spend 72.6 billion yuan (HK$82.4 billion) to transform Hengqin, an island off Macau, from a bleak outpost with a gross domestic product of just 128 million yuan in 2008 into a key base for cross-delta co-operation.

They said a new town would be built on the 86 square kilometre island, with a theme park, multi-functional power station and business district.

Hengqin enjoys sub-provincial administrative status, joining the ranks of Pudong New Area in Shanghai and Binhai New Area in Tianjin.

Tang said at the forum in the Macau Tower that Hong Kong entrepreneurs would be encouraged to upgrade their plants in Guangdong and expand mainland sales networks.

"We believe the successful transformation of Hong Kong enterprises would be a huge contribution to the upgrade of the overall competitiveness of the manufacturing industry of the Pearl River Delta," he said.

Tang said Hong Kong firms should expand their sales networks as Beijing unveiled more policies to spur domestic consumption in the wake of the global financial crisis.

Guangdong deputy governor Lei Yulan and Macau finance minister Francis Tam Pak-yuen also attended the forum.


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## hkskyline

*Wynn Plans a New Casino in Macau *
21 April 2010
The Wall Street Journal

MACAU -- Wynn Resorts Ltd. Chairman Steve Wynn said he would build a major new casino in Macau's Cotai area, stepping up competition in the heart of one of the gambling industry's most lucrative growth centers.

Mr. Wynn, speaking in an interview ahead of the opening of his new hotel and casino, Encore at Wynn Macau, said construction on the Cotai project would start next year, in time to open as early as the end of 2013, and would feature a single hotel and likely include no more than 450 gambling tables.

While many of his peers have plunged headlong into Cotai, a strip of reclaimed land that Mr. Wynn described last year as "the most extraordinary opportunity in the world," Mr. Wynn has moved more cautiously. In 2007, Las Vegas Sands Corp. opened the world's largest casino, its Venetian resort, there, and is now working on a bigger project across the street.

Wynn previously said it had applied for a 52-acre parcel of land in Cotai but until Tuesday hadn't made public any plans to develop a project there. The company's decision to start work in Cotai would make it the fourth of Macau's six licensed casino operators to stake its claim in the area.

Mr. Wynn's Encore Macau is the only opening by a major casino operator this year in the Chinese territory, but it is relatively modest; the $600 million Encore Macau has 61 gambling tables, and Mr. Wynn described the project Tuesday as a "boutique hotel" meant to cater to Macau's highest-end visitors.

He brushed off analyst concerns that Encore Macau would be perceived as merely an annex to his flagship Wynn Macau property, praising the hotel's design and saying that the 1,100-square-foot standard rooms would set a benchmark for new hotels in the territory.

The company said the timing of the property's opening, originally scheduled for Wednesday, was uncertain after Beijing declared a national day of mourning following last week's earthquake in northwestern China.

Mr. Wynn's Cotai plans come just days before Las Vegas Sands opens the world's most expensive casino, the $5.5 billion Marina Bay Sands, on Singapore's main waterfront. Analysts have been divided over Singapore's impact on Macau, but Mr. Wynn said Macau's proximity to mainland China's gamblers would keep it insulated from any Singapore threat.

Mr. Wynn dismissed worries that Macau government officials could limit the number of gambling tables, calling recent remarks by top officials part of "a conversation, not a reality."

"Is the table cap a fait accompli? The answer is no," Mr. Wynn said. He added that he is in regular dialogue with top Macau officials and said officials wouldn't approve projects by holders of casino licenses unless they were comfortable with the idea of more gambling tables.

Mr. Wynn also lashed out at New Jersey gaming authorities, who last month released a report that deemed Pansy Ho, the daughter of Macau gambling tycoon Stanley Ho, an "unsuitable" business partner for MGM Mirage. The company had formed a joint venture with Ms. Ho to enter Macau and also owns 50% of the Borgata casino resort in Atlantic City, N.J. MGM Mirage said last month that it would leave the New Jersey market in response to regulatory concerns about its dealings with Ms. Ho.

Mr. Wynn called the New Jersey recommendation against Ms. Ho "ridiculous," saying regulators were overreaching to make a political statement.

Peter Aseltine, a spokesman for the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement, said his agency's report "reflected the Division of Gaming Enforcement's overriding interest in ensuring the integrity of those who own, operate and control casinos. That concern for integrity extends to a licensee's associates. The recommendations were based on a fair and very thorough investigation."


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## hkskyline

*Sands' US$4.2b Cotai complex to open with fewer new tables *
8 May 2010
South China Morning Post

Las Vegas Sands Corp's new US$4.18 billion Cotai casino complex must make do with 40 per cent fewer new gaming tables than originally anticipated following the Macau government's decision to cap the number of tables in the city at 5,500.

Sands planned to add 670 tables to its half-built, 6,000-room resort with Sheraton, Shangri-La and Traders branded hotels across the street from the Venetian. But following the government's announcement in March that it would limit the supply of new gaming tables until 2013, Sands has received approval to add only 400 new tables at the property.

"We met last week with members of the Macau government and we've been assured in writing of 400 tables to start with, and there are assurances of reviewing tables as we go over the next couple of years," Sands president and chief operating officer Michael Leven said yesterday.

Macau had 4,811 gaming tables at the end of March, and the decision to try to cool red-hot growth in the casino industry with the 5,500-unit cap has complicated things for resort developers in the midst of large-scale expansions. In addition to Sands, which has spent US$1.73 billion towards building its new property, Galaxy Entertainment is building a HK$14.1 billion Cotai resort scheduled to open next year with space for about 600 tables.

Sands will work within the new quota but still plans to open the property with 670 tables. In addition to the 400 new units, it plans to relocate 170 of its 1,131 existing tables at the Venetian, Sands and Four Seasons casinos. The remaining 100 units will be newly added electronic gaming tables, which are technically classified as slot machines.

"We will open with enough tables to justify the [performance] numbers that we've projected," Leven said.

The parent of locally listed Sands China said that net revenue at its three Macau properties rose to US$935.85 million in the first quarter, up 23.9 per cent from a year ago but 1.8 per cent short of the previous quarter's record revenue.

But the firm's increase in cash flow nearly doubled the pace of revenue growth owing to cost cutting and a slight shift towards more "direct" VIP play, where the casino bypasses junket agents who command hefty commissions in order to issue credit directly to players. Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (ebitda) at the Macau properties came in at a record US$259.17 million, up 49.7 per cent from a year earlier and 4.3 per cent from the previous quarter.

Sands' Cotai project was stalled in November 2008 as the developer ran out of funds in the wake of the financial crisis, laying off around 11,000 builders. The company now plans to open the project in phases from next year. Funding for the remaining US$2.35 billion to finish the property will include US$500 million of the proceeds from last year's Hong Kong listing, contributions from ongoing cash flows and a US$1.75 billion syndicated loan.

Executives expect financing to close later this month and full construction on Cotai to resume in three to four months, after all the construction contracts are signed.


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## hkskyline

*RLPC-Banks face loss on Sands China loan-sources *

HONG KONG, May 12 (Reuters) - Bank underwriters of a $1.75 billion loan for Sands China Ltd which finances the construction of a new casino in Macau are expected to sell it at a loss in the secondary loan market, bankers said on Wednesday.

Sands China Ltd is the Macau subsidiary of U.S. casino operator Las Vegas Sands (LVS), which is owned by billionaire Sheldon Adelson.

The $1.75 billion loan will allow LVS to finish construction work on lots five and six of the Venetian Macau development which were mothballed in November 2008 when LVS hit cash flow problems at the peak of the credit crunch.

Banks are expected to sell the loan at 87 percent of face value or lower after many bank investors declined to join the loan in a lengthy four-month syndication, banking sources said.

The loan raised around $150 million in a lengthy syndication which left underwriters overexposed to the tune of $1.6 billion, sources said.

Ten banks underwrote Sands China's loan in December 2009 before its $2.5 billion stock market listing which was the seventh-largest IPO globally in 2009.

Underwriters on the deal are: Bank of China Macau ($250 million), BNP Paribas ($250 million), Citigroup ($250 million), Barclays Capital ($200 million), Goldman Sachs ($200 million), UBS ($200 million), Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Macau ($150 million), Banco Nacional Ultramarino ($100 million), DBS Bank ($75 million) and OCBC Bank ($75 million).

Investment banks generally come under greater internal pressure to sell loans in the secondary market and re-use the capital if syndication fails to reach target hold levels.

DEEP DISCOUNT

Sands China's loan is expected to trade at a deeper discount than fellow subsidiary Marina Bay Sands' loan, which is trading at 87 percent of face value, according to Thomson Reuters LPC data.

The trading levels reflect differing risk profiles -- Singapore's Marina Bay Sands is open for business, while Sands China is borrowing to cover the construction cost of a new casino in Macau which is expected to open in 2011.

A senior loan syndicator, whose bank did not join the deal, said that the greenfield project and overcapacity in the Macau market weighed against his bank joining. Macau, the world's largest and fastest-growing gambling market, generated record gambling revenues in April, up 70 percent from a year earlier. [ID:nT0E64302K]

Bankers however remain concerned about Beijing's travel restrictions on mainland Chinese visiting Macau -- the only place in the country where casino gambling is legal.

The loan also faced a difficult syndication, launching in December before the two-month slowdown in the syndicated loan market around year-end and Lunar New Year.

Despite higher pricing of 450 basis points over HIBOR or LIBOR, bank investors remained wary of the risk.

"You can counter risk with higher pricing to attract hedge funds, but when risk crosses a certain point for banks, there's no way to overcome that," said the senior loans syndicator.

Two sources - one from an underwriting bank - said the deal was also kept open for covenant changes, which required banks to seek new credit approvals.


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## hkskyline

- edit


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## hkskyline

*Galaxy Entertainment upbeat on outlook in booming Macau*
2 June 2010

HONG KONG, June 2 (Reuters) - Analysts looking for about 30 percent growth in Galaxy Entertainment's gambling revenue this year may upgrade their forecasts after Macau posted record casino revenue for April and May, executives from one of Macau's six casino operators said on Wednesday.

Macau casino revenue surged almost 100 percent in May to more than 17 billion patacas, the South China Morning Post reported on Wednesday, citing government-run broadcaster TDM. That followed a 70 percent year-on-year jump in April, when revenue rose to a previous record 14.1 billion patacas ($1.76 billion).

Analysts had forecast Galaxy Entertainment , one of Macau's six gambling licensees, would post revenue of HK$16 billion this year, up about 30 percent from 2009, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

"Possibly over the last seven or eight months some analysts have been pretty conservative," Peter Caveny, vice-president of investor relations for Galaxy, told Reuters in a telephone interview. "We don't give projections, but it's clear in analyst comments coming out that they're probably going to restate what the market's going to be ... which indicates they probably believe the numbers are going to be increased accordingly."

Chief Financial Officer Bob Drake said market sentiment had been very positive after Galaxy reported record earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation in the last two quarters.

On Wednesday, the company, controlled by the family of Hong Kong tycoon Lui Che Woo, reported that its EBITDA rose 79 percent in the first quarter of 2010 to HK$417 million, with revenue up 51 percent to HK$3.95 billion.

Galaxy said its new HK$14.1 billion mega-resort, Galaxy Macau, was set to open on schedule in early 2011 on Macau's Cotai Strip, billed by local promoters as Asia's version of the Vegas Strip. It is already home to megaresorts operated by Sands China and Melco Crown .

The project was previously delayed in late 2008 at the peak of the global financial crisis.

"We're very excited about it," Drake said. "I think we have a very unique offering that will help create a critical mass in Cotai.

The new casino would have capacity for more than 600 tables, although Drake declined to say how many it would initially hold at the open. That number is significantly higher than the 250 tables at its current main Macau property, which caters mostly to higher-end gamblers.

The Galaxy Macau would cater more to mass-market gamblers, aiming to have about two-thirds of its tables dedicated to that group, Caveny said.

Shares in Galaxy have risen about 13 percent so far this year, underperforming Sands China, up about 17 percent and Wynn Macau , which has gained about 31 percent. Galaxy shares were up 2.8 percent on Wednesday after the results came out, beating the broader market's 0.45 percent decline.

"Valuation-wise, it's cheap," Gabriel Chan, an analyst with Credit Suisse, told Reuters before the interview. "The market has underestimated the earnings potential for Galaxy Macau. There's a lot of room for upside."


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## hkskyline

*Developers optimistic about serviced apartment sector Macau*
11 June 2010
South China Morning Post

Despite the influx of expatriates, recruited to work in Macau's growing portfolio of luxury hotels and casinos, the serviced apartment market remains small due to executives' lengthier job postings and cheaper property prices.

"Renting an apartment in Macau is not as expensive as Hong Kong. With the majority of expatriates signed on to work in Macau for at least a year, if not more, it makes more sense to rent an apartment without services," explains Ronald Cheung, CEO of Midland Realty Macau.

"Those that come for a shorter period can stay in any of the hotels. That mid-point of three to six months, somewhere between short stay and long term stay, does not, however, seem to be too common."

Indeed, developers and apartment operators in Macau are dealing with a very different type of expatriate tenant to Hong Kong; not the big housing budget of an investment banker who plans to spend much of his time in the office, but a couple or a family looking to make Macau their home for the next few years.

"Macau's rental market also offers more value for money. It is not expensive to rent a decent sized apartment, so many people tend to do that instead," Cheung says.

Even units at Lot W, one of Macau's very few premium serviced apartment properties, situated in northwest Taipa, are big in terms of size. Each apartment is about 2,830 sqft and is designed around a comprehensive list of facilities that include a shopping centre, private membership club, school, post office, medical centre, 24-hour convenience store, supermarkets and a nursery, all within easy access.

MacauLand has also developed large family-style residences at The Manhattan, close to the Cotai Strip. As an incentive to buyers, the company sold the units with a leasing option, allowing owners to lease their properties back to MacauLand, which would in turn sublet the fully furnished flats to casinos and hotels, guaranteeing owners a 5 per cent yield over the course of two years.

"A lot of international investors were keen to invest in property in Macau, but they did not want the hassle of having to deal with tenants and leasing issues. Though the period for guaranteed yields has expired, we continue to offer our leasing and tenancy management services as a value added service to owners," says Benjamin Kao, a principal at MacauLand Developments.

About half of the 175 units at The Manhattan are leased out. The development, which was completed in 2007, offers the choice of three bedroom apartments of 1,600 sqft and four bedroom apartments of 2,200 sqft.

Aside from the location, many tenants want to live in developments within walking distance, or a close drive from their workplace. Many executives also seek flats that have quality fixtures and fittings, an English-language concierge service and comprehensive clubhouse facilities.

The Manhattan offers 30,000 sqft of recreational space featuring a gym, swimming pool, movie theatre, spa, playground, barbecue deck, among other facilities. "Macau is much smaller than Hong Kong. There aren't many parks or recreational places, so tenants see their apartment buildings as an oasis and want to have everything right there," Kao explains.

One Central, in the Nape area of Macau, with a direct link to the MGM Grand Macau and in close proximity to Wynn Macau, has become one of the most popular rental properties because of its convenient location and comprehensive clubhouse facilities.

The Hongkong Land and Shun Tak Holdings joint venture is a waterfront mixed-use project comprising residences, luxury retail and a hotel managed by the Mandarin Oriental Group on a site spanning 200,000 sqft.

The development has seven residential blocks offering about 800 units of one- to four-bedroom apartments. The luxury residential clubhouse features indoor and outdoor swimming pools, and a landscaped garden. Plans are under way to launch serviced apartments at the property.

Despite the lacklustre market for serviced apartments, developers and realtors are optimistic that it will pick up over the next few years. "There may not be much demand in the market now, but we see more room for growth in the future, especially with the completion of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau bridge, which could generate more demand from businessmen who wish to be based in Macau," Kao says.

As the sector evolves, developers may also look to building smaller one- to two-bedroom apartments to meet growing demand. "We will likely see the development of a few purpose-built properties that are designed as serviced apartments, though rents will be cheaper than Hong Kong because of the lower value of property," Kao says.


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## hkskyline

*Mandarin Oriental, Macau Opens For Business*
http://www.mandarinoriental.com/about_mo/media/press_releases/property/macau_open.aspx

HONG KONG, 29 June, 2010 – Vivienne Tam, prominent fashion designer and Mandarin Oriental ‘fan’, joined João Manuel Costa Antunes, Director of Macau’s Government Tourist Office and senior executives from Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group, Hongkong Land and Shun Tak Holdings today at a colourful ceremony and ribbon cutting to mark the opening of the stunning new 213-room Mandarin Oriental, Macau.

A festive lion dance and fire crackers were followed by private guest tours of the hotel and a celebratory dine around experience at the hotel’s chic restaurant and bar, Vida Rica.

Mandarin Oriental, Macau is the most luxurious and stylish hotel in the enclave with panoramic views of Taipa Island, Nam Van Lake, Macau Tower and the hills of the South China coastline. The hotel has a holistic Spa at Mandarin Oriental, a comprehensive fitness centre, temperature controlled outdoor swimming pool, a range of stylish event space and the vibrant Vida Rica restaurant and bar, which is set to be the place to ‘see and be seen’.

Speaking at the ceremony, Martin Schnider, General Manager said: “I believe that today’s opening will bring a new dimension of luxury to this exciting city and we are delighted to welcome all of you to the warmth of Mandarin Oriental, Macau.”

Andrew Hirst, Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group’s Operations Director, Asia added: “The achievement of today’s events could not have happened without the vision, commitment and dedication of our partners, and I would like to particularly thank Shun Tak Holdings and HongKong Land, the owners of this magnificent property for their passion in creating this landmark hotel in Macau.”

The hotel’s opening package rates start from HKD2,188 per night. This includes one complimentary consecutive night’s accommodation or a dining or spa credit valued at MOP388. Reservations can be made through Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group’s on-line reservations service at www.mandarinoriental.com or by contacting the Group’s worldwide sales and reservation offices, or by phoning Mandarin Oriental, Macau directly on +853 8805 8822, or e-mailing [email protected]. 

About Mandarin Oriental, Macau

Mandarin Oriental, Macau is ideally situated in the heart of Macau’s business, entertainment and high-end retail districts, offering easy access to all major tourist sites and transport hubs. Both Macau International Airport and the Macau-China border are 10 minutes by car, while the Hong Kong-Macau ferry terminal is just a short five-minute drive away. From here, Hong Kong’s airport can be directly accessed by ferry in 45 minutes and Central Hong Kong in just one hour.

About Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group

Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group is the award-winning owner and operator of some of the world's most prestigious hotels, resorts and residences. Mandarin Oriental now operates, or has under development, 41 hotels representing over 10,000 rooms in 26 countries, with 17 hotels in Asia, 13 in The Americas and 11 in Europe and North Africa. In addition, the Group operates, or has under development, 13 Residences at Mandarin Oriental, connected to the Group’s properties.

Photography of Mandarin Oriental is available to download, in high and low resolution, in the Photo Library of our Media section.


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## hkskyline

*No casino at new Mandarin Oriental in Macau*
AP
By BETH J. HARPAZ, AP Travel Editor Beth J. Harpaz, Ap Travel Editor 
Tue Jun 29, 7:57 pm ET

NEW YORK – Macau is one of the world's premier gambling destinations, but its newest hotel, the Mandarin Oriental Macau, opening Tuesday, does not have a casino.

The luxury Mandarin Oriental hotel group opened a new hotel in Las Vegas in December that also does not have a casino.

At a meeting of Mandarin Oriental managers at the group's New York property earlier this week, hotel officials said both the Vegas and Macau hotels offer alternatives to visitors who happen to be in gambling centers but who prefer accommodations in a non-gaming environment.

"You're going completely the other way to differentiate yourself," said Jonas A. Schuermann, general manager of the Mandarin Oriental in Hong Kong.

Potential guests might include families, couples where one person likes to gamble but the other does not, and even celebrities looking for a peaceful place away from the crowds.

Many hotel-casinos are built so that guests must walk through or past large, dark, noisy casino areas to reach their accommodations, so the Mandarin Oriental properties also provide a different experience walking in.

Some visitors to Macau may also be more interested in its cultural attractions and unusual colonial history than in games of chance, just as some tourists head to Vegas for shows, restaurants and the Bellagio fountains but leave town without ever placing a bet or playing the slots.

Macau, a former Portuguese colony that is now part of China, is about 40 miles from Hong Kong, reachable via ferry. There are about 60 hotels in Macau and 33 casinos. Its gambling revenue for first-quarter 2010 was over $5 billion, according to statistics from its Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau.

Las Vegas has 295 hotels and motels, of which 81 have casinos, according to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority. First-quarter 2010 gaming revenue on the Vegas Strip was $1.53 billion, according to the Nevada Gaming Control Board.

Opening a property in Macau without a casino is also much easier to do these days than opening one with gaming. The Macau government is controlling growth by limiting the number of casino licenses available, and officials haven't indicated a desire to license new operators.

Starting rates for the Mandarin Oriental in Macau are $281 a night.

Mandarin Oriental's flagship property is in Hong Kong. The group currently operates 26 hotels around the world, including an older property in Macau called the Grand Lapa. A rapid expansion in the next three years will add another 16 hotels to the Mandarin Oriental group in locations including Paris, Costa Rica and Marrakech, Morocco. Some scenes from the "Sex and the City 2" movie set in the Abu Dhabi hotel were filmed at the Morocco property.


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## hkskyline

*HK Court Throws Out ESun Claim Against Macao Studio City Partners*
19 July 2010

HONG KONG (Dow Jones)--A Hong Kong court threw out an eSun Holdings Ltd. (0571.HK) unit's US$2.39 billion claim against its joint-venture partners in the Macao Studio City casino project, deadlocked for three years while disputes among investors escalated.

But the fate of the troubled project remains up in the air, and pressure to find a resolution is mounting. The Macau government has indicated it will reclaim its 6 million-square-foot site if plans don't proceed in the 'near future,' according to the court ruling.

High Court Judge A.T. Reyes ruled Friday that East Asia Satellite Television (Holdings) Ltd.'s claims against New Cotai LLC, owned by U.S. investment firms Oaktree Capital Management LP and Silver Point Capital LP, and former Las Vegas Sands Corp. (LVS) executive David Friedman, were 'untenable.' Reyes called the claim against three New Cotai directors for inducing their own company to break the share-purchase agreement 'fanciful.' 'There is no serious issue to be tried here,' the ruling said.

However, the judge said there is 'a good arguable case' regarding a separate US$88.6 million claim against Oaktree and Silver Point 'for inducing New Cotai to breach' the share-purchase agreement.

East Asia, which wanted to renegotiate the terms of the joint-venture agreement, sued New Cotai and its directors in October for allegedly failing to cooperate to progress the casino project.

The suit followed the U.S. investors' offer to buy out eSun at HK$1,200 (US$154) a square foot in July 2008, according to some people familiar with the matter. Late last year, they say, eSun offered to buy out the U.S. group at HK$400 a square foot for the project.

David Friedman, chief executive of New Cotai, said in a statement: 'We are pleased that the High Court dismissed so many of East Asia's claims at this early stage of the proceedings.' The press release added New Cotai remains 'well positioned to complete Macao Studio City once the impediments to doing so, including the litigation initiated by East Asia, are resolved.'

The project initially attracted Marriott, W and Ritz-Carlton hotels, a high-end shopping mall by Taubman Centers Inc. (TCO) and a Playboy Mansion.

But Taubman and Playboy Enterprises Inc. (PLA) backed out in 2009. This April, U.S. hedge fund Passport Capital LLC sold its entire 28.78% stake in eSun.

ESun, controlled by Hong Kong tycoon Peter Lam, could not be reached for comment Saturday. Oaktree and Silver Point were also unavailable.

Singapore developer CapitaLand Ltd. (C31.SG), which bought a 20% stake in the Studio City venture from eSun, did not reply to a written request for comment.


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## hkskyline

*No impact from HK court ruling: CapitaLand*
20 July 2010
Business Times Singapore

CAPITALAND said yesterday that there was no financial impact on the group stemming from a court ruling in Hong Kong concerning a troubled Macau casino project.

The group has an effective 20 per cent stake in the Macao Studio City project through one-third owned East Asia Satellite.

The remaining interests in the project are equally held by Hong Kong-based eSun Holdings (through two-thirds owned East Asia Satellite) and New Cotai.

East Asia had in October launched a US$2.39 billion legal suit against New Cotai and its directors, accusing them of systematically hindering the development of the Macao Studio City project.

This lawsuit followed an attempt by New Cotai to buy out eSun's share of the Macau project.

New Cotai is a consortium of US-based investors, including former Las Vegas Sands Corp executive David Friedman (who is co-chairman and co-CEO of Macao Studio City) and private US-based investment firms Silver Point Capital LP and Oaktree Capital Management LLC.

The High Court in Hong Kong last Friday struck out certain claims made by East Asia while allowing a separate US$88.6 million claim against Oaktree Capital and Silver Point for 'inducing breach' of an agreement to proceed.

CapitaLand said that this ruling did not result in any requirement for CapitaLand or its representatives on East Asia's board to make payment to New Cotai and other defendants and was therefore 'not expected to have any material impact on the net tangible assets or earnings per share of the CapitaLand Group for the financial year ending 31 December 2010'.

eSun also said in a separate statement yesterday that some legal proceedings against New Cotai and other defendants are continuing.

These proceedings include claims for damages against New Cotai for breach of contract, and against New Cotai shareholders Silver Point and Oaktree Capital for inducing breaches of contract. East Asia is also seeking a court order to buy out New Cotai's stake in the joint venture.

eSun said that East Asia is now reviewing the judgment to decide whether to lodge an appeal and/or commence proceedings in other jurisdictions such as Macau or British Virgin Islands in circumstances where the Hong Kong court has ruled that it will not entertain the proceedings.


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## hkskyline

*Residential riding high on Macau boom*
29 July 2010
The Australian

IN 2006, just when the world's largest gambling groups began to stake their claims in Macau, Tom Ashworth and his partner Martin Tacon decided to try their luck elsewhere.

Instead of casinos, the partners launched an opportunity fund to invest in high-end residential, retail and commercial property in Macau to capitalise on the boom in gambling.

The Macau Property Opportunities Fund made its debut on the London Stock Exchange three weeks ago.

The trust was first listed on AIMS, the second board in London, and the managers chose to move it to the main board to widen the shareholder base and boost its turnover.

Riding on the back of the gambling boom in Macau, the value of the five assets owned by the trust rose to $US313 million ($349m).

Mr Tacon, a director of Sniper Capital, which manages Macau Opportunity Fund, said its largest asset was a residential tower in the prestigious One Central project on Macau's waterfront.

One Central was jointly developed by Hong Kong Land and Shun Tak, controlled by Patsy Ho, daughter of long-term Macau investor Stanley Ho. Mr Tacon said the project offered luxury accommodation -- a part of the market previously missing in Macau -- for expatriates drawn to the city's strong economy.

Such was the demand for quality housing, most of the apartments had been sold within two weeks of their release in 2006, Mr Tacon said.

The developers sold about 700 of the 800 units in the seven towers before the global financial crisis savaged the residential market, reaping $HK6 billion from the sales. The sale price of luxury apartments in Macau has doubled in the past two years to about $HK4500 ($646) per square metre.

Mr Tacon said the fund had started to lease apartments, which were setting new rental standards in quality and rents.

Tenants were paying up to $HK40,000 weekly for two-bedroom apartments in One Central.

The trust had leased 10 of the 59 apartments in the second quarter, with several more tenancies under negotiation.

Mr Tacon said Macau had the fastest-growing economy in the world, with some pundits forecasting growth of up to 14 per cent this year.

Gambling revenue reached $US15bn last year and retail sales grew 30 per cent.

Aaron Fischer, gambling analyst with CLSA, a Hong Kong investment bank, part of Credit Agricole, said revenue growth in Macau was ``phenomenal'' and was continuing to exceed expectations.

``May revenues increased 95 per cent off a relatively high base,'' Mr Fischer said, adding that revenues were now three times those of Las Vegas.

``Revenue growth over the last eight months has been averaging around 60 per cent.''

He said Macau gambling revenue would increase by 100-200 per cent over the next four years, while supply would increase by only 15 per cent.

Groups such as Melco PBL, a joint venture between James Packer and Lawrence Ho which ran City of Dreams, had sharply improved their performance, Mr Fischer said.

Two more projects were in the pipeline, he said, with another two or three expected, bringing thetotal additional investment to between $US5bn and $US10bn.

Las Vegas-based Sheldon Adelson, who has the largest exposure to Macau, has been quick to build on the early success of his first two casinos: Sands Macau and Venetian Macau.

His gambling group, Las Vegas Sands, has two more hotels under construction on the Cotai Strip, expected to be completed within 18-24 months.

CLSA said Las Vegas Sands, which last year listed its Macau operations, known as Sands China, on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, had submitted plans to the Macau government for three more integrated resorts on five remaining sites.


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## hkskyline

*Wynn Macau struts its stuff on the Cotai Strip *
31 July 2010
South China Morning Post

The company's plans for Cotai include a casino resort with about 1,500 hotel rooms, 500 tables and 1,300 slot machines, chairman and chief executive Steve Wynn said yesterday on a conference call.

The property as planned would use 16 hectares of the company's 21-hectare Cotai site, leaving room for potential second-phase development. Wynn said last month he planned to break ground next year and open the resort by 2014.

He dismissed concerns that the current flurry of construction on the strip would lead to overcapacity. Rival Sands China is spending US$4.42 billion on a 6,000-room Sheraton, Shangri-La and Traders casino-hotel complex, while Galaxy Entertainment's HK$14.1 billion Cotai property plans to open by March next year.

Despite the bigger scale and mass-market orientation of the Cotai resorts - which so far include Sands' Venetian Macao and Melco Crown Entertainment's City of Dreams - Wynn said his new property would not deviate from his focus on the luxury end of the market.

"Dance with the girl that you brought to the party," he said. "Stick to what we do best, take advantage of Cotai and do it better than anybody's ever done it." Wynn has yet to announce a budget or funding arrangements for the project, which is still moving through the government approvals process.

Net profit at Wynn Macau soared to US$132.52 million in the second quarter, up 109 per cent from US$63.27 million a year earlier. Operating revenue rose 74 per cent to US$714.41 million.

Wynn's bottom line was boosted by booming business from high rollers following the opening of the 400-room Encore, as well from the high-stakes baccarat tables.

VIP chip sales rose 72 per cent from a year ago to US$21.7 billion. The company won back a better-than-expected 3.22 per cent of those wagers, compared with a worse-than-expected win rate of 2.66 per cent a year earlier.

Despite the robust results, shares in Wynn Macau fell 3.92 per cent yesterday, after the figures were released, to close at HK$13.22. They have risen 38.43 per cent in the year to date against a 3.85 per cent drop in the Hang Seng Index.


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## hkskyline

*Macao to build 6,800 public housing flats in Coloane island in 2012*

MACAO, Aug. 5 (Xinhua) -- A total of 6,800 public housing flats will be built near Seac Pai Van in Macao's Coloane island, the Macao Post Daily reported on Thursday.

The newspaper quoted Daniel Low Shin Chung, deputy director of the Lands, Public Works and Transport Bureau, as saying that a public tendering process will be launched for the construction project some time near the end of the year or early next year.

Low, who made the comments on the sidelines of the launch of leveling activities to prepare the site, stressed that contractors who win the bid will be required to stay on track for a 2012 opening of the property.

According to data provided by the Lands, Public Works and Transport Bureau, most of the flats will be two-bedroom units.

The government did not specify whether the Coloane units will be social housing flats for rent or home-ownership scheme (HOS) flats for purchase.


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## hkskyline

*Macao to launch light rail construction in 2011 *
9 August 2010

MACAO, Aug. 9 (Xinhua) -- Construction on the main routes of Macao's Light Rapid Transit (LRT) project was scheduled to break ground early next year, Macao Post Daily reported on Monday.

A lawsuit launched by a company bidding on the construction tender, changes to the routes, and other reasons have led to the delay of the project, which was originally planned to start in 2008 and be completed in 2011.

The Transportation Infrastructure Office of Macao, which overlooks the LRT project, still need to add some minor designs to the project following the bidding process, the daily quoted a spokesman of the Office as saying.

The government of Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR) has previously said that the successful bid for the project will be announced in the third quarter of this year.

The first phase of the project could still be completed in 2014, the spokesman also said.

The SAR government has said that the cost of the first phase of the project was expected to increase to 7.5 billion patacas (938 million U.S. dollars).


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## hkskyline

- edit


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## hkskyline

*Labour shortage poses challenge to casino firms*
13 August 2010
South China Morning Post

A brewing labour shortage in Macau is one of the biggest challenges facing the billion-dollar casino resorts now under construction or planned for the Cotai Strip.

Sands China has half the workers it needs to keep construction of its half-finished US$4.36 billion Sheraton, Shangri-La and Traders hotel complex on schedule to open by September next year, acting chief executive Michael Leven said yesterday.

The company has about 1,300 builders on site - half of what is required at the moment - and nowhere near the 10,000 to 11,000 workers that will be needed once construction reaches its peak.

"We're short some people right now," Leven said. "We're working with the government in order to get the permits."

Wary of stoking local resentment against foreign workers, which has boiled over in recent years into violent May Day street protests, the Macau government has since 2008 undertaken a policy of actively reducing imported labour.

The city had 72,000 non-resident workers, accounting for 22 per cent of the labour force as of June, but that is down by about 30 per cent, or 30,000, from the peak of 104,000 foreign workers in September 2008.

The policy preserved local jobs throughout the financial crisis, using foreign labour as an expendable buffer against the downturn. Mainlanders, Hongkongers, Filipinos, Australians and even Nepali security guards have all been sent packing.

But now, with unemployment at a very low 2.8 per cent and only 9,300 people without jobs, the city is again booming and help is wanted. Casino revenues are up 67.5 per cent so far this year, companies are hiring and developers are expanding. But all of them are finding it increasingly difficult to recruit workers needed to build and staff their businesses.

All casino dealers have long been required to be local residents.

In addition to creating well over 10,000 temporary construction jobs, Sands' new 6,000-room hotel complex and a HK$14.1 billion Cotai casino resort being constructed by Galaxy Entertainment Group will together employ more than 20,000 full-time casino, hotel and other service staff when they open next year.

"The opening of these properties will also have a multiplier effect, creating jobs in other sectors of the economy, too," said Professor Davis Fong, the director of the Institute for the Study of Commercial Gaming at the University of Macau.

Just before May 1, the government announced a "one for one" foreign-to-local-labour policy for construction workers as Macau clearly does not have enough local manpower to meet the demand that the Cotai projects represent.

Leven said that based on the number of local builders available, Sands' new Cotai resort would probably employ about 30 per cent local construction workers at its peak.


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## hkskyline

*INTERVIEW: Las Vegas Sands Struggles To Hire In Macau To Expand Ops *
12 August 2010

HONG KONG (Dow Jones)--Las Vegas Sands Corp. (LVS) is struggling to find labor to complete a long-delayed US$4 billion expansion project in Macau, the world's largest gambling market, and needs to up headcount at its Cotai project seven-fold to get the project done.

But an official at the company's Sands China Ltd. (1928.HK) unit, which runs its Macau operations, said it still aims to open a new casino and three hotels across from its landmark Venetian resort in the third quarter next year.

In an interview with Dow Jones Newswires, Sands China Acting Chief Executive Mike Leven said the company has just shy of 1,300 in total on site at the project, well under the 10,000 workers needed when construction reaches its peak, but local regulations will make it tough to get the people it needs.

The company acknowledges that it made a mistake starting construction on the massive casino resort project, whose construction was halted in November 2008 at the height of the global financial crisis, without yet having financing in place. "We put a lot of people out of work," Leven said. Leven is also chief operating officer at Las Vegas Sands. Sands said it resumed construction on the site in March this year.

To protect its local workforce, Macau's government has said that one local construction worker must be employed for every worker brought onto a project from outside Macau, but given Macau's small work force and low unemployment rate, Sands China, as well as its rival Galaxy Entertainment Group Ltd. (0027.HK), who is also building on Cotai, are having a tough time hiring the necessary labor.

Sands China wants to build a better relationship with the people and government of Macau, said Leven. The company's aggressive expansion plans, which include building an even larger casino across the street from the Venetian, have appeared to conflict with the government's calls for sustainable development.

However, Sands China has also made significant efforts to bring convention, hotel, and non-casino entertainment business to Macau, another one of the government's objectives.

Sands China is also looking for top management, which it has had trouble keeping. "We have a reputation for senior executives who haven't lasted that long," he conceded.

In July, Sands China said it terminated the employment of former chief executive Steve Jacobs, who led the company to record breaking results in the second quarter and left amid strains with Las Vegas Sands Chairman Sheldon Adelson. Several other top executives such as Frank McFadden have also left the Macau casino operator in recent years after relatively short tenures.

Leven wouldn't clarify if Jacobs had been fired with cause. Attempts to contact the former executive have been unsuccessful. A building attendant at his Hong Kong apartment said he had handed over the unit and returned to the U.S. last week.

Leven said Sands China hopes to have its new chief executive, preferably an Asian, in place by the end of 2010. The company wants someone with Asia experience who is "culturally sensitive," he said, adding that the person would not necessarily have to be a casino or hospitality executive.


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## hkskyline

*Wynn Macau 1st-Half Net Doubles As Gambling Revenue Soars*
20 August 2010









_Source : http://www.pbase.com/agostinho_

HONG KONG (Dow Jones)--Wynn Macau Ltd. (1128.HK) said Friday its first-half net profit more than doubled, driven by sharp growth in Macau's casino-gambling revenue and the opening of the company's new Encore property in April.

The casino operator, which listed in Hong Kong in October, said its net profit for the six months ended June 30 was HK$1.91 billion ($245.7 million), up from HK$903.7 million a year earlier.

Operating revenue rose 52% to HK$10.1 billion from HK$6.66 billion.

Wynn Macau and its peers have benefited from Macau's surging gambling revenue, which jumped 70% in July from a year earlier to MOP16.3 billion ($2 billion), as visitors to the Chinese gambling enclave rose despite Beijing's efforts to cool the mainland economy.

Though Wynn Macau is generally favored by analysts for its solid track record and premier brand name, some have recently expressed concerns about a slip in the company's market share, particularly as rivals Galaxy Entertainment Group Ltd. (0027.HK) and Sands China Ltd. (1928.HK) move ahead with construction of their massive new casino resorts.

Citigroup analyst Anil Daswani, who is unique in rating Wynn Macau his "top sell" among Macau gambling stocks, said the operator fell to fifth place among the territory's six casino license holders in terms of market share in the first 15 days of August, which "is somewhat disappointing for an operator who opened a new property just three months ago."

He said based on the bank's sources the casino operator accounted for 13% of the Macau casino market in the first half of August, compared with 15% in July.

The Wynn Resorts Ltd. (WYNN) unit opened a US$550 million expansion of its Wynn Macau casino several months ago and has stated its intention to start construction on a resort in Macau's Cotai area, one of the gambling industry's most lucrative growth centers, as soon as next year.

But Credit Suisse analyst Gabriel Chan wrote in a recent report that it will take another three to four years before the Cotai project makes any meaningful earnings contribution.

Galaxy plans to open its Cotai resort early next year, while Sands China is targeting a third-quarter 2011 opening. However, Macau's tight labor policy is making it difficult for operators to hire sufficient construction workers, increasing the risk the projects could be delayed.

Wynn Macau didn't recommend a first-half dividend.

Parent company Wynn Resorts said last month its second-quarter profit more than doubled because of strong earnings growth in Macau. Wynn Macau reported at that time that its second-quarter net profit rose to US$132.5 million from US$63.27 million a year earlier based on International Financial Reporting Standards.


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## hkskyline

Macau's new skyline - lots of skyscraper casino resorts :


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## hkskyline

*FitzPatrick to take a loss at Macau casino *
22 August 2010
The Sunday Times

SEAN FITZPATRICK, the bankrupt former chairman of Anglo Irish Bank, is poised to drop more than two-thirds of his investment in a casino in Macau.

Irish investors, including FitzPatrick and clients of Claret Capital, have been offered just 32c on the dollar to exit an investment in the Fisherman's Wharf casino and theme park.

Sources said investors had already got some returns from the casino.

Macau Legend founder David Chow Kam Fai is believed to have made an offer to buy out the investors last month. The offer is the latest in a series of attempts by international investors to exit the project.

The proceeds from the sale of FitzPatrick's investment will be directed to his creditors.

Merrill Lynch and US hedge funds Och-Ziff and TPG-Axon purchased 45% of Chow's Macau Legends, which includes the Fishermen's Wharf theme park, Macau Landmark hotel and its attached Pharaoh's casino in 2007.

The investors put $390m (¤307m) into the development preference shares.

FitzPatrick and the other Claret backers invested through Merrill. Three separate Claret Macau Legends investment partnerships are listed in the Irish Companies Office, but it is not known how much was raised through these vehicles.

Other high net worth individuals to back the scheme included David Ross, the co-founder of Carphone Warehouse and Siger, an investment fund connected to the king of Morocco.

The Fisherman's Wharf development was the first theme park on the Chinese-owned territory and includes a 40-metre high erupting volcano, a Roman Colosseum-inspired amphitheatre, Ming dynasty palace and Arabian fort.

The investment was seen as a short-term one and the international backers were expected to make a speedy return when the business floated on the Hong Kong stock exchange. The planned flotation was scuppered by the global financial crisis.

The loss-making development has also been hit by the arrival of Las Vegas casino companies, including Wynn Resorts.


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## hkskyline

City of Dreams by *2233445566* from skyscrapers.cn :


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## hkskyline

*Guangdong-Macao cooperative pact to push forward diversification of Macao's econ*

MACAO, Mar. 6 (Xinhua) -- Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR) and Guangdong Province signed a framework agreement on cooperation Sunday in Beijing, a step that Macao's analysts said would bring new opportunities for the city's diversified development.

Guangdong Governor Huang Huahua and Macao SAR Chief Executive Chui Sai On signed the document on behalf of their respective governments.

The agreement, consisting of eight chapters and 38 clauses, sets the orientations, principles and targets regarding a wide range of issues in economic, social, welfare and cultural fields. *Under the framework, the two areas will work together to develop the Hengqin Island and the Guangdong-Macao Cooperative Industrial Garden.*

The agreement will help further expand cooperative fields between Macao and Guangdong, Chui said in the address at the signing ceremony, adding that Macao SAR government decides to set up an inter-department working group to make sure the cooperative agreement be fully carry out.

Xiao Zhiwei, Chief of Council for Macao DevelopmentStrategy Research Center, believed that cooperation of the two sides on development of Hengqin Island will provide vast opportunities for local enterprises.

Being the only place in China where gambling is legal, Macao witnessed spiraling growth of the gaming industry since 2002 and its highest monthly gaming revenues record has been broken again and again due to increasing influx of visitors. In February, the total revenues of Macao's gaming sector rose to a record-high 19. 86 billion patacas (2.48 billion U.S. dollars).

*To lessen Macao's overwhelming reliance on gambling, which contributes more than 70 percent of the government's revenues, Macao SAR government vowed to "appropriately diversify" the city's economy.*

Xiao pointed out that due to restriction of local market scale and land resources, Macao's small and medium sized enterprises has been in a inferior position for a long time.

*If SAR government takes the initiative and encourages them to take part in development of Hengqin Island, as indicated in the cooperative agreement, Macao's enterprises will gradually overcome their weakness and brace for bright opportunity from regional cooperation, according to Xiao. *


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## hkskyline

*Galaxy confident cash will flow at new Macau casino *

HONG KONG, March 10 (Reuters) - Macau casino operator Galaxy Entertainment Group is confident of hitting its target returns with the launch of its new casino, as the overall market continues to grow this year.

One of six companies licensed to operate casinos in the world's largest gaming market, Galaxy's new HK$15 billion ($1.9 billion Galaxy Macau resort is expected to be the only new casino to open in the former Portuguese enclave this year.

Chief Financial Officer Robert Drake said he expected percentage returns to be in the mid to high teens and that on an EBITDA basis the operator will be strongly cashflow-positive.

"We are quite confident that even though the projected growth rate (for the Macau market) is in the 20 percent range, that translates into absolute dollars of $50 billion of growth. That is a lot to spread among one market," Drake told a media briefing.

Galaxy's Hong Kong-listed shares, about 20 percent owned by European private equity firm Permira, have nearly tripled in value over the past 12 months, outperforming casino magnate Sheldon Adelson's Sands China Ltd , Steve Wynn's Wynn Macau Ltd , and Macau tycoon Stanley Ho's SJM Holdings Ltd .

Eleven out of seventeen analysts covering the stock have a "strong buy" or "buy rating, according to Thomson Reuters Starmine and the firm is expected to report annual results later this month.

Macau, the only Chinese territory that permits casino gambling, has transformed in recent years from a sleepy outpost on the South China sea into a pulsating maze of neon lights and Galaxy already has five casinos there.

"Sure, our market share will increase, but at the same time we are not as focused on market share as on driving profitable volume," said Drake.

Galaxy, controlled by Hong Kong billionaire Lui Che Woo, said earlier on Thursday it will open the new 550,000 square metre Galaxy Macau on May 15, with the timing roughly in line with analysts' expectations.

The company said it has no immediate plans to issue more renminbi debt after its debut as the first high-yield issuer to sell renminbi bonds in Hong Kong. 

"We are fully funded and have been for quite some time," said Drake.

The new resort, described by Galaxy as "Asian-centric" will have a sky-top wave pool and a nine-screen multi-purpose cinema.

Analysts said the opening was unlikely to take significant market share from other operators, with SJM expected to continue to dominate the market despite an ongoing public spat between the octogenarian and his extended family.

"I think for the first three or four months, first-timers will want to get in there and try it out. I think that is where the major impact is going to be," said RBS analyst Philip Tulk in Hong Kong. "I feel that all operators to some degree will feel the impact for the first few months."

Singapore-listed Banyan Tree Holdings Ltd and Japan's Okura Hotels and Resorts will take about a third of Galaxy Macau's hotel rooms, with the gaming company holding the remaining 1,500 rooms.

The new casino will have 450 tables, and if demand is adequate Galaxy will ask the Macau government to increase its allowance, Francis Lui, vice chairman told reporters.


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## dj_olrac

hkskyline said:


> City of Dreams by *2233445566* from skyscrapers.cn :


^^ wow a lovely interior and exterior architecture  
Love It


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## hkskyline

*Sands China: Macau Hotel Management Deal With Shangri-La Terminated *
24 March 2011

HONG KONG (Dow Jones)--Casino operator Sands China Ltd. (1928.HK) said Thursday it has terminated a hotel-management agreement with Shangri-La Asia Ltd. (0069.HK) at a new Macau casino resort development that is due to open at the end of this year.

The Hong Kong-listed unit of casino operator Las Vegas Sands Corp. (LVS) didn't say why the agreement was terminated in a brief statement to the Hong Kong stock exchange, but said the decision was agreed upon by both companies.

Sands China said it has already begun talks with another international hotel brand with a "comparable sales and marketing network and customer base."

The Shangri-La hotel was to be part of Sands China's newest resort project in Macau's lucrative Cotai area, known as sites 5&6, whose construction has been plagued by months of delays because of a government-imposed labor shortage.

The US$4.1 billion project will also include the world's biggest casino.

Sands China, which already operates the Venetian and Plaza casino resorts on Cotai, said it remains committed to opening the first phase of sites 5&6 at the end of this year.

It said its management agreements with Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. (HOT) to run hotels in the new development under the Sheraton and St. Regis brands remain in place.


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## hkskyline

Another new casino on the Cotai Strip by *alan_wong710* from a Hong Kong photography forum :


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## hkskyline

_A little more info added to the prior article posted on this topic_ :

*Sands China In Talks With InterContinental To Manage Cotai Hotels -Source*
24 March 2011

HONG KONG - (Dow Jones)- Sands China Ltd. (1928.HK) is in talks with InterContinental Hotels Group PLC (IHG) to manage two hotel towers at its over-US$4 billion expansion project in Macau's Cotai area, a person familiar with the matter said Thursday.

Earlier Thursday, the Las Vegas Sands Corp. unit said in a statement to the Hong Kong stock exchange it had terminated a hotel-management agreement with Shangri-La Asia Ltd. (0069.HK) to operate the hotels.

The statement also said the casino operator had already begun talks with another unnamed international hotel brand with a "comparable sales and marketing network and customer base."

The statement from Sands China didn't say why the agreement was terminated but said the decision was agreed upon by both companies and that it had been resolved in an amicable manner.

Another person familiar with the situation said Shangri-La wasn't in favor of Sands China's plan to open the long-delayed project in phases and that the hotelier preferred to have all of the hotel rooms opened at the same time and turned over to them for management. The person said Shangri-La was worried its brand could be hurt if preparatory work were being carried out in rooms near where guests were staying.

Shangri-La's director of corporate communications Maria Kuhn said the reason the agreement was terminated was "the current status of the hotel developments." She also said the original contract for the hotels, which would have operated under the Shangri-La and Traders brands, was signed in late 2005 and that the agreement was terminated by mutual consent Tuesday.

InterContinental Hotels Group couldn't immediately be reached for comment.


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## hkskyline

*Macau gambling revenues surge 48pc in 'quiet' month of March*
2 April 2011
SCMP

Macau casino revenue broke through 20 billion patacas for the first time last month as gambling volumes in the city continue to gather momentum.

The new mark represented a record for the second consecutive month, soaring 48 per cent from a year ago to 20.09 billion patacas and surpassing February's 19.86 billion patacas, data released yesterday by the Macao Gaming Inspection and Co-ordination Bureau show.

In the first three months of the year, Macau's casinos have recorded 58.52 billion patacas in revenue, a 43 per cent increase from the same period a year ago. That puts Macau on track to add revenue equivalent to one Las Vegas Strip this year.

"Clearly no negative impact was felt as a result of the events in Japan during the month," Union Gaming Group analyst Bill Lerner wrote yesterday in a research note.

Lerner forecast Macau's full-year casino revenue would grow 25-30 per cent this year to as much as 245 billion patacas, or slightly more than US$30 billion.

That would be on par with 2009 gaming revenues from all commercial casinos in the United States, according to American Gaming Association figures.

Last year, the Las Vegas Strip booked US$5.78 billion in casino revenue while the state of Nevada recorded US$10.4 billion, according to data from the Nevada Gaming Control Board.

Macau's March windfall is all the more remarkable given that it came during a seasonally soft month.

Casinos typically take a breather in March and April between the twin "golden week" holidays of Lunar New Year (which occurred in February this year) and May Day.

The growth continues to be driven by surging high-stakes gambling volumes as high rollers from the mainland with abundant credit test their luck on the baccarat tables.

In the first two months of the year, casino revenue rose 40 per cent to 38.43 billion patacas. However, visitor arrivals to Macau grew by only 3.3 per cent to 4.24 million people, while arrivals of mainland visitors increased only 6.5 per cent to 2.42 million.

Macau's casino revenues have continued to boom despite efforts by the local government to rein-in development of the sector, including restrictions on the number of gaming tables that can operate in the city and limiting the number of foreign construction and other workers that gaming firms can import.

The growth has boosted shares in most Macau casino operators to double-digit gains in the year to date. Success is already priced into the shares in most cases. The sector trades at 16 to 62 times this year's forecast earnings, compared with 12.8 times for the Hang Seng Index.

*Only one new casino is set to open in Macau this year, the HK$15.5 billion, 2,260-room Galaxy Macau on the Cotai strip.

The property is set to open on May 15 with 450 gaming tables and 7,600 staff. It features a 1,500-room Galaxy-branded hotel (700 rooms will be ready on opening day), a 260-room Banyan Tree hotel, and a 500-room Hotel Okura. *


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## hkskyline

*Gambling firm sees new Macau store as good bet *
The Standard
Friday, April 08, 2011

Success Universe (0487) plans to open a Sogo-like department store at its Macau casino-entertainment resort Ponte 16. 

The new shopping destination will be located at the 400,000-square-foot mall - an extension of Ponte 16 - tipped to be finished at the end of 2012. 

"We think Japanese-style department stores run better than their peers and we are in talks with some operators," deputy chairman Hoffman Ma Ho-man said. The department store will be Macau's second after New Yaohan. 

The gaming firm has earmarked HK$270 million as land premium and the construction fee of HK$800 million is expected to be shared with project development partner SJM (0880). Success Universe holds a 49 percent stake in the extension project.

Part of the extension will be used for the casino, where Ma expects the number of gaming tables to surge to 150 from the current 109 by 2013.

Meanwhile, the firm plans to develop a lottery business via mobile networks with mainland operators. 

Ma said Success hopes to develop the lottery business - yet to be officially approved - online. 

Net losses for the company narrowed 53.5 percent to HK$80.8 million in 2010, and loss per share was cut to 3.31 HK cents from 7.13 HK cents in 2009. Turnover rose 20 percent to HK$1.44 billion. No dividend was recommended. 

Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization have largely improved, Ma added. "We are outperforming our peers. There's 30 percent year-on-year growth in Macau's total gaming income in January, while we grew 60 percent." 

Macau's gaming income soared 48 percent in March. The 408 rooms at the Ponte 16 hotel are 70 percent booked for the May 1 Golden Week, even though room rates have gone up 6-10 percent to HK$1,500-HK$1,800 per night. The hotel was fully booked during the Lunar New Year. 

Success Universe shares jumped 16.67 percent to HK$0.63. SJM rose 4.7 percent to HK$15.92.


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## hkskyline

*Over 7,000 public housing units sold to private property market *
15/04/2011 09:51:00 by Natalie Leung
Macau Daily Times
Source Link

The Government revealed to lawmakers yesterday that about 30 percent of the 24,000 affordable housing units that were sold to local residents since 1985 have already entered the private property market.

The Third Standing Committee of the Legislative Assembly continued deliberation of the draft bill of the affordable housing construction and sale system.

President of the committee, Cheang Chi Keong, told reporters after the meeting that according to statistics provided by officials, the Government sold 24,000 public housing flats to Macau residents between 1985 up to the end of 2010.

Around 23,000 units had passed lock-up period, which currently stands at six years and 31 percent or 7,182 units had been sold by occupants in the private property market.

Cheang said the standing committee yesterday has not yet ascertained whether 31 percent was a ‘large or small proportion’, but stressed that the data will be a significant indicator when lawmakers begin consideration of systems of sale in the draft bill at a later time.

“The government has clearly stated that the new affordable housing policy will impose tough requirements on people who wish to sell the units. Based on the figures we will think about whether the sale system will need to be further tightened,” he said.

The draft bill proposes to extend the lock-up period from 10 years to 16 years.

Cheang said that committee members also expressed concerns about certain application requirements that may contradict the intention of the legislation, to ensure that the limited resources are used for people who are ‘truly in need [of public housing]’.

According to the committee president, lawmakers will hold discussions on whether it is necessary to establish mechanisms to disallow people who own real estate outside of Macau to apply for affordable housing. Also reviewed will be the issue of occupant requirements of returning their units to the Government if a private property is purchased, and preventing the use of company names where they are the largest shareholder to purchase real estate to meet application requirements.

More measures could be announced ‘as soon as is possible’ to slow rising housing prices, Chief Executive Fernando Chui Sai On told journalists yesterday.

Before flying to Hainan Island, where he will join the Boao Forum, Chui acknowledged that it was necessary to introduce more policies, considering the development of the property market.

The Chief Executive disclosed that he had met several times with the secretary for Economy and Finance, Francis Tam Pak Yuen, and the secretary for Transport and Public Works, Lau Si Io.

The two secretaries are already evaluating some possible measures ‘in response to society’s expectations’, Chui said.

He called on the population to heed the Government’s advice and not rush into buying property.

The construction of 19,000 public housing units, scheduled for completion by the end of 2012, will help to balance supply and demand, the Chief Executive assured.

In the current draft bill, not only will applicants be subject to income base and ceiling, they also cannot own any property (in their name) five years prior to application.

Cheang said a thorough consideration of opinions needs to be exchanged with the Government, adding that there are many issues that require resolution if such mechanisms were to be implemented.

In addition, he said the committee has questioned the need to reserve a proportion of affordable housing units mainly for the use of resettlement for residents affected by old neighbourhood renewal projects, or people with emergency or special needs as recommended by the Social Welfare Bureau.
Even if the proposal is put forward, Cheang said these people who are given the opportunity to jump the queue, should need to pass a separate eligibility assessment or otherwise it may be unfair to other applicants on the waiting list.

The standing committee will hold the next meeting at 10.30am next Thursday.


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## hkskyline

*Wynn Macau Advances After First-Quarter Profit Surges 66%*

April 20 (Bloomberg) -- Wynn Macau Ltd., a unit of the casino operator founded by billionaire Steven Wynn, rose in Hong Kong trading as Chinese high-stakes gamblers boosted first- quarter profit by 66 percent.

The owner of Macau’s Wynn and Encore casinos gained 1.1 percent to HK$27.35 at the close in Hong Kong trading after climbing as much as 4.8 percent to HK$28.35, the highest intraday level since it started trading in October 2009. The benchmark Hang Seng Index rose 1.6 percent.

*The opening of a second resort in the world’s biggest gambling hub and better-than-expected winnings in Las Vegas led parent Wynn Resorts Ltd. to post a sixfold growth in first- quarter profit, beating analysts’ estimates. The company expects government permission to start building a third Macau resort “any day now,” Wynn said yesterday.*

“Wynn Macau is the best proxy of Macau,” Karen Tang, a Hong Kong-based analyst for Deutsche Bank AG, wrote in a note to clients today. Its casinos offer “superior customer experiences, which lengthen play,” she said.

*Wynn Macau opened Encore Macau in April 2010 in the former Portuguese colony, the world’s biggest gambling hub and the only place in China where casinos are legal.*

First-quarter net income at Wynn Resorts expanded to $173.8 million from $27 million a year earlier, the Las Vegas-based company said yesterday.

Slots Revenue

Wynn Macau’s profit grew to $189.7 million from $114.3 million, it said today. VIP sales rose 45 percent to $29.3 billion, and slot-machine revenue increased 59 percent to $1.5 billion, the company said.

“This quarter, the most impressive segment was slots,” Tang said. “Wynn Macau has carved out a nice niche in the high- end slot segment in Macau.”

Gambling in the Chinese city has surged since the government ended billionaire Stanley Ho’s 40-year monopoly and allowed companies including Wynn, Las Vegas Sands Corp. and MGM Resorts International to build resorts.

Casino gambling revenue in Macau climbed 43 percent to 58.5 billion patacas ($7.3 billion) in the three months ended March as gamblers from mainland China placed more bets. Total casino revenue expanded 58 percent last year to 188.3 billion patacas or $23.5 billion, about four times that of the $5.8 billion for the Las Vegas Strip.

Chinese High Rollers

Revenue from VIP or high-stakes gamblers, who wager as much as 2 million patacas a hand, was 42.6 billion patacas, accounting for 73 percent of Macau’s total first-quarter casino gambling revenue, government data show. That’s up from 70 percent in the same period in 2010.

Most of the VIP gamblers are brought into the city by junket operators from mainland China, which doesn’t include Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan.

Wynn is founder and chief executive officer of Wynn Resorts, which owns about 72 percent of the Hong Kong-listed Macau unit.

Separately, Galaxy Entertainment Group Ltd. posted a 71 percent increase in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization to HK$712 million ($92 million) today, and predicted record first-half earnings on revenue from high-stakes gamblers.

Galaxy, part-owned by Permira Advisers LLP, surged 6 percent to HK$13.82 in Hong Kong trading, the highest level since it began trading in October 1991.


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## hkskyline

*Old district renewal consultation*
27/04/2011 
Macau Daily Times

The Legislative Assembly is going to launch a public construction on the draft law of the old neighbourhood renewal legal system which will run until the end of June.

The Second Standing Committee of the legislature began discussing the bill yesterday where opinions from legal advisors were heard.

President of the committee Chan Chak Mo told reporters after the meeting that due to the “significance [of the law] and the prerequisite to protect local people’s rights to own, buy and sell property”, a consultation which is open to all members of the public will be launched on the legislature’s homepage today until June 30.

Since the draft law has proposed an arbitration mechanism, Chan said the Lawyers Association will also be consulted separately.

Meanwhile, he said the standing committee has expressed concerns about the formation of the arbitration committee and how “fairness, impartiality and transparency” can be ensured.

Under the old system it was the court that would appoint members of the committee, but now the draft law has proposed that the panel of arbitrators should be composed by representatives of the related building owners, tenants, developers involved in the reconstruction and the Government.

Lawmaker Vong Hin Fai, who was a member of the Advisory Committee for Old Neighbourhood Renewal, pointed out that the committee was mostly concerned about the compensation mechanism and the protection of private property rights.

Nevertheless, Chan Chak Mo said he expected that it will be a “long deliberation process” and at least five to six more meetings the standing committee needs to be held before Government representatives will be invited to exchange ideas with the lawmakers.

He added that there is no timetable concerning when the discussion would complete.

In February, chief of the Office for the Secretary for Transport and Public Works, Wong Chan Tong, described the draft law as “one of the few most complicated laws” since the establishment of the SAR, taking five years from 2006 to 2010 and involving 148 meetings to come up with the proposal.

The Land, Public Works and Transport Bureau said earlier that it planned to launch the first ever old neighbourhood reconstruction project in the fourth quarter of this year on the land parcel in Iao Hon where social housing Shun Lei Building was previously located.

Four hundred ‘public housing-style’ units are expected to be built on the land to become a ‘transit point for temporary resettlement’ when more reconstruction projects will be carried out in other parts of Iao Hon in the future.


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## hkskyline

*Galaxy of stars *
The Standard
Wednesday, May 04, 2011

Be the first to check out five-star resort destination Galaxy Macau, which opens on May 15 on the Cotai Strip. The HK$15 billion resort has more than 2,200 rooms, suites and villas across three world-class hotels: Galaxy Hotel, Hotel Okura and Banyan Tree Macau.

Packages start from HK$1,688 a night and include round-trip ferry tickets or dining credits. While you're there, don't forget to check out the Grand Resort Deck, featuring the world's largest skytop wave pool with a white sandy beach and waves as high as 1.5 meters.

Website: www.galaxymacau.com


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## hkskyline

*Macau's Galaxy dazzles with $2 bln casino opening*

HONG KONG, May 15 (Reuters) - Flanked by long-legged models adorned in peacock feathers, Hong Kong property and construction tycoon Lui Che Woo was all smiles as he opened the doors to his new $2 billion casino in Macau on Sunday.

Lui, chairman of Macau casino operator Galaxy Entertainment , around 20 percent owned by private equity group Permira, is the only operator to open a casino this year in Macau, the world's largest gaming market, where revenues surpass Las Vegas four fold.

Designed as an Asian-style palace, the 550,000 square metre property is the third casino to open on the developing Cotai strip, Macau's version of the Vegas strip and which authorities hope will transform Macau from a pure gaming destination into a renowned tourist and leisure destination.

"It doesn't feel like a casino, it's so beautiful" said Wer, a 30 year old male visitor from Zhuhai. "People can come here to relax, bring their families. It feels comfortable."

Like gilded ice cream cones, Galaxy Macau's gold embossed turrets glow against the Macau skyline, magnifying the glitz of billionaire Sheldon Adelson's Venetian property and Melco Crown Entertainment's City of Dreams, all situated within walking distance of each other.

Macau, formerly a hotbed for piracy and smuggling, has been trying to upgrade its image with Michelin starred dining options and vast luxury retail outlets, all in a bid to woo China's rising middle class."

While around 70 percent of gaming revenue is still accrued from the high-rolling VIP sector, Galaxy Macau is allocating two-thirds of its 450 gaming tables to the mass market, confident of delivering returns in the mid to high teens to investors, Chief Financial Officer Robert Drake said.

Galaxy's new 2,200 room property, which incorporates international hotel brands Banyan Tree and Japan's Okura, is hoping to creating a "super industry" of gaming and tourism in the former Portuguese colony, said Galaxy Vice Chairman Francis Lui.

"If you merge Phuket in Thailand together with Macau it would create a new dimensional kind of market. The example of Galaxy Macau is to bring this tropical mood to Macau," said Lui, also a committee member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC).

FRIENDLY COMPETITION

With its 350 ton white sand beach, simulated wave pool and southeast Asian resort-style spa facilities, Galaxy is hoping to create a niche market in the former Portuguese colony, emphasizing the health and well being of its visitors.

But it remains to be seen whether the chain-smoking hard-core gamblers that flood from into Macau from the mainland will have significant interest outside the heaving baccarat tables.

"The casino is great, I am going to come regularly," said 27 year old Edwin. Dressed in a tight white t-shirt and fitted trousers, he shrugged: "I haven't seen the pool yet, maybe later."

Galaxy Macau is following in the footsteps of rivals Melco Crown and Sands China in targeting China's mass market, betting that improving infrastructure and rising consumption will help propel demand.

"Galaxy's opening is also good for us, more people will come here," said a waiter at Adelson's Venetian. "It is exciting. We have been waiting three years for the open. It is not a threat, just friendly competition."

Galaxy shares have surged more than 300 percent over the past 12 months, compared with the Hang Seng Index's roughly 17 percent gain. Analysts remain bullish on the firm's prospects. "We think the property has potential to exceed revenue and cashflow expectations," said Union Gaming in a note.

Galaxy's new project only covers around a third of its available land space on the Cotai strip. It plans to develop the rest of its land bank over the next seven to eight years.

Wynn Macau, casino mogul Steve Wynn's Macau unit of Wynn Resorts, MGM Resorts International, and SJM Holdings are the three other licensed operators yet to start construction on the strip.

"We could build three more of these if we wanted to," Drake, Galaxy's CFO, said.


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## hkskyline

Galaxy
By *lok23 * from dchome :


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## hkskyline

*Chinese gambling: The high-roller’s guide to the Galaxy*
24 May 2011
(C) 2011 The Economist Intelligence Unit Ltd.

Why does Macau have no mainland Chinese rivals?

CASINO gamblers hate two things. One is losing. The other is understated decor. There is no risk of the latter at the Galaxy, Macau’s latest shrine to excess, which opened on May 15th. Its owners, Galaxy Entertainment, a firm controlled by the family of Lui Che-woo, a Hong Kong cement magnate, claim to have slapped enough gold leaf on its fixtures to cover 87 football pitches. To recoup the $1.9 billion it cost to build the Galaxy, it will have to attract a lot of losers.

Macau, a former Portuguese colony known for gambling and other vices, was handed back to China in 1999. By this accident of history, it became the only place in the People’s Republic where casinos are legal. Stanley Ho, an ageing local tycoon, lost his monopoly over the business (though his family still controls or has fingers in roughly half of it). Glitzy Western casino operators arrived to challenge his bedraggled gambling dens with their spit-stained carpets. The Sands opened in 2004, the Wynn in 2006 and the Venetian in 2007, each fancier than its predecessor. The Galaxy tops the lot. What will come next?

Possibly not much. Granted, the Sands hopes to open an even bigger casino next year, and three out of the four other operators (Wynn, MGM and Mr Ho’s SJM) have ambitious plans. But there are new constraints. Macau’s government, perhaps at the urging of Beijing, recently capped the number of gambling tables in Macau at 5,500, approximately the current number. Another 3-4% will be allowed annually, split between all the operators. That hardly allows room for mega-projects--the Galaxy alone added 450 tables.

Perhaps the government will relent. Demand shows no sign of slacking. From December, the three-hour bus ride from Guangzhou to Macau will be replaced by a 47-minute trip on a high-speed train. Eager punters from the Chinese interior will suddenly find temptation nearer. Aaron Fischer, an analyst with CLSA, a broker, predicts that gambling revenues in Macau will rise by 35% this year, 25% next year and 20% thereafter, while the supply of new tables will rise only gradually. Fat profits beckon.

The greatest threat to Macau’s licence to print money is that the Chinese government may grow jealous. It has in the past limited the number of visas it issues for mainland visitors to Macau. And there are rumours that it may allow casinos on other patches of its territory, such as Hainan, an island province in the south. Casinos are popular, pay a lot of taxes and please well-connected developers. It would hardly be a surprise if the government in Beijing decided to grab a piece of the action.


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## hkskyline

*Casino mogul Wynn says Macau rival's new resort made him rethink designs for planned expansion *
17 May 2011

MACAU (AP) - Casino billionaire Steve Wynn said Tuesday that a rival's new resort in Macau has made him rethink some of the designs for a new casino his company is planning to build.

Wynn said Tuesday that he visited the Galaxy Macau at its grand opening Sunday.

"I saw a couple things at Galaxy the other day that made me take another look at some stuff I had drawn myself," Wynn told reporters. He did not give details about the designs.

The Galaxy resort has features aimed at drawing nongamblers from around Asia such as a wave pool and artificial beach and hotels run by Singapore's Banyan Tree and Japan's Okura.

Macau's government is trying to diversify its economy away from high-rolling visitors from mainland China that have helped it become the world's most lucrative gambling market.

Wynn Macau operates one hotel and casino in Macau and is waiting for government approval to build another.

Wynn has said previously that he expects it to open by 2015 and cost $2.5 billion. The casino, to be built on reclaimed swampland in the Cotai area, will include 1,500 to 1,600 hotel rooms, roughly 500 table games and 1,300 slot machines, with 12 acres left over for further expansion.

Wynn spoke in between annual general meetings of Wynn Macau Ltd. and its U.S.-based parent company Wynn Resorts Ltd. It's the first time that the meeting of the U.S. parent was held in Macau, illustrating how important Macau has become to Wynn's profits.

The former Portuguese colony's economy has surged since it broke up its casino monopoly in 2002. Macau is the only place in China where casino gambling is legal.

"Frankly these days we think of ourselves very deeply as a Chinese company in many respects and our revenues and the rest of our financial posture clearly indicate that to be so," said Wynn. Macau accounted for about two-thirds of Wynn Resorts' $1.24 billion profit in the January-March period.


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## Julito-dubai

Model of the Cross gate district in Zuhai which is now officially under construction since March 2011. The tower is set to become the tallest tower of China when it is completed (given the condition nobody else plans something higher )

Source:
http://www.zhtv.com/hd/xinxin2009/xx2009pic/200912/82871.html



Uploaded with ImageShack.us

Source that construction started: http://www.byjiance.com/news/308/

Please also not the other high building on the other side of the canal!


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## hkskyline

*Heritage protection hindered by lack of laws*
16/07/2011 
Macau Daily Times










The Association for Macau Historical and Cultural Heritage Protection has urged the government to enact comprehensive laws without further delays in order to meet international standards for heritage preservation.

The statement is consistent with the recent request from UNESCO that has called on the SAR Government to develop “appropriate legal and planning instruments” incorporating its urban planning in a bid to protect the city’s cultural heritage.

The association’s chairman Cheang Kuok Keong said since the Historic Centre of Macau was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List on July 15, 2005, the “over-development of land” and the “disorderly” construction of high-rise buildings resulting from economic development have “destroyed” the city’s natural landscape and also given rise to “constant major controversies” over the protection of the cultural landscape.

The Macau Polytechnic Institute and 10 local associations co-organised a forum on the current situation and future of Macau’s intangible cultural heritage yesterday, coinciding with the sixth anniversary of the successful inscription of the Historic Centre of Macau.

Cheang referred to examples such as the Guia Lighthouse, Nam Van Lake and Sai Van Lake, Small Taipa Hill and also the Penha Hill, where high-rise construction has threatened the surrounding environment and landscape.
He pointed out that the key problem is Macau still lacks comprehensive urban planning and related legislation.

The Cultural Affairs Bureau, however, disclosed recently that the long-awaited heritage protection law will be submitted to the Executive Council shortly and it is hoped that the legislative procedure can be completed before the end of this year.

Cheang said in early as July 2003, his association had already warned that the territory’s heritage protection was facing “tremendous danger, since Macau lacks overall urban planning and is in an era where a new round of large-scale investment is being triggered by the liberalisation of the gaming industry”.

He also said under the environment of rapid economic growth, “a lot of valuable and unique heritage” was destroyed in exchange for development space and the “beautiful humanistic view is constantly being damaged”.
Macau’s cultural heritage, he stressed, is in a danger of permanent destruction caused by “short-term economic incentives”.

Meanwhile, vice-chairman of the Cultural Industry Committee, Leong Heng Teng, said in the opening speech that intangible cultural heritage is “not only a culture, but a tradition and an important cohesion” in the local community.

“Through public participation, a harmonious community relationship is formed. It is an important value of intangible cultural heritage and if this traditional culture cannot be protected properly, it will harm the traditional structure of the community to a certain extent,” Leong pointed out.

Director of the Institute of Chinese Intangible Cultural Heritage of the Sun Yat-Sen University, Kang Baocheng, told reporters before delivering his keynote speech that mainland China, like Macau, is facing difficulty in finding young people to inherit intangible cultural heritage.

Kang believed that fostering “cultural successors” should begin as early as possible during childhood but the older generation has the “responsibility to look for these people”.

The mainland expert suggested the SAR Government and local associations offer financial support to encourage the young generation to learn intangible cultural heritage, such as the Drunken Dragon dance or the Cantonese Nanyin opera.

In addition, director of the South China Research Centre of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Liu Tik Sang, said the fundamental requirement for heritage conservation is that local people have “the heart” in doing so.

“If the people are proud of it [the heritage] then they will be willing to spend time on preserving it,” Liu told reporters.

The government and academic institutes also need to play a part by offering support, he added.


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## hkskyline

*UNESCO slams Macau for lack of urban planning*
13/07/2011
Macau Daily Times

UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee urged Macau to develop appropriate legal and planning instruments to protect its cultural heritage, incorporating its urban planning.

The case was brought to public attention by the Portuguese-language newspaper Ponto Final. At this year’s meeting that took place last Thursday in Paris, UNESCO recalled a decision issued in 2009.

Macau is due to submit a report on the state of property conservation and the progress made in the implementation of legal and planning instruments, to be reviewed by the committee at its 37th session in 2013.

Despite applauding the initiatives taken by Macau towards the development of the urban plan, district plans, and a proposed law to safeguard Macau’s World Heritage, the committee “expresses its concerns at the continuing inadequacy of the current management system, the buffer zone and legal provisions, to protect effectively the very important visual and functional linkages between the inscribed monuments and the wider urban land and seascape of Macau”.

UNESCO “reiterates its request to the State Party [Macau] to develop appropriate legal and planning instruments comprising the Urban Plan as developed so far, and to submit to the World Heritage Centre when they are finalised, so that they can be assessed by the World Heritage Centre and the Advisory Bodies”.

Last year, the vice president of the International Council on Monuments and Sites, Guo Zhan, had already warned that the world heritage historical centre of Macau was facing some difficulties. He pointed out the urgent need for new measures to be submitted at the 35th meeting of UNESCO and suggested the government extend the historical centre buffer zones in Macau and work on overall long term urban and conservation planning.
Yesterday, the Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC) commented on the UNESCO’s decision. The bureau’s chief of special projects, Boyce Lam, said that local heritage is not in danger of being axed from the UNESCO list.

‘Cultural heritage is Macau’s invisible wealth and everything that can improve its protection is always welcomed. Macau heritage should be a top-priority’:

Nuno Jorge

Quoted by Portuguese-language channel Radio Macau, he pointed out the IC would strive to speed up the drafting of the legal instruments required by UNESCO and increase awareness. On the other hand, he said that urban planning comes within the Land, Public Works and Transport Bureau’s (DSSOPT) responsibility.

Lam assured that Macau has complied with recommendations stated by the international body in 2009. However, he stressed, “UNESCO believes that more can be done in terms of the Historic Centre’s management”.

He added the IC had brought along experts from the DSSOPT to attend the meeting in Paris, so they could have better understanding of the goals of heritage conservation.

In the meantime, he continued, the international body has applauded the way Macau authorities have solved the problem of the construction of a high rise near the Guia Lighthouse. The building was expected to reach a height of 126 metres and was lowered to 52.5 metres.

Following a public controversy in 2008, the government set a maximum height limit of 90 metres around the culturally protected area of the Guia Lighthouse.

The buffer zone area was also extended from two square kilometres to 2.8 square kilometres, divided into 11 different zones, each with its own height limit depending on the proximity to the historic lighthouse.

Architects with the committee

Local architects and urban planners share different views and concerns over the state of conservation of Macau’s cultural heritage. Former president of Macau Architects Association, Nuno Roque Jorge, stressed that nothing is deemed enough to protect the local cultural heritage. However, he admitted it takes time to introduce the legal instruments required by UNESCO.

“The Cultural heritage is Macau’s invisible wealth and everything that can improve its protection is always welcome. Macau heritage should be given a top-priority,” he told the Macau Daily Times.

Real estate market speculation and other needs of the rapid development of Macau were some issues mentioned by the architect. “I understand some actions take time, but I hope some improvements can be introduced,” he said.

Urban planner Francisco Vizeu Pinheiro is in line with Jorge. However, he said the development of urban planning must include the new reclaimed areas.

“The urban planning is on hold because of public consultations, even though I think it is good to take people’s opinions into consideration. But we should wait for the reclaimed areas planning to establish a comprehensive urban planning,” he pointed out.

‘We should wait for planning of the reclaimed areas to establish a comprehensive urban plan’:

Francisco Vizeu Pinheiro

Vizeu Pinheiro and Nuno Jorge are more concerned over non-listed heritage conservation. Jorge calls on authorities to look at “external circumstances” that may have an impact on the UNESCO-listed heritage.

“When I walk down the streets between St. Paul’s Ruins and Senado Square, I see lots of traditional and small businesses closed because of increasing commercial rental prices,” he said.

He suggested that not only should heritage sites be protected, but also the experiences and life around it.

In addition, Vizeu Pinheiro said Macau should also pay attention to the heritage that is not included on the UNESCO list, such as the old firecracker factory in Taipa or some green areas in Coloane.

“Those sites and areas are endangered by real estate development,” he warned.

‘Cultural mistake’

On the contrary, president of Macau Architects Association, Ben Leong Chong In, suggests that Macau needs to strike a balance between heritage and the needs of the city development. He also believes that “the government and Macau residents will continue to spend a lot of resources to protect heritage.”

Architect Carlos Couto, who has been working in Macau for over 30 years, said the renovation of the city’s landscape is moving faster than we could ever imagine.

“It’s good to see a city expanding, but this fast economic development also brings up other issues, like the lack of balance between what’s part of the city’s heritage and what’s new,” he said.

“We still have several areas here in Macau which are part of the old landscape. They have a special charm and we must protect that. Efforts should be made to revitalise these areas and better preserve them and keep their charisma,” he added.

However, protection doesn’t mean zero building or a rejection of everything contemporary. “We shouldn’t resort to construct buildings that look old just to fit into a certain neighbourhood. Doing that would only give the idea of false replicas and create a gap between what used to be contemporary and future architecture,” said Couto.

“That is a cultural mistake,” he added.

“Today’s buildings will be the old architecture in the future,” he said, adding that Macau needs to wisely ponder about what projects are “really good” for these older districts.


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## hkskyline

*Sands China profit soared in late 2011*
03/02/2012 
Macau Daily Times

Local gaming operator Sands China reported a 44 percent increase in fourth-quarter profit. Even though the company saw its market share drop it was able to squeeze more money out of its existing casinos.

In the last quarter of 2011 Sands China’s revenue rose 22 percent to MOP 10.6 billion from MOP 8.7 billion a year earlier. This growth is far below the industry average of 33.4 percent in the three-month period, which means the operator lost some of its market share.

But, on the other hand, Sands China’s operational performance – earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) – increased faster, by 29.2 percent, to MOP 3.4 billion in the fourth quarter.

More importantly, the company was able to turn more than a third (33.4 percent) of its profit into EBITDA, “a market-leading” margin, the operator stressed.

But the biggest rise came in net income, which rose to MOP 2.4 billion from MOP 1.7 billion a year earlier, bringing its profit for the year to MOP 9 billion. That was higher than the MOP 8.5 billion mean estimate of 14 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.

“The results are encouraging,” Philip Tulk, head of Asian conglomerates and gaming research at Royal Bank of Scotland, told Bloomberg. “The numbers continue to be pretty strong, despite concern about slowdown in China,” Michael Paladino, head of gaming, lodging and leisure at Fitch Ratings, agreed.

As usual the company’s flagship property Venetian accounted for the biggest slice of its earnings, MOP 2.3 billion, up by 20.2 percent from the same quarter of 2010. On the contrary the operator’s first casino, Sands, saw its EBITDA drop by six percent to just MOP 701.3 million.

Yet the biggest surprise came from the Plaza casino at Four Seasons, where earnings grew more than five-fold to a record MOP 503.2 billion. Sands China claims the increase is due to investments made on the VIP gaming sector.

Expansion hopes

Last month the operator returned to the second spot in the market share ranking with an 18.5 percent cut, overtaking rival Galaxy Entertainment. Sociedade de Jogos de Macau retained the top place with a 27 percent share.

Melco Crown Entertainment was in fourth with a 12.5 percent quota, similar to the one secured by Wynn Macau. MGM Macau came last with a share of a little over 10 percent.
And Sands China chairman Sheldon Adelson believes “a re-affiliation with Macau's most important gaming promoters can help drive our market share about 25 percent or even higher than the previous year,” he said at an earnings call.
*Sands China is developing another casino resort to add to its existing properties, the Venetian, Four Seasons and Sands. *

*The first phase of Sands Cotai Central is on track to open in about eight weeks, the company said yesterday.*

The resort “represents an important next step to the maturation of Macau as a leisure and business destination,” Adelson said. “The upcoming property, Sands Cotai Central, is going to draw new customers,” Tulk agreed.

*And the US tycoon seems ready to expand even further in the territory. “We have applied to the government and submitted drawings for about a 4,000-[hotel]-room [Cotai] lot 3 development,” he recalled.*

“We're going to make a mass market [casino], plus a separate tower for VIP play on lot 3. And, so far, we're getting positive reaction on it,” Adelson said. “It'll be a thematic property and we lead the pack because we already own and paid for this lot, so we have the right to put the building up as soon as possible.”

Las Vegas Sands, Sands China’s U.S.-based parent, yesterday reported a 17 percent rise in fourth-quarter profit. But the company is increasingly dependant on its Macau operations, after its Las Vegas casinos reported a 2.9 percent drop in revenues.

No slowdown

Sands China rose 4.9 percent to close at HKD 27.75 in Hong Kong. The company’s stock has surged 23.9 percent this year, outperforming the benchmark Hang Seng index’s 11.8 percent gain.

Galaxy Entertainment Group led the gains of Macau casino operators as investors expect it will “deliver strong earnings as Sands China has solid fourth quarter results,” Victor Yip, a Hong Kong based analyst at UOB Kay Hian, told Bloomberg.
“We expect to see that across the board,” Michael Paladino said.

Wynn Resorts will report its fourth quarter results today (Macau time). Analysts expect the casino operator to report earning of USD 1.28 per share, up by 40.7 percent year-on-year, and revenue of USD 1.35 billion, up by 8.9 percent.

But the market is particularly looking for insight into how Wynn will solve a dispute with major shareholder Kazuo Okada over the use of funds, which include a donation to the University of Macau.

On an earnings call, Adelson said he sees no slowdown in Macau, which surpassed the Las Vegas Strip as the world’s biggest casino revenue hub in 2006.

“We are essentially seeing nothing that would indicate that Macau and Singapore will not continue on their present paths upward,” he said on the company’s conference call.

Tulk expects Macau’s revenue growth to slow to 15 percent to 20 percent in 2012 as high-stakes gamblers are likely to find it harder to raise credit. “The growth will come from the mass market,” he said.

Michael Paladino also believes gaming revenue growth will be “nothing like we’ve seen in the last couple of years” and should drop to around 20 percent this year. “Anything bigger than that would be considered very positive.”


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## hkskyline

*Two Cotai grants to be approved*
06/02/2012 09:20:00
Macau Daily Times

Two of three Cotai land grant applications could be approved within this year, Lands and Public Works Bureau (DSSOPT) director Jaime Carion said on Friday.

The official said three gaming operators have applied to develop resorts in Cotai. However the bureau may only be able to complete and approve two of the three applications by the end of 2012.

Carion stressed that the approval process of these projects was difficult, especially when it comes to the calculation of land premiums, overall construction area and fire safety hazards.

“Fire safety regulations must be followed strictly. There can’t be any loopholes. The gaming operator had some adjustments regarding this, but in the end they made a decision,” he said, quoted by TDM News.

“In terms of the proposal the operators submitted to the government, they have to be do-able technically, architecturally and legally – then we enter the approval process,” Carion explained.

Gaming operators Wynn Macau, Sociedade de Jogos de Macau (SJM) and MGM China have all applied for a land concession in Cotai.

Last September, Wynn announced they had agreed to pay a MOP 1.55 billion premium to get approximately 20.6 hectares of land, located next to City of Dreams resort and the Macau University of Science and Technology campus, but the government moved quickly to clarify that the deal was not yet settled.

In May last year, chairman and chief executive officer of Wynn Resorts, Steve Wynn, told local media the company would start construction of the project as soon as the land was granted. The cost of the new project in Macau is expected to exceed MOP 20 billion and open within four or five year’s time.

Vacant plots

Last year MGM China identified a site of approximately 17.8 acres (0.07 square kilometres) in Cotai but did not disclose its location. The site that MGM is eyeing is almost three times smaller than the plot targeted by Wynn.

As for SJM, chief executive officer Ambrose So Shu Fai said last December that the land grant was approved in principle but the operator had not received any detail on the premium payment.

After the concession is complete SJM is set to diversify its business with a bigger investment in non-gaming. The company will invest about USD 2 billion (MOP 16 billion) in its Cotai project.

SJM had applied for a piece of land of some 70,000 square metres located next to Macau Dome.

Concerning the 48 undeveloped plots whose concession contracts have already expired and are at risk of being taken back, Carion said the DSSOPT has already finished studying and analyzing these cases and are currently consulting other legal departments to see if further analysis is needed.

In addition, Carion reiterated that the government would adjust land premiums based on market demand. He added that he’s confident the revised Land Law will be submitted to the Legislative Assembly within 2012.

Long-term views

Lawmakers have regularly complained that the premium paid by concessionaires of public land was too low but the Real Estate Development Association thinks there is no need to adjust current land premiums – at least not before 2013 or 2014.

“If property prices do go down, how will the land premiums be adjusted? Will it be every year?” asked the president of the Real Estate Development Association, Lok Wai Dak.

“I think adjusting land premiums is only part of the strategy to market adjustments,” he said, quoted by TDM News. Lok added that only a new Land Law can maintain a balanced real estate market.

Meanwhile the president of the Association of Property Agents and Realty Developers warned that the special stamp duty is also not a long-term solution for the soaring housing prices.

Ung Choi Kun admitted that the market has cooled down after the government introduced the new measure last June. But the lawmaker believes the market is bound to lag and therefore it won’t have an impact on property prices.

“When public housing can meet the people’s needs and start to stabilise, the SAR government should not use temporary measures like the special stamp duty to curb real estate prices,” he said, quoted by TDM News.


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## hkskyline

*Shop owners conditional support to ‘Three Lamps’ plan*
08/02/2012 10:44:00
Macau Daily Times

The authority plans to redevelop the “Three Lamps” area, including designating the whole area as a pedestrian zone. Shop owners in the district expressed their support for the initiative after meeting officials from the municipal authority, under the condition that they are allowed to continue selling commodities outside their shops.

The Macau Association of Shopkeepers (MAS) expressed their conditional support for the redevelopment plan after meeting Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau officials earlier this week.

MAS President, Ng Fu Keong, told Macau Daily Times yesterday that they raised several conditions with the officials during their meeting. They include the re-issue of so-called “doorway license”, that is a virtual extension of shop area by selling commodities on the public spaces outside their shops.

The government has been issuing the license to them in the past six years, until October last year when they were not renewed and municipal officers started fining shop-owners for putting goods outside, while allowing hawkers to continue selling goods in public places outside these shops.

Ng said the authority expressed preliminary consent to consider re-issuing the licenses, which he thought was a virtual agreement to grant them the license again. After this foremost prerequisite was met, he said, the association gave its backing to the plan.

The other conditions included same rights for hawkers and shops in using public areas, but hawkers should not block the doorway of shops. In addition, the areas that are not occupied by hawkers should remain empty.
Another important prerequisite was that no works be started before shopkeepers, hawkers, the government and the public struck an agreement over the plan. MAS also asked the authority to preserve the traditional outlook and profile of the area during the redevelopment. The authority pledged to consider these conditions and further consult shop-owners in the district.

Ng said the shop-owners actually have friendly relations with hawkers. He described the relations between the two as “interdependent partners”. The Macau Hawkers Association, meanwhile, could not be immediately reached for comment.

According to his observations and exchanges with the local community, Ng said the majority of the neighborhood residents favored the redevelopment, which they hoped would bring better hygiene conditions and safer road conditions to the whole district.


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## hkskyline

*Real supply of new flats under 500 annually*
09/02/2012 09:56:00 
Macau Daily Times

For the next three years the real supply of new residential units will remain around 500 a year, as many flats under construction have already been sold and developers still waiting for the review of the special stamp duty, Jones Lang LaSalle wrote.

In its Macau annual property review, released yesterday, the company stressed that over 6,100 units are likely to be completed by the end of 2014. However close to 5,000 apartments have already been sold.

“This means that in fact the number of new available units will be about 500 each year. So on the supply side there won’t be much pressure” to push down residential prices, said Jones Lang LaSalle’s managing director in Macau, Gregory Ku.

On the other hand, he stressed that “developers are not at all eager to sell if the market is not attractive.” The special stamp duty introduced by the government last year has been “very effective” in cooling the property market, the expert conceded.

Ku doesn’t expect the government to abolish the duty before next year, when it will be reviewed. But he stressed that, “as an open economy, Macau should not rely on short-term measures” to regulate the market.

In addition, the low interest rates also make sure “the holding power of property owners is still strong,” said Jones Lang LaSalle’s head of residential, Jeff Wong.

With the Macau pataca loosely pegged to the US dollar, local interest rates are set to remain low for the next two years, after the US Federal Reserve announced it would keep interest rates at a record low at least through to mid-2013.

Less than 600 residential units are expected to be ready next year, the lowest number since 2002. And Jones Lang LaSalle doesn’t expect the situation to improve much after 2014.

“Even if a developer would announce the launch of a project today it would have to follow the new rules on pre-sales of unfinished residential properties,” Ku recalled. “It was possible to sell units after having the masterplan approved but in the future you will have to complete the foundations and fulfill other requirements,” he explained.

Stable prices

The chairman of the Macau Association of Economic Sciences, Joey Lao Chi Ngai, expects housing prices to drop “at least 15 to 30 percent” this year. But Jones Lang LaSalle disagrees. “We do not expect to see a major correction in the city’s residential prices,” said Wong.

“Tight supply in the pipeline” aside, financial institutions are also unwilling to loan money at will. “Banks are getting more risk-adverse and this is a global trend, particularly with [mainland] Chinese banks that are getting pressured by the government,” said Marcos Chan, Jones Lang LaSalle’s head of research for the Greater Pearl River Delta region.

One consequence will be a decrease in foreign investment coming into the Macau property market. Last year non-local buyers accounted for 12 percent of all transactions, down from 36 percent in 2006.

But outside investors are still “keeping a close eye on the local market,” Wong stressed. “They believe in the Macau success story and know that it’s difficult to find such a high GDP [Gross Domestic Product, total wealth created] growth anywhere else,” he added.

The situation is clearer in the residential rental market, which is expected to remain stable and prices to go up, said Wong. The growing number of non-resident workers and the new projects – including Sands Cotai Central and the Light Rapid Transit system – will fuel demand, he said.

With new international retail brands and service providers for the casino resort industry expected to come into Macau, office rental will also increase. In 2011, the percentage of vacant offices dropped to 18 percent, the lowest in six years, and three of the major office buildings in town reached an occupancy level of at least 85 percent.


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## hkskyline

*Macao Water positive on recycling project*
16/02/2012 09:24:00
Macau Daily Times

Macao Water is confident of the success of a water-recycling plan, as a measure to save water and promote a more environmentally friendly lifestyle in the territory.

During a media luncheon held yesterday, the deputy general manager of Macao Water said they were working closely with the government on the planning of recycling plants in Sec Pai Van and Hengqin Island.

Oscar Chu told Macau Daily Times the pilot project would produce water of good quality as an alternative source to supply the public.

“The water quality can be assured,” he said, adding that during an initial stage recycled water will be used only to flush toilets. “So there should not be a problem.”

Chu pointed to successful water recycling projects in neighbouring Hong Kong as well as countries such as Singapore and the US, saying that he expected to receive public support for this green initiative.

The executive conceded that recycling water might not be the cheapest method, but it was the most environmentally-friendly way to help the public to use fewer natural resources.

He admitted that the population might have a “psychological” fear of using recycled water. Chu stressed the need to educate the public and raise their awareness about saving water.

Asked if desalination is another option, he categorically rejected the idea, stressing that the quality of the seawater around the MSAR is not suitable for this process.

“Macau is at the outlet of the Pearl River Delta which means our seawater carries a lot of sediments, sands and is very muddy,” Chu said, resulting in a much more costly purification process. He said desalination is better for places with access to clean deep-sea water.

The executive also talked about the company’s operation, saying that last year’s results will be similar to the ones in 2010.

He said the costs of operation had been growing due to inflation, increase in human resources spending and investments plans. But Chu confirmed there would be no tariff hikes before 2014, as the government pledged earlier this month.

“We try not to pass on the added costs [to the users],” Chu said. “We’ll try to optimise our operations instead.” While committing to higher efficiency, he also warned “there is a limit to what we can do.”


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## hkskyline

*Legal battle freezes wastewater overhaul*
17/02/2012 
Macau Daily Times

The Macau peninsula wastewater treatment plant “is in an appalling condition,” the current operator says, but the infrastructure’s modernisation project remains on hold as a legal dispute over the public tender rages on.

Last October, a consortium composed of local company CESL Asia, Portugal’s Indaqua and mainland China’s Tsing Hua Tong Fang took over the Areia Preta plant, after winning a tender for its operation, maintenance and modernisation.

But, more than four months later, the reconstruction plan has yet to take off, the chief executive officer of CESL Asia, António Trindade, confirmed to Macau Daily Times yesterday.

“The plant was not adequately treating the wastewater and it remains in a sorry situation,” he explained. As a result, the executive added, it’s too common for the surrounding buildings to be affected by rogue emissions.
With Areia Preta going through a shift from a mostly industrial area to a residential district, there have been growing complaints from residents over the impact of the wastewater plant.

Last October the deputy director of the Environmental Protection Bureau acknowledged the issue. “In fact we have planned to set up monitoring equipment around the wastewater treatment plant to check whether the smell from the plant is distressing nearby residents,” Vong Man Hung said at the time.

“I feel that the situation has improved a bit since we took over but it’s still far from being ideal,” Trindade stressed yesterday. “The fact is it’s impossible to fully solve this problem without launching the modernisation plan,” he added.

The project “worth hundreds of million patacas” includes an expansion of the plant’s capacity to treat 48,000 cubic metres per day and the introduction of a different method to treat the wastewater, a membrane bioreactor process.

No pay

The consortium, headed by CESL Asia, will operate the infrastructure until 2016 but “this plan should have been introduced as a matter of the utmost urgency and of public interest,” Trindade emphasised.

But a legal battle over two bidders that were wrongfully excluded from the public tender launched in March 2010 has made it impossible to start the construction works, he admitted. “It’s harming the development of the investment we had planned.”

In addition, the businessman revealed, the consortium has yet to receive a dime for the operation of the plant because the five-year contract worth MOP 604.9 million has not yet been signed.

“Obviously companies rely on payment for their services in order to survive. But luckily we [CESL Asia] are a company with credit in the market and a healthy financial condition,” he said.

However, Trindade has warned that the consortium is looking at the issue as “a temporary situation that should be solved as soon as possible, not only for the good of our company but also for the good of the Macau population”.

Local courts have decided that two bidders – a Sino-Belgium consortium led by Waterleau and Indian-Austrian company Va Tech Wabag – were excluded from the public tender for the plant operation due to a lack of documents or qualification.

The latest verdict from the Court of Final Appeal came on Wednesday, leaving the Administration with 30 days to enforce the court decision. Authorities could restart the public tender for the Areia Preta plant or try to reach a compensation deal with Waterleau and Wabag.

“The government respects the decision from the final court and the relevant legal staff is analysing the judgment from the court. At the same time, the government will continue to ensure the normal operation of the Macau peninsula wastewater treatment plant,” a Infrastructure Development Office told MDTimes.


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## hkskyline

*Wei Zhao on TDM Talk Show: UM will be world-class university: Wei Zhao*
17/02/2012 09:52:00
Macau Daily Times

University of Macau’s new campus on Hengqin Island is expected to be complete in ten months.

It will be a landmark not only for the history of higher education, but also for Macau itself– as Hengqin is the new symbol of Macau-Guangdong cooperation.

But the land for the new campus will cover more than 1 square kilometer – which is 20 times bigger than the current one.

UM’s Rector Wei Zhao is on the TDM Talk Show this week to talk about the challenges ahead in the university’s largest project yet.

Future plans

With exactly 307 days away from the ‘due date’, the clock is ticking and the world is watching as the University of Macau’s [UM] new campus is being built on Hengqin.

“We have several issues we are dealing with,” said the Rector. “Number one, (...) we are working with SAR government to provide information, especially [information on] requirements to [give] the designers and constructors. (...) on top of that we need to start to prepare to move the current campus (...) into the new campus - that of course if a big logistical challenge.”

But the Rector is ambitious.

Wei Zhao said the new campus will symbolize a new age not only for the university, but for the Macau SAR.

“This expansion, we also need to consider [adding] on new programs [and] capabilities, [so] UM can serve Macau better,” said Wei.

These new programs and capabilities include a new faculty of health sciences, which they are currently recruiting its dean.

But it’s the students’ lifestyle that will be truly ‘revolutionized’.

“We will have 12 residential colleges, and students’ campus activities will [become] a big deal. At this moment, we don’t have a sizeable campus [to do that],” said Wei.

When they have the space to accommodate the students to live on campus, Wei said he hopes university life won’t just be about the lectures and classes – students will be able to have fun with one and other. As of now, they are also recruiting people to work in the student affairs department.

‘4 in 1 model’

“We started the expansion two years ago,” said the Rector. “We would like the future Chief Executive to be [one of] our students, [one of our] former students. We want to provide the talents Macau needs. To achieve that, the students not only have to know a particular subject (...) he/she should also master certain management skills, leadership skills, communication skills. He/she should also have a broader knowledge, not only in his own field but perhaps in humanities and society.”

The result of this realization is the new ‘4 in 1 education model’.
“This basically integrates certain components, each of them has been tried successfully in other places, [and] now we’re putting it together,” said Wei.

First of all, the student will receive education in the major they have chosen for themselves. Then there will be a general education program, where training will be provided for students in a very ‘wide sense’, as Wei put it. Third part will be ‘peer and community education’, where the school will require students to educate themselves and amongst each other. 12 residential colleges will be built so students can integrate into their own community. Last but not least there will be ‘research and internship education’, where students will discover, develop and apply the knowledge they have learned.

Lack of staff

“For high-end academic staff (...) in a particular subject, we will have to go out for an ‘internationalized search’. There’s no doubt about it,” said Wei.

But the rector said the university will adopt different methods to address this issue.

“Macau people are quite smart. We have many capable people here, but there’re different job markets. (...) We’re trying to select a group who are willing to try different things,” said Wei.

Besides recruiting from the outside, Wei said they will also recruit from the inside.

“There are lots of faculty members in different stages of their careers, we want them to try different things.”

When asked about UM’s salary package not being attractive enough to lure top notch scholars and researchers to come work in the university, the Rector said ‘the answer is yes and no’. But he reassured that the government is aware of this and is supporting UM to change their salary system so they can be more competitive in the international job market.

World-class university

Although the rector has his ambitions, UM seems to be out of the radar when compared to other world class universities.

Wei agreed. But what he has is confidence.

“You’re right. At this moment we may or may not even be on the screen, depending on which radar you use. (...) We’re confident that given the tremendous support from the community and the government, also given the support from our students, former students and the parents, especially given the tremendous effort our staff both academic and administrative, one day we will become a world class university with very high level of academics. (...) But you’re right, we’re not there yet.”


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## hkskyline

*LRT could reach Seac Pai Van*
14/02/2012 09:39:00 Vítor Quintã
Macau Daily Times

The second phase of the Light Rapid Transit (LRT) system could reach Seac Pai Van, in Coloane, two Transportation Infrastructure Office (GIT) officials confirmed yesterday. Meanwhile the construction works for the downtown Taipa route will start soon, they promised.

The first phase of the LRT will include 21 stations in the Macau peninsula, Taipa and Cotai, stretching from the Border Gate to the Pac On ferry terminal. The system should be up and running by 2015, said GIT technical consultant Michael Lam Soi Hoi.

But authorities are already planning for the second phase, which could include a station in Seac Pai Van, he added. “Whether or not to launch a specific route, that will be up to the development of the area,” said Lam during a conference.

“We are still thinking about that issue and studying that possibility,” GIT deputy coordinator, Ho Cheong Kei, told journalists on the sidelines. “It’s an area that has the pandas and a public housing complex,” he recalled.
This Coloane area, which already hosts the Panda Habitat theme park, will include Macau’s biggest public housing complex with about 6,800 units and the luxury residential development One Oasis with 714 apartments.

The second phase will also include a link between the Border Gate and the Barra district that would close the LRT circuit, as well as two stations in the reclaimed plot A and the island that will host the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge border crossing, both rising to the peninsula’s northeast.

In addition the government is also planning for a possible extension of the LRT system to Hengqin Island, in connection with the future Guangzhou-Zhuhai Intercity Mass Rapid Transit, said Michael Lam.

Productivity boost

Meanwhile the construction works for the first LRT route in downtown Taipa will start soon, Ho Cheong Kei said. This project will include five stations: Ocean Gardens, Macau Jockey Club, Macau Stadium and one between the old Taipa village and the Galaxy Macau resort.

“We have already launched the public tender. Right now we are overseeing preparatory works and planning for the necessary traffic reorganisation,” the GIT official explained. The office received 16 bids for the first route, ranging between MOP 489 million and MOP 2.99 billion.
The construction works were set to start in the first quarter of 2012. Asked if this schedule will be kept, Ho replied: “We will do everything in our reach to launch the works as soon as possible”.

Yesterday’s conference focused on discussing the models for railway operation and financial management implemented in mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Japan and Portugal.

“This is one of our biggest challenges,” Michael Lam stressed. Ho Cheong Kei agreed: “We are looking to learn from the experiences from other jurisdictions. I hope that within this year we will have an idea on what our management model will be.”

A China Academy of Urban Planning and Design (CAUPD) expert believes the Guangzhou model, where the government takes care of the planning and offers financial assistance, would be a good example for Macau.

“I think it’s the most efficient model to run a new railway system,” said Li Xiaojiang, director of the CAUPD Subway and Light Rail Research Centre, during the conference. But, he added, “there are no good or bad models. It all depends on the specific needs of each city”.

Even before choosing a model, GIT is confident the LRT system will boost Macau’s economy and help society earn a further MOP 15.8 to 16.4 billion just in the first 10 years of operation.

The LRT will become “Macau’s main collective transportation system” and will reduce commuting time by 63 percent, Michael Lam predicted. He also expects the use of private vehicles to drop, cutting both greenhouse gas emissions and energy consumption by 20 percent.

“With better air quality authorities and the population will save a lot on healthcare expenses,” Ho Cheong Kei added.


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## hkskyline

*SJM to submit Cotai project this week*
13/02/2012 07:45:00
Macau Daily Times

Local gaming operator Sociedade de Jogos de Macau (SJM) Holdings will submit the master plan for its Cotai resort to the government as early as this week and expects the government to formally approve the land grant soon afterward.

“The Cotai plots, we’re still waiting for the Macau Government’s formal approval of the land grant. We hope that this will come very soon,” said Ambrose So, chief executive officer of SJM.

“We’re doing it now because without this master plan it is not possible for the government to calculate the premium to be charged and to start the land grant [process]. We’ll submit it as quickly as possible because we’ve got the parameters of the design now,” said So.

The executive made the remarks on the sidelines of a ‘wishing tree’ inauguration ceremony last Friday to commemorate Grand Lisboa’s fifth and SJM’s 10th anniversaries.

In December last year, Ambrose So confirmed that the government had agreed to grant a plot in Cotai to SJM but the land premium had not yet been decided. The executive didn’t identify the location of the plot.

But in December 2010 he confirmed that the operator had applied for a piece of land of some 70,000 square metres located next to Macau Dome.
After the premium payment is complete SJM will begin diversifying its business with a bigger investment in non-gaming, So said. The company founded by tycoon Stanley Ho Hung Sun will invest about USD 2 billion (MOP 16 billion) in its Cotai resort.

In addition to SJM, Wynn Macau and MGM China are also waiting for the Administration’s green light to move into Cotai. Although SJM holds the largest gaming market share out of the three, it has yet to set foot in Cotai.

Earlier last week, the director of the Lands Public Works and Transport Bureau, Jaime Carion, said two of the three applications for land grants in Cotai could be approved this year.

On Friday So said joining the ‘Cotai race’ later than everyone else could actually be a good thing for SJM.

“I think in Cotai it’s a different market, unlike those in the [Macau] peninsula which is gaming-oriented, gaming-centric. Of course we have to put in more non-gaming elements into our complex,” he said.

“This is something we have to think about. Being the latecomer we have the advantage of knowing what can be done and what cannot be done, what is successful and what is not successful,” said So.

Last September Wynn announced it had reached an agreement to pay a MOP 1.55 billion government premium for a plot in Cotai but authorities immediately said the concession was still “being reviewed”.

“Visitation to Cotai is indeed growing,” Union Gaming Research wrote, “due to increased supply.” But, the company added in a note to investors, “we believe at least a few more IRs [integrated resorts] are needed in order to achieve the critical mass necessary for visitors to make a conscious choice between visiting only the Macau peninsula or only Cotai”.


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## hkskyline

*CCTV cameras only for two years*
08/02/2012 10:44:00
Macau Daily Times

Video surveillance cameras will be installed in public areas only for two-years, president of the third standing committee of the Legislative Assembly (AL) Cheang Chi Keong said yesterday.

Lawmakers met yesterday with the secretary for Security Cheong Kuoc Vá and his team. Legal advisors for both parties reached a consensus over a new draft of the law on video surveillance.

“We reached a consensus over the content of the bill in order to ensure that the crime prevention is balanced with the protection of people’s privacy,” Cheang said.

Some changes were introduced to the new bill and the government is due to submit a final version to the AL shortly.

“There is a two year limit for the operation of the cameras. Afterwards, the government will evaluate if there is a necessity to keep the surveillance system,” the head of the committee told reporters after the closed-door meeting.

In addition, the concept of “public area” was changed. It will also include areas and equipment managed by the government in order to fall in line with the Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau’s General Regulation of Public Places.

Lawmakers asked the secretary whether casinos will also be included in the list of public areas, but Cheong explained that casino areas are distinctive areas.

The committee is working on the final report, which means that the scrutiny over the bill is almost complete.

Video surveillance cameras will be set up in three phases. In the first stage the government plans to install over 200 cameras at border facilities and later on in old districts with high crime rates, and for traffic control.

The Chief Executive will be the one to approve the locations of the new cameras.

Recording of private conversations is strictly banned, with some exceptions if there is a serious crime or accident involved. However, the police must request a special authorisation for sound recording.

It is also prohibited to capture images and sound inside private houses. Those who are in charge of handling the recordings are subject to the secrecy duty.


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## hkskyline

*LRT Taipa works start tomorrow*
20/02/2012 10:47:00
Macau Daily Times

The construction works for the first Light Rapid Transit route in downtown Taipa will start tomorrow but the Transportation Infrastructure Office (GIT) has pledged to minimise the impact on traffic.

The two-kilometre project, which will include five stations – Ocean Gardens, Macau Jockey Club, Macau Stadium and one between the old Taipa village and the Galaxy Macau resort –, will cost MOP 489 million, the office confirmed.

This was the lowest of the 16 bids received by GIT as part of the international public tender for the construction of the first route, with the highest at MOP 2.99 billion. The works should be ready around May 2015.
During the next three years traffic in Taipa will be affected by the project, the office admitted. From the end of March, traffic on Sai Van bridge’s Taipa exit will be reduced to two lanes on each way.

Later on, the road connecting the bridge to Cotai –’Rua dos Jogos da Ásia Oriental’– will also lose one lane each way. GIT has promised to introduce more road signs “considering the high speed currently found in these two lanes”.

Construction works on the road near the Jockey Club – ‘Estrada Governador Albano de Oliveira’ – will slice down the number of parking spaces available. But the office stressed that this segment will only be launched in April, after Taipa central park’s car park starts operating.

In 2009 the Land, Public Works and Transport Bureau director Jaime Carion said the car park would have 1,300 parking spaces for cars and 1,300 for motorbikes, including spaces for people with disability.

Pollution reduction

“Unfortunately I should say that we are going to begin to have troubles in traffic, because with an infrastructure like this it’s unavoidable,” said GIT deputy director André Sales Ritchie, quoted by TDM News.

But the office stressed that the LRT flyover will be built with prefabricated parts and that the construction works will mostly occupy the central reservation. As a result “the construction area and schedule will be smaller than in conventional works,” GIT said.

“After the experience gained with the successfully concluded [sewer upgrade] works at Avenida Horta e Costa, authorities decided to adopt the phased construction model,” a statement adds.

Traffic aside, “there are other impacts that are unavoidable, namely construction noise and also dust particles,” Sales Ritchie admitted. Contractors will have to spray the air to reduce air pollution and measure noise, he added.

A mechanism introduced by the contractors but supervised by GIT will also be in charge of regularly keeping in touch with Taipa associations and responding to issues raised by local residents.

The open tender for the LRT route in the Macau peninsula will be launched during the first half of this year, Sales Ritchie said. The construction works will start before the end of 2012, he added.


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## hkskyline

*One Oasis launches Phase 3 amid market uncertainty*
23/02/2012 09:34:00
Macau Daily Times

One Oasis announced the launch of its Phase 3 high-end residential project in Cotai in the first quarter of this year amid a traditional low-tide market condition typical of the beginning of a year. 

One Oasis held a press gathering yesterday to brief the media on the new phase of the housing project, expected to be completed in the second half of 2015.

Comparing to Phases 1 and 2, the latest project put its focus on comparatively small 1- or 2-bedroom units ranging from 580 to 1,300 square feet, as well as 2,400-square-feet 4-bedroom en-suites. The number of units for public sale is not yet available. And as with the previous phases, Phase 3 also boosts luxurious clubhouses and vicinity to a number of resorts and casinos in the Cotai Strip, including the Giant Panda Garden.

Sales of uncompleted-flats, however, will start on the first quarter of this year. According to the company, the “target market price” will be set at around MOP 5,500 to MOP 6,200. The developer is optimistic of the sales prospect due to the robust local economy, strong performance of gaming and tourism industry, low interests rates and development potential of the Hengqin new zone, and expects that the major group of clients will continue to be buyers from Macau, Hong Kong and mainland China.

The sales of Phase 1 in April last year took property deals to a record high. But this time, dealers in the market are more uncertain if a similar effect is going to happen.

Ronald Cheung, Midland Macau’s sales director told Macau Daily Times yesterday that it would be difficult to expect an equally positive acceptance by the market.

“The effect of stamp tax increase could not be undervalued,” he said.
However, Cheung also pointed out that the new phase had its attractiveness, including smaller units, lower first-installment and more flexible payment. And, as the first major property project to be launched this year, One Oasis has its attractiveness, especially when the market had been low and quiet for quite a while and potential buyers are out again for new targets, especially those looking for investment chances in the Hengqin area.

He would not comment if the price of MOP 5,500 – 6,200 was reasonable. “Let’s leave it for the market’s decision.”

As to its effect on the first and second-hand property market, Cheung said due to its geographic position, the effect would probably be limited to the Cotai area, especially the second hand market of One Oasis Phase 1 and 2, rather than the market in downtown areas. 

One Oasis’ developers consists of Hong Kong-listed companies as well as developers, builders and international investment institutions, including ITC Properties Group Limited, Linkeast Investments Limited, Nag Fung Group, ARCH Capital Management and Success Universe Group.


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## hkskyline

*Joint 2023 bid talk ‘premature’*
23/02/2012 09:34:00
Macau Daily Times

It’s still too early to discuss the possibility of the MSAR jointly hosting the 2023 Asian Games with Hong Kong and Shenzhen, the vice-president of the Sports Development Board (IDM), José Tavares, told Macau Daily Times.

On Tuesday the Hong Kong deputy secretary for Home Affairs, Jonathan McKinley, said the government would welcome a shared bid with Shenzhen and Macau, an idea first mentioned by the Olympic Council of Asia earlier this month.

“No one has contacted us over this issue,” Tavares said. And, asked if IDM would be interested in this opportunity, he said “it would have to be cautiously discussed and well thought”.

Although Macau has organised the 2005 East Asian Games and the 2007 Indoor Asian Games, Tavares stressed that the Asian Games are a much bigger event and that a joint bid would need the support from three different governments.


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## hkskyline

*Three years to build Cotai resort: MGM: Macau a USD 50 billion gaming market by 2017*
24/02/2012 11:24:00
Macau Daily Times

The local gaming market could reach yearly revenues of USD 50 billion (MOP 400 billion) by 2017, the chief executive officer of casino operator MGM Resorts International, Jim Murren, said.

In an interview with CNBC, the executive stressed that the Macau market is already worth USD 35 billion (MOP 280 billion). Last year the gaming industry recorded gross revenue of MOP 268 billion, according to official data.

“And I think it’s going to be over a USD 50 billion market four or five years from now,” Murren predicted.

If the sector were to reach this figure in four years that would represent an annual average growth below 10 percent, a sharp decrease from the pace seen in the last two years. In 2011, gaming revenue rose 42.2 percent but in the previous year it had grown even faster, by 57.8 percent.

The last time the industry grew by less than 10 percent was in 2009, when Macau was feeling the pinch from the global financial crisis.

And US-based MGM Resorts is keen to add to the business growth during the next few years through its local joint-venture with Macau businesswoman Pansy Ho Chiu King, MGM China Holdings.

“We have one property there [hotel-casino MGM Grand] that is doing extraordinarily well. In fact we announced record results there also,” Murren said.

But Stifel Nicolaus Capital Markets gaming analyst Steven Wieczynski, quoted by Las Vegas Review-Journal, said MGM China’s market share and profitability are still disappointing.

Last month the operator came last in the gaming market share ranking with a slice of a little over 10 percent.

Cotai hopes

Nonetheless, MGM China rose to the highest in five months in Hong Kong trading yesterday after reporting that 2011 profits more than doubled. The company jumped 6.6 percent to close at HKD 13.82, the highest intraday level since September 9. The benchmark Hang Seng Index fell 0.8 percent.

MGM China shares have soared 35 percent in Hong Kong this year.

“But we want to build another property there and we do expect to spend USD 2.5 billion [MOP 20 billion] because we think the markets are going to be there for us, and our brands work in China,” Murren explained.

Cotai is gaining popularity and companies that have not yet got establishments there may lose market share, Adrian Lowe, an analyst at Mirae Asset Securities in Hong Kong, said before the earnings release.
In a statement sent to the Hong Kong stock regulators, MGM China confirmed that it has “identified a site of approximately 17.8 acres in Cotai and have submitted an application to the Macau Government to obtain the right to lease this parcel of land for the purpose of constructing an integrated casino hotel and entertainment complex”.

But the operator admitted “there is currently no definitive timetable for finalizing the application process with the Macau Government”.

“We are currently working towards finalizing the concept and design of the project and will be prepared to commence the project upon approval,” MGM China wrote.

Funds available

“In Cotai, we’re well positioned and had plans for a truly unique MGM experience,” said the company’s executive director Grant Bowie in a conference call. “Our plan is to have approximately 500 tables, two and a half thousand slots, 1,600 rooms,” he revealed.

After the government’s green light, Bowie is confident it could get the resort up and running in “approximately 36 months” at an investment of “approximately USD 2 billion to USD 2.5 billion”.

Three weeks ago, Lands and Public Works Bureau (DSSOPT) director Jaime Carion said two of the three Cotai land grant applications filed by gaming operators could be approved by the end of this year.

But Gabriel Chan, an analyst at Credit Suisse Group in Hong Kong, believes MGM China might be the one left waiting. Talking to Bloomberg, Chan foresees that the land premium negotiation and land approval process for the group’s Cotai site application will be delayed to next year, pushing the resort opening to 2016 or beyond.

MGM China has announced a special dividend of HKD 0.82 cents per share. “We are pretty happy about the dividend payout,” Chan said. “The company has a high level of net cash. It is likely to maintain a high payout policy.”
Even after paying a dividend, MGM Resorts said it “has sufficient resources (…) to finance its operations and expansion of its business, including the development of an additional casino and hotel complex in Cotai”.

At the end of the last quarter, MGM China had approximately USD 720 million (MOP 5.8 billion) in cash and debt of USD 552 million (MOP 4.4 billion). But its debt was smaller than its operating profit in the last 12 months, Bowie emphasised.


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## hkskyline

*Proposals for the Cotai LRT segment submitted*
27/02/2012 10:37:00
Macau Daily Times

Eighteen proposals for the Cotai segment of the LRT were received by last Friday’s deadline with prices ranging between MOP 789 million and MOP 1.3 billion. Fourteen proposals have been accepted, four only conditionally. Once introduced, the LRT in Cotai is expected to facilitate transportation in this area as well as provide an interface between the border crossing at Flor de Lótus and the intercity railway of Guangzhou.

The Cotai segment includes Rua do Pai Kok in Taipa and the eastern part of Cotai, which covers the road viaduct of the light railway between the Estrada da Baía de Nossa Senhora da Esperança, Avenida Cidade Nova, the Cotai roundabout, Estrada Flor de Lótus, the Flor de Lótus roundabout and the Avenida da Nave Desportiva in Taipa, with a total length of 3.37km. 

Simultaneously, four LRT stations will be constructed, specifically in the western part of Cotai, at the border crossing of Flor de Lótus, at Macau Gymnasium for East Asian Games and the eastern part of Cotai.

The project will be a joint venture between local and foreign companies. The construction will provide 400 work places for local workers.


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## hkskyline

*Financing in place for Cotai resort: MGM*
27/02/2012 10:37:00 
Macau Daily Times

Local gaming operator MGM China Holdings has all the pieces in place for its future Cotai resort and is hopeful of seeing its project approved this year, the chief executive officer Grant Bowie said on Friday.

“The financing is in place for our Cotai project,” he told journalists in a briefing held before the company’s media spring dinner. “We have a very strong balance sheet,” the executive added.

At the end of the last quarter, MGM China had approximately USD 720 million (MOP 5.8 billion) in cash and debt of USD 552 million (MOP 4.4 billion). But its debt was smaller than its operating profit in the last 12 months, Bowie emphasised.

“Our Cotai venture will be financed with our cash flow, which is quite high, and a credit facility,” said Hubert Wang, MGM China’s chief financial officer. The company can still draw more than HKD 3.1 billion under its existing credit facility.

After the government’s green light, Bowie is confident it could get the resort up and running in “approximately 36 months” at an investment of “approximately USD 2 billion to USD 2.5 billion” (MOP 20 billion).

MGM China has announced a special dividend of HKD 0.82 cents per share. “But the dividend doesn’t come at a cost of delaying or compromising our Cotai development,” Wang stressed.
In a statement sent to the Hong Kong stock regulators, MGM China confirmed that it has “identified a site of approximately 17.8 acres in Cotai and submitted an application to the Macau Government”.

MICE, shows

“We have been asked not to talk about the process. But we have done all that was in our control. We have submitted all our plans and the process is extremely well advanced,” said Bowie.

“Our plan is to have approximately 500 tables, 2,500 slots, 1,600 rooms,” he said. But the executive stressed that gaming will only take “less than 10 percent of the total area”.

“We are looking at some sort of show and some sort of exhibition opportunities,” Bowie confirmed. However, he added that MGM would not compete with Venetian Macau to host big exhibitions and conventions, two sectors that “have not developed as strong as we expected”.

Instead the company’s Cotai resort will focus on incentives trips as “companies in the region are growing and looking into premium destinations,” as well as meetings, the executive said.

And he said MGM has learned from the demise of ZAIA, Cirque du Soleil’s first resident show in Asia. “It was an incredible show in an amazing theatre but it shows how thin the difference between success and failure is,” Bowie said.

“If you’re going to start a show you need to do it in a lot more dramatic way. If you look at the ‘House of Dancing Water’ you might not get the storyline but the production values are superb,” he said.

However, the executive added that the success of any major show will also depend on an increase in visitors’ average length of stay. “If you are going to spend less than a full day in Macau, would you give a whole night away to see one show?” he questioned.


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## JayT

Images, Pictures, Renders?

I would love to see more renders of Macau developments. It would be nice to see how the worlds number 1 gambling city stacks up to Las Vegas.


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## ganghui

^^Same here... but I think Macau doesnt really need to showoff with tall buildings or whatsoever like other cities on the mainland does. It has its own unique culture and style.


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## ganghui

*Airport to spend US$ 20 million on updating facilities
*29/02/2012
MacauNews/Business










Macau, China, 29 Feb - The renewal of four jet bridges and the restructuring of the parking apron to allow more space for small aircraft and business jets will cost about 160 million patacas (US$ 20 million) this year, Macau International Airport Company (CAM) Executive Director Liu Suning said Tuesday.

Liu pointed out in a speech, about the company’s 2012 investment plan, the airport recorded “the best year of business performance” since opening, with total revenue totalling “over three billion patacas” while CAM’s revenue reached 660 million patacas. 

According to Liu, besides renewing the four jet bridges, the airport company is also planning to reorganise the layout of the aircraft parking spaces without reclaiming any land. The pointed out that land reclamation would be quite time-consuming because it required approval from the central government.

“We’ll be setting aside an aircraft apron that can park 15 to 30 business jets,” Liu said, pointing out that it would be too long for the company to wait for the government’s airport expansion plan, which includes a jet apron, to be implemented.

According to The Macau Post Daily it was previously reported that the Civil Aviation Authority (AACM) is proposing an expansion project that would double the airport’s current size and would have 38 aircraft parking bays in the first two phases in 2015 and 2020.

“We follow market demand. Aircraft movement is growing each month or each week. If we don’t prepare now, we won’t have the facility we need and it would affect growth,” Liu said, The Macau Post Daily reports today. 

According to Liu, passenger traffic and aircraft movements recorded growth of 10 percent and five percent respectively in the first two months this year compared to the same period last year, pointing out that traffic from mainland China recorded a 38 percent growth while transit passenger traffic recorded 84 percent growth compared with last year.


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## hkskyline

Will try to find some renderings. Perhaps I may have better luck with the Chinese press. Generally, the casinos, especially on Cotai, are not too tall, but they tend to sprawl across. There's plenty of reclaimed land over there.


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## ganghui

*Macau government accepts 18 bids for four Light Rail Transit stations in Cotai
*27/02/2012
MacauNews/Politics










Macau, China, 27 Feb - A total of 18 companies have had their bids accepted for the construction for four stations in the Cotai section of the first phase of the government's Light Rail Transit (LRT) project - with the lowest bid amounting to 789 million patacas and the highest standing at 1.3 billions patacas, according to a statement from the Transportation Infrastructure Office (GIT) on Friday.

According to the statement, a total 18 companies submitted bids for the open tender. However, only 14 of the bids were accepted, while the other four were accepted "conditionally".

The project's maximum construction period stipulated by the government is 1,021 days.

The Cotai section of the LRT project is set to improve transportation in the area, making it more convenient for people to travel, as well as providing a "seamless" connection to the Guangzhou-Zhuhai Intercity Railway through the LRT station to be located at the Lotus Flower Cotai-Hengqin checkpoint, the statement said.

According to the statement, the length of the LRT's Cotai section is 3.37 kilometres, starting at Rua do Pai Kok in Taipa and ending in the western part of Cotai. The route will cross several roads, including Estrada da Baia de Nossa Senhora de Esperanca and Rotunda de Cotai and Estrada Flor de Lotus.

The four stations will be built in the western and eastern parts of Cotai as well as the Lotus Flower border checkpoint, which is next to Zhuhai's Hengqin Island checkpoint and Cotai's Macau Dome.

The office said in the statement that construction of the Cotai section would provide about 400 jobs for locals. However, the office did not say when construction would commence.

The first phase of the LRT, which includes 21 stations - 11 in Taipa and Cotai and 10 in Macau Peninsula, is slated to open in the first quarter of 2015.

The LRT project, which will connect the peninsula, Taipa and Cotai with over 20-kilo-metres of track with a revised budget of 11 billion patacas, finally got off the ground last week when construction of four stations in Taipa including one outside the Macau Jockey Club started.

According to The Macau Post Daily in 2007, the budget for the LRT project was about 4.2 billion patacas (US$ 525 million).


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## ganghui

*Macau starts light rail construction*
22/02/2012
MacauNews/Politics










Macau, China, 22 Feb - Macau’s long-delayed light trail project got finally off the ground Tuesday and Secretary for Transport and Public Works Lau Si I asked for residents' understanding for any traffic snarl-ups and inconvenience caused. 

Construction for the Taipa-section of the Light Rapid Transit (LRT) system started, after 10 years of preparatory work,The Macau Post Daily reports today.

Lau spoke to reporters after the project’s groundbreaking ceremony held at the construction site in front of the Macau Jockey Club, after which construction workers immediately began groundwork at the Sai Van Bridge tunnel near the Ocean Gardens residential complex.

The 1.94-kilometre Taipa section, which consists of four stations – Ocean Gardens , Macau Jockey Club, Macau Stadium and Pai Kok, is budgeted to cost 489 million patacas and is slated take at least three years to complete.

Lau admitted that construction of the LRT system might cause inconvenience for people in the area, but asked for their understanding as the light rail system would reduce the city’s traffic woes in the long-run.

"Traffic congestion will worsen as the number of vehicles in Macau continues to grow. The LRT can smooth out traffic problems caused by the busy road network," Lau said.

The first phase of the public works project which includes 21 stations connecting Macau , Taipa and Cotai over a 20-kilometre track, was given a revised budget of 11 billion patacas last year. Originally, the mammoth project was budgeted at 4.2 billion patacas in 2007.

Lau said that the light rail was a special project for Macau which would promote co-operation between Guangdong and Macau and boost regional integration as Macau’s light rail system will in the future be linked with the one in Guangdong.


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## ganghui

Possible new casino coming up. 

*SJM in 'advanced' talks with government for Cotai project*
01/03/2012
MacauNews










SJM Holdings, Asia’s biggest casino company, said Wednesday it was in “advanced” talks with the Macau government about building a casino complex in Cotai after 2011 profit rose 49 percent to a record HK$5.3 billion (US$ 662.5 million).

SJM said it continued to lead in market share of the local gaming market last year, even though it dropped to 29 percent, The Macau Post Daily reports today.

The company founded by Stanley Ho Hung Sun said in a statement to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange that it was “in an advanced stage of discussion with the Macau government regarding its application for a development site with an approved development area of 70,468 square metres adjacent to the Macau East Asian Games Dome.”

The statement said that subject to the final government approvals, SJM planned to develop an integrated gaming resort on the site “over the next several years, with facilities encompassing mass market and VIP gaming, lodging, dining and entertainment.”

Earnings per share rose to 95.4 cents from 66.2 cents a year earlier, while gaming revenue gained 32 percent to HK$75.5 billion, the company said.

SJM said it had a market share of 29 percent of Macau’s gambling market in 2011, down from 31.3 percent in 2010. Its market share may fall to 26.5 percent this year.

Las Vegas Sands (LVS) and Galaxy Entertainment Group (GEG) benefit from the increasing popularity of Cotai, where they have integrated resorts. 

Galaxy opened a new casino in Cotai last year and Sands will have one opening there this year which gives them greater growth potential than SJM.

The first phase of Sands Cotai Central, featuring three hotels and two casinos, was on track to open in about eight weeks, Las Vegas Sands said early last month.

Galaxy opened Galaxy Macau resort last May which helped almost triple its profit in the third quarter. It lifted the company’s market share to about 17 percent, GEG Chairman Lui Che-woo said in June. 

SJM’s VIP gambling revenue climbed 36 percent to HK$52.8 billion during the year. Revenue at Casino Grand Lisboa increased 46 percent and profit gained 41 percent, according to the statement.

SJM’s adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (Ebitda) grew 42.5 percent to record HK$6.9 billion.

VIP gaming operations accounted for 69.9 percent of the company’s total gaming revenue last year, as compared with 67.9 percent in the previous year.

“Increased VIP gaming revenue of 35.8 percent resulted from increased chips purchases by junket operators which in turn reflected the buoyant economy in the mainland and the Asian region as well as increased liquidity to junket operators,” the SJM statement said.

According to the statement, the hold rate of SJM’s VIP operations dropped to 2.88 percent last year from 2.91 percent in 2010.

At the end of last year, SJM had 609 VIP gaming tables in operation with 32 VIP junket promoters, as compared with 507 VIP gaming tables and 33 VIP promoters a year earlier.

SJM’s number of mass market tables stood at 1,166 at the end of last year.

Revenue from mass-market table gaming operations generated 28.2 percent of the company’s total gaming revenue last year, as compared with 30.0 percent in 2010.

Gaming revenue from slot machine operations, which include other electronic gaming machines and the game of Tombola, comprised 1.9 percent of SJM’s total gaming revenue last year, as compared with 2.1 percent in 2010. SJM had 3,910 slot machines in service at the end of last year, as compared with 4,147 slot machines a year earlier.

At the end of last year, SJM had 19,600 full-time employees.


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## hkskyline

*Largest Conrad hotel open in April*
02/03/2012 10:52:00
Macau Daily Times

The world’s largest Conrad-branded hotel, with 636 rooms and suites, will open as part of the first phase of the Sands Cotai Central resort next month, hospitably company Hilton Worldwide confirmed yesterday.

“Hilton Worldwide is excited to enter Macau, one of the world’s leading resort destinations,” the company’s president for Asia Pacific, Martin Rinck, said. “We hope our presence will also contribute to enhancing Macau’s reputation as the premier tourism destination in the region,” he added.

But the executive admitted that the MSAR is just part of Hilton’s overall strategy for the region. “The opening of the largest Conrad hotel to date signals our firm intent to extend and deepen our presence in Greater China,” Rinck said.

Conrad Macau will feature 430 rooms at an average 560 square feet and 206 suites, the larges of which at 4,000 square feet, housed in a 39-floor tower. Wong Man, who most recently was at two-Michelin-starred Tim’s Kitchen in Hong Kong, will head its signature Chinese restaurant, Dynasty 8.

The hotel will also include meeting facilities, starting with three ballrooms average 16,000 square feet each. And in the second half of 2012 a bigger ballroom with the capacity to accommodate 4,000 people will be available.


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## hkskyline

*Chui promises to build more budget hotels*
01/03/2012 10:50:00
Macau Daily Times

The Chief Executive Chui Sai On has promised to allot more land for building budget hotels to ease one of Macau tourism industry’s major concerns in recent years – the insufficient number and expensive rates of hotel rooms in the territory.

Chui was quoted by Hong Kong media as saying that in order to develop Macau into an international travel and leisure centre, the authority must address problems related to hotel accommodations, including too few hotel rooms and soaring prices, especially during weekends and holidays. 

He made the remarks when meeting with a journalist delegation from Hong Kong earlier this week. But Chui did not give a schedule on when the lands will be released to the market, only saying that they will be sold in open tender and used for building budget hotels only. It was not immediately clear how many more rooms will be added to the market. 

Earlier this month, lawmaker Ho Ion Sang urged the Administration to speed up the approval of construction applications for affordable two or three-star hotels. He said pricey rooms drive away many visitors, some of them even took the risk of staying with cheap but unregistered guesthouses that were operating illegally and may pose potential dangers.

Last month another lawmaker, Angela Leong On Kei, also linked the illegal accommodation business to the lack of affordable rooms. They both asked the authority to hasten the procedures to allow for the construction or opening of any other projects for affordable guesthouses or hotels. Ho also called on the government to impose restrictions on the range hotels were permitted to raise the room prices during peak travel seasons.


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## JayT

So where will the light rail go? Any maps. I keep finding things but they are in chinese.


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## hkskyline

JayT said:


> So where will the light rail go? Any maps. I keep finding things but they are in chinese.












Posted here : http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=1492582


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## hkskyline

*TDM searching for new plot to expand studios*
09/03/2012 10:53:00
Macau Daily Times

Local television and radio broadcaster TDM has returned a plot located near the current University of Macau campus to the government but the company is still looking for a space to build new facilities.

According to a dispatch published in Wednesday’s Official Gazette, the Administration retrieved a 1,500 square-metre plot worth about MOP 12.4 million that had been granted to TDM 16 years ago.

The broadcaster will receive no compensation because the decision was made “by mutual agreement,” its managing director Leong Kam Chun told Portuguese-language newspaper Ponto Final.

The Land, Public Works and Transport Bureau (DSSOPT) did not reveal the future use for the Taipa plot. “It will be included in the available land reserve of the Administration,” it said.

Leong said the decision was made because the plot did not suit TDM’s expansion needs: “a 1,500 square-metre area is not enough for TDM’s development.” In addition, he stressed, the area “is the middle of a hill, it’s in an inclination.”

The executive also revealed that the decision to return the plot had been made seven years ago. “It was believed that the piece of land was not adequate to the characteristics of a television and radio broadcaster.”
For instance, he mentioned the lack of the space to park the broadcaster’s vehicles. “We reached the conclusion there were no conditions to build a studio according to TDM’s needs.”

But the company is still interested in leaving its current headquarters located near Mong Há Hill, in central Macau peninsula, and it’s looking for another available plot, Leong confirmed.

“We will put forward our application soon. Considering our development plan we believe it’s necessary to have a plot more suited to our studios,”said the executive who took over TDM about a year ago.

The former lawmaker and president of Macau’s Auditors and Accountants Association was appointed in February 2011, replacing Manuel Gonçalves, who had been TDM’s chief executive officer and managing director for more than 14 years.

At the time of his appointment, Leong said he was considering expanding TDM broadcasting to mainland China, and he also promised to continue supporting the Portuguese-language channel and the English-language section.

But the government pledged to introduce a new managing system by 2014, by creating an executive committee with three to five members, namely professionals from several areas, including television and radio broadcasting and production.


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## hkskyline

*Gov’t plans to ramp up construction site safety laws*
13/03/2012 10:02:00
Macau Daily Times

In light of recent fatal incidents on local construction sites, the government plans to step up vocational safety training and push for legislation on “vocational safety pass” for construction workers.

Speaking at the Macau Forum held by TDM Sunday, Labour Affairs Bureau (DSAL) Director Shuen Ka Hung said although the city witnessed a spate of fatal construction site accidents in the past weeks, the number of industrial accidents had been on the decline in recent years. Statistics showed fatal accidents decreased from 11 cases in 2007 to 3 cases last year.

However, two fatal cases were already recorded in the first two months this year, including a 50-year-old local construction worker who died on February 28 when the crane he was operating lost balance and plunged down a 60-meter slope. The case took place in a construction site on the Wai Long Road in Taipa. 

Another incident occurred February 21 when an imported worker from Hong Kong died in a fall from the 38th floor of a building in the Sands Cotai Central resort complex due to open next month. 

Shuen promised to provide more vocational safety training courses for workers regardless of the decreasing workplace accidents. He also disclosed that the authority planned to submit the bill on workplace safety pass as urgent legislation to the Legislative Assembly, in a timeline he did not specify. The scheme would require on-duty construction workers to put on a pass that show they had undergone proper technical and safety training. The first group to be included in the scheme would be electrical technicians, to be followed by five to six other types of workers in the construction field within this year.

Representatives participating in the forum urged the government to step up efforts to bring vocational safety standards in Macau to international levels, while lawmaker Ung Choi Kun wanted the authority to review every industrial accident carefully and let the industry know the details and causes, as well as include preventive suggestions into training courses.


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## hkskyline

*Sands Cotai Central to open April 11*
20/03/2012 10:42:00
Macau Daily Times

Las Vegas Sands Corp. announced today that Sands Cotai Central will officially open on Wednesday, April 11, 2012.

This phase of the property’s launch features more than 600 rooms and suites under the Conrad hotel brand and more than 1,200 rooms from Holiday Inn. “The largest integrated resort development ever constructed” according to Las Vegas Sands Corp., also unveils meeting, convention and retail space as well as several dining offerings. Along with the hotel rooms, retail, and restaurants, Sands Cotai Central also includes plans for its own theatre, expanding the entertainment options for business and leisure travelers at the center of the Cotai Strip. The soon-to-be announced line-up of entertainment is expected to attract tourists from all over the world.

“Sands China Ltd. has always been committed to bringing the most unique and exciting new experiences to our customers. It’s our mission to create more reasons for visitors to come to Macau and to stay longer once they arrive. We also want to thank the government and all of our team members for their efforts in getting us to this momentous day,” said Edward Tracy, president and CEO of Sands China Ltd.


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## hkskyline

*Sands Cotai Central opening preview*
26/03/2012 10:04:00 
Macau Daily Times

As one of the major events in the all-important gaming and resort industry, the Sands Cotai Central’s grand opening next month promises to catch global attention. There are always some eager aficionados who just can’t wait until April, so there is a preview of the huge integrated resort between its announcement of opening and its formal opening.

In a preview tour organized for international and local media, dozens of journalists from Mainland China, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, India and other countries and regions, as well as Macau, were taken to some of the hidden scenes prohibited to outsiders, including brand-spanking new hotel suites with panoramic views of the Cotai Strip, and a fountain pool still under construction - but water is already splattering out. 

The tour started with the main lobby of the building catering Holiday Inn and Conrad Hotel, which are connected together but traded in the two different brand names with different styles of rooms and facilities. Instead of usual shining marble floor and impressive deco typical of four and five-star hotels, visitors are greeted with bamboo scaffoldings towering to the ceiling and dusty floor covered with wooden boards and plastics sheets. Instead of smiling receptionists, rubbing shoulders with the visitors are armies of construction workers donning safety helmets and florescent vests. 

Asked if the buildings and amenities can make the grand opening day, the resort’s smiling public relation staff told the worrying journalists “no problem”. This remark was immediately reassured when the media guys were brought upstairs to the hotel rooms featuring artistic deco yet cosy settings with a family-warm ambience, which were ready-to-use and already bookable online. Inside the room there was even a guy dressed in white bathrobe (obviously a resort staff) who pretended to be relaxing on homey couch after a sauna bath, but then jumped up to greet the intruding journalists – not to turn them away but to introduce the features and settings of the rooms, including the highly springy mattress that attracted many reporters to sleep on it – one by one of course. 

But then the worrying expressions returned to the visitors’ faces when they were shown to the adjacent building which housed the Sheraton Hotel. The air was filled with chemicals from construction materials, and the walls were covered with wooden boards, most of the inner area was obviously still under construction. Resort staff clarified that Sheraton would open later, instead of April 11, so there was “no problem” that the construction was a bit lagging behind. He said the company expected an opening in September, but without precise date. Its opening will add 4000 more rooms to the resort.

Then it’s the core of the tour – the two casinos on the ground floor level that spanned over 90 thousand square feet of total area, equipped with hundreds of gaming tables, all of them obviously ready to use (put a croupier behind the tables and you can place your bet). But photo-taking was not allowed in this area, as resort staff said, for the reason that preparation works were still underway.

Sands Cotai Central features more than 600 rooms and suites under the Conrad hotel brand and more than 1200 rooms from Holiday Inn. In addition to accommodations, amenities and casinos, it also unveils significant meeting, convention and retail space as well as several distinctive dining offerings.

“The opening marks another milestone in the company’s efforts (more than USD 8 billion invested to date) to help Macao reach its full potentials as an international business and leisure tourism destination,” according to a Sands press release. The opening aims to bring the Cotai Strip “one step closer to fulfilling the original vision of Las Vegas Sands and Sands China Ltd. Chairman Sheldon G. Adelson, who said ‘there were few believers in my vision for the Cotai Strip when the site was basically under water’. With the completion of Sands Cotai Central, that same spot will be home to thousands of hotel rooms, millions of square feet of retail, meeting and convention space, dozens of restaurants and so many other attractions.”

”The opening of Sands Cotai Central is a game changer for the future of Macau as a leisure, entertainment and business location,” states the press release.


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## hkskyline

*Macau casino owners bet everyone wins as Adelson expands*
30/03/2012
Macau Daily Times

Sheldon Adelson is adding a fourth casino in Macau, the world’s largest gambling hub, drawing almost six times the revenue of the Las Vegas Strip. The billionaire’s rivals are cheering him on. Sands China Ltd., the Asian arm of Adelson’s Las Vegas company, next month will open the Cotai Central resort with 1.2 million square feet of retail, entertainment and dining facilities, besides meetings and convention space. 

Furthermore, Cotai Central will have a 300,000-square-foot casino, approximately 5,800 hotel rooms and cascading waterfalls tailored for the 16 million mainland Chinese tourists who visited Macau last year.

Competitors see the additional rooms and novelty of a fresh resort drawing more Chinese to gamble in the region, where gaming revenue is estimated by CLSA Ltd. to top USD 100 billion by 2020 and where hotels are near capacity. Success for Sands would expand the industry in Macau, the only place in China where casinos are legal and where Melco Crown Entertainment Ltd., Wynn Macau Ltd., Galaxy Entertainment Group Ltd., MGM China Holdings Ltd., SJM Holdings Ltd. and Sands China get almost all their revenue.

“We welcome the competition and we think this will bring more traffic to Macau and helps grow the market and drive our business,” said Francis Lui, deputy chairman of Galaxy Entertainment Group.

“We think the market is grossly underpenetrated. We do six times as much revenue as Las Vegas, but they have six times as many hotel rooms” - Robert Drake, chief financial officer at casino operator Galaxy Entertainment

New Visitors

At the heart of the gaming companies’ push is a tiny swath of reclaimed land called the Cotai Strip, the Asian equivalent of the Las Vegas Strip, where local and global casino operators are spending billions on resorts that combine shopping centers, entertainment shows and hotel rooms to draw middle-class Chinese visitors. In doing so, they are recreating a center that historically catered mainly to professional gamers making bets on crowded, smoky floors.

Deutsche Bank AG estimates gambling revenue in Macau, a former Portuguese colony on the South China coast that’s less than half the size of Manhattan, will rise 25 percent this year, driven by more tourist arrivals. Adelson’s newest resort may propel a big part of that growth. Macau, which had USD 34 billion in gambling revenue last year, has 20,000 hotel rooms, a fraction of the almost 150,000 that Vegas has, researcher CLSA estimated in a September report titled “Raining Cash.” 

The Las Vegas Strip had revenue of USD 6.07 billion in 2011, according to Nevada’s Gaming Control Board. “We think the market is grossly underpenetrated,” said Robert Drake, chief financial officer at casino operator Galaxy Entertainment. “We do six times as much revenue as Las Vegas, but they have six times as many hotel rooms.”

Adelson’s Winning Hand

Adelson’s casino operator may win the most market share in Macau in 2012 because of the new resort, expanding 9 percentage points to 24 percent in the fourth quarter from a year earlier, said Karen Tang, an analyst at Deutsche Bank. That would also solidify Sands’s position on the increasingly popular Cotai Strip, where it already has the island’s largest resort, the Venetian Macau that boasts singing gondoliers, a grand canal and an artificial blue sky.

Sands China, which is a unit of Las Vegas Sands Corp. where Adelson is chairman, reported a 44 percent jump in profit in the fourth quarter. The latest success and new project is a reversal from 2008, when Sands stopped construction in Cotai as credit markets froze and revenue growth slowed. The 78-year-old Adelson, who made his money in the casino business, ranked 11th on the Bloomberg billionaires list with an estimated net worth of USD 26.8 billion as of March 27.

The new resort gives the American billionaire a chance to lure more customers from SJM Holdings, the Hong Kong-listed casino operator that has dominated Macau for four decades. Deutsche Bank’s Tang sees market share for SJM, founded by Hong Kong billionaire Stanley Ho, falling from 31 percent in the second quarter of 2011 to 25 percent in the fourth quarter this year.

“We welcome the competition and we think this will bring more traffic to Macau and helps grow the market and drive our business” - Francis Lui, deputy chairman of Galaxy Entertainment Group.

Making Room

Sands Cotai Central, which opens April 11, will have about 5,800 hotel rooms when completed in 2013 under the brands Conrad, Sheraton and Holiday Inn. In April, the resort will offer 1,800 rooms. More hotel rooms translate into longer stays and ultimately higher gambling revenue on the island, CLSA wrote. When Macau added hotel rooms between 2005 and 2010, the average length of a tourist’s stay increased to 1.5 nights from 1.2 nights, the analysts found.

“It’s a market that has been driven, since its inception, by capacity,” said Edward Tracy, chief executive officer of Sands China. “The addition of hotel rooms, casino capacity and retail and entertainment is going to drive significant growth.” Galaxy executives say they had a spillover effect on the industry when they opened the doors of a Macau resort in May. “When we launched Galaxy Resorts last year, we did grow the market,” said Deputy Chairman Lui.

Richer Chinese Visitors

Investors betting that new casinos and more visitors will increase gambling revenue have pushed up shares of Sands China 41 percent this year and Galaxy Entertainment 49 percent. MGM China Holdings, a unit of MGM Resorts International, has jumped 41 percent. Wynn Macau, a unit of Stephen Wynn’s Wynn Resorts Ltd., has added 19 percent and Melco Crown, the venture between Australian billionaire James Packer and Stanley Ho’s son Lawrence, has climbed 51 percent on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. The benchmark Hang Seng Index is up 13 percent.

They have been aided by increasingly affluent Chinese, who have more money to bet as incomes have risen. Urban disposable income in China rose 14 percent to 21,810 yuan (USD 3,460) last year. To draw the growing number of middle-class tourists, the casinos are adding long stretches of retail stores and entertainment shows like Melco Crown’s House of Dancing Water, a love story set in China that is enacted on a stage filled with water and includes stunts on bikes.

“It’s a market that has been driven, since its inception, by capacity. The addition of hotel rooms, casino capacity and retail and entertainment is going to drive significant growth” - Edward Tracy, chief executive officer of Sands China

For Li Chun, a 44-year-old businessman from Tianjin in China, the side attractions are a bonanza. “You are able to put your wife and kids in a shopping mall while you can just concentrate on the gambling table,” Li said while visiting Macau. He planned to gamble as much as 200,000 yuan at the Venetian Macau.

Macau gets roughly 70 percent of gambling revenue from VIP, or high-stakes gamblers, according to Aaron Fischer, CLSA’s head of Asian consumer and gaming research in Hong Kong. The “mass market” - usually the term for middle-class visitors - is still the most profitable because casino operators pay commissions to professionals bringing in high-stakes gamblers.

Regulatory Restrictions

As Macau casino operators push for growth, they face some restrictions from local government policies, Fischer said. The Macau government has limited the number of gaming tables and hands out land permits at intervals to prevent the industry from growing too fast.

Wynn Macau, MGM China and SJM are awaiting approval of land leases for construction on the Cotai strip even as Melco Crown, which already operates the City of Dreams casino on Cotai, waits for permission to begin the USD 1.9 billion Studio City resort. Even Sands could face hurdles if investors are disappointed in the early performance of its new casino or if it experiences any delays in expanding the resort, said Deutsche Bank’s Tang.

Sands also faces added risks if there are “unfavorable outcomes” from a U.S. regulatory investigation related to its Macau operations, she said. Las Vegas Sands last year said it received a subpoena from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to produce documents relating to its Macau operations’ compliance with the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. The casino operator said it believed the subpoena “emanated from allegations” in a lawsuit by former Sands China Chief Executive, Steven Jacobs, who has alleged, among other things, that Las Vegas Sands demanded that he use improper “leverage” to win government concessions. Sands China spokeswoman Mabel Wu declined to comment on the lawsuit. The company “intends to defend this matter vigorously,” Las Vegas Sands said while discussing the suit in a U.S. regulatory filing.
For now, the limits on expanding in Macau have some advantages for investors because casino operators can’t go on a spending binge, said CLSA’s Fischer. “They can’t keep building and wasting money,” he said. That has prompted Sands China and SJM to pay dividends, saying they have enough cash to keep expanding. The dividends are partly a bet that Macau’s gambling revenue will keep increasing. Fischer sees gaming in Macau benefiting from its local monopoly. “Macau has no competition,” said Fischer.

CasinoLeaks asks for “complete review” of MGM operations

The International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE) issued a letter Wednesday to Roland Hernandez, the Lead Independent Director of MGM Resorts International, calling for a “complete review of MGM operations in Macau using completely new outside due diligence experts who have no current or previous business relationship with MGM or any other casino company operating in Macau”. Jeffrey Fiedler, the IUOE Director of Special Projects & Initiatives, included with the letter a summary of the union’s findings concerning the relationship an “MGM VIP room operator, SunCity, its founder and co-owner Alvin Chau Cheok Wa, has with two individuals, Charles Heung Wah Keung and Herbert Liu Kee Chan, identified by U.S. government reports as organized crime figures.” Washington-headquartered IUOE is beind the website “CasinoLeaks – Macau”


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## hkskyline

*The final opening preparations*
10/04/2012 
Macau Daily Times





































The final preparations for tomorrow’s opening of Sands Cotai Central are being made. Macau Daily Times visited the resort yesterday to verify the fuss over the impending inauguration day. What’s being announced as “Asia’s Biggest Launch Party in 2012” will be marked by the feat of the high wire walker Jade Kindar Martin and his wife Karine Mauffrey - a stuntwoman who performs in Hollywood films, television series and commercials.

The couple will attempt to traverse the 525 meter (1,700 feet) distance between the top of the Venetian and the new Conrad Hotel, whilst balancing 150 meters (500 feet) above the ground on a wire less than one inch thick. The walk will take an estimated half an hour and Kindar and Karine will meet at the mid-point of the walk. The spectacle will be accompanied by the sounds of the China National Symphony Orchestra. 

After almost three weeks in Macau setting up all the security details, Karine Mauffrey walked yesterday for the first time on the wire, testing its stability and tension. About one hundred meters underneath, her husband invited journalists to observe as she walked about ten meters along the wire, with safety wires attached to her back. Kindar Martin, who already set two high wire walks “Guinness World Records”, told reporters that the secret of his success may be attributed to his intensive training. The American performer invites the Macau residents to watch tomorrow’s event. “This is a once in a lifetime opportunity that people will remember”, he said, adding that he has already performed longer walks, but never walked higher. 

Dan Raviv, special advisor to Sheldon Adelson, unveiled some details of Sands Cotai Central, which he considers “a fully integrated city” and the largest integrated resort ever constructed. In its first phase, the property will feature 1,800 rooms (600 rooms and suites under the Conrad hotel brand and more than1,200 rooms from Holiday Inn) and a new casino with 800 slots and 400 gaming tables, according to Lusa news agency. When completed in 2013, the resort will have around 5,800 hotel rooms under the brands Conrad, Sheraton and Holiday Inn. With the intention of prolonging hotel stays, the prices of hotel rooms will be cheaper than the ones in Venetian.

According to Las Vegas Sands Corp., the resort will also unveil meeting, convention and retail space as well as several dining spaces. Along with the hotel rooms, retail, and approximately 20 restaurants, Sands Cotai Central also plans to feature its own theatre, expanding the entertainment options for business and leisure travelers at the center of the Cotai Strip.


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## Ahmad Rashid Ahmad

*World’s Largest Holiday Inn Debuting at Sands Cotai Central
*
_Holiday Inn’s friendly service, comfort and value arrives at Cotai Strip
_
*IHG (InterContinental Hotels Group) today unveiled the world’s largest Holiday Inn, the 1,224-room Holiday Inn Macao Cotai Central, with the opening of Sands Cotai Central, the latest Sands China Ltd. integrated resort on Macao’s Cotai Strip.
*
“Holiday Inn is proud to offer a truly unique experience in Macao,” said Keith Barr, Chief Executive Officer of IHG Greater China. “With three people checking into a Holiday Inn every second globally, we’ve established ourselves as one of the world’s most well-known hotel brands, and have the expertise to provide business and leisure guests with an unforgettable experience, and the comfort to sit back, relax and be themselves, at Sands Cotai Central.”

Holiday Inn Macao Cotai Central brings Holiday Inn’s friendly service, affordable comfort and convenience to guests wanting to experience the adventure, fun and fortune of the Cotai Strip. The largest Holiday Inn in the world features all the benefits of an integrated resort destination, including an extensive array of dining, retail, leisure and entertainment options, in addition to comprehensive meeting and event facilities.

*Guestrooms
*The impressive 1,224 guestrooms, which include 65 suites, ensure both leisure and business travellers can find a room to suit their needs. All rooms and suites are decorated in a contemporary style with custom-designed furniture, feature floor-to-ceiling windows and offer a range of facilities, amenities and services. The deluxe rooms and suites overlook the city, providing inspiring views. Guests can choose from among a wealth of options, including Double-double twin rooms, an ideal choice for families or large groups. Suites start at nearly 700 sq. ft. and go up to the 1,700 sq. ft., two-bedroom Chairman Suite, equipped with its own dedicated media centre / home theatre and massage room.

Technology lovers will feel right at home, as all guestrooms feature 32-inch LED televisions with video-on-demand, and DVD and CD players available upon request, as well as high-speed wireless Internet access.

Holiday Inn guests are encouraged to sit back, relax and be themselves, with rooms that provide all the comforts and conveniences of a home-away-from-home: a spacious work desk and ergonomic chair, a fully stocked mini bar, coffee and tea-making facilities, iron and ironing board, hairdryer, slippers and bathrobes, separate shower and bathtub with multi-functional shower head and an in-room safe. Holiday Inn Macao Cotai Central features 24-hour room service and access to additional 24-hour dining options only a short walk away. Guests also have convenient access to the ample Pool Deck and to the Health Club, featuring a fully-equipped gymnasium, Jacuzzi, and sauna.

*Dining Options
*Holiday Inn Macao Cotai Central guests can experience a wide selection of world-class dining prepared by top chefs. The hotel’s Lobby Lounge and Pool Café offer opportunities to relax and meet friends in a casual, modern and inviting atmosphere. The 11 restaurants and lounges throughout Sands Cotai Central allow guests to go on exciting culinary journeys while conveniently charging the meals back to the hotel room: an all-day international buffet, an international food court and a variety of quality restaurants featuring some of the most popular cuisines including Mediterranean, northern and southern Chinese, Pan-Asian, Macanese and Indian. Unique decor, like private dining rooms inspired by eight ancient Chinese dynasties at Dynasty 8, will leave guests with the impression that they’ve been transported to a far-off, exotic destination.

*Meetings and Events
*Holiday Inn guests have access to the 214,000 sq. ft. of flexible meeting and event space at Sands Cotai Central. Facilities include a 52,000 sq. ft. pillar-free grand ballroom and nine junior ballrooms, all divisible with soundproofed partitions and boasting the latest audio-visual and technical facilities, like satellite and video conferencing, high-speed Internet access and simultaneous translation services. A fully-equipped Business Centre offers a wide range of secretarial and administrative services.

As part of a fully integrated resort city on the Cotai Strip, Holiday Inn Macao Cotai Central offers its guests access to all of Sands Cotai Central’s entertainment, retail, dining, gaming and conventions, as well as its interconnected properties across the street: The Venetian Macao and The Plaza Macao. Gaming excitement is readily available at two uniquely themed casinos at Sands Cotai Central, Himalaya and Pacifica. Visitors to Shoppes Cotai Central, as part of the larger Shoppes Cotai, will have access to over 600 retails outlets, for the ultimate luxury duty-free shopping experience in the region, complete with amazing Silk Road-themed live entertainment. And Macao’s biggest and most exclusive entertainment events are waiting to be enjoyed at the 15,000-seat CotaiArena and at the luxury Venetian Theatre, hosting the most famous names in sports, music and stage.

Holiday Inn Macao Cotai Central is just a five minute drive from Macau International Airport and the CotaiJet ferry service brings visitors to the property from Hong Kong, Kowloon and Hong Kong International Airport. The hotel is also connected by complimentary buses to and from all arrival points in Macao, including ferry terminals and the mainland China border. Macao’s UNESCO heritage sites and city centre are all within easy reach, and the concierge is always happy to suggest an itinerary. 

*Management
*Holiday Inn Macao Cotai Central is in very capable hands with Troy Hickox at the helm as General Manager. Originally from Sydney, Australia, Hickox is of mixed Australian and Chinese descent, and has considered Hong Kong home for the past 28 years, making him a natural fit with Macao’s East meets West heritage. He has 18 years of hotel opening and management experience with multi-award-winning internationally branded hotels in Asia and the United States. Hickox was also directly involved in the opening of the 3,000-suite The Venetian Macao and its exclusive Paiza Club. He is a graduate of both the Swiss Hotel Association colleges and Le Cordon Bleu Ecole de Cuisine, and a post-graduate alumnus of Oxford Brookes University Business School in the UK and Cornell University’s School of Hotel Administration.

“I’m delighted to oversee the opening of the world’s largest Holiday Inn with such an engaging and enthusiastic team,” Hickox said. “We are looking forward to bringing a new international brand to the Cotai Strip and providing Holiday Inn’s world-renowned friendly service, which focuses on real world needs, to our guests at Sands Cotai Central.”


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## hkskyline

*Sands Cotai Central seeks to be a “game changer”*
12/04/2012 08:14:00 
Macau Daily Times

After years of delay caused by financial troubles, Sands Cotai Central opened yesterday in a grand ceremony on the Cotai strip as senior executives of the integrated resort promised it to be a “game changer” in the competitive gaming and resort industry, while the group chairman indicated he is determined to maintain Sands’ leading position on the Cotai Strip.

The conference began with a video showing group chairman Sheldon G. Adelson touring the Cotai Strip years ago when it was still a barren piece of land covered with mud and he described his feeling back then as similar to “being in exile”. Now, featuring himself as the virtual “maker” of the strip, Adelson labeled the current development zone as a “compelling success”, and exhorted the media to add an “r” when mentioning the Cotai Strip; a reminder of the exclusive trademark. 

And the chairman was adamant in safeguarding the group’s pioneering position on the strip, mentioning that decades ago when they started developing in Las Vegas, some potential partners expressed reservations and told him “you go first and I’ll come later”. But then when the project proved to be a huge success, Sands would not need them anymore: “We don’t need these people who didn’t give their confidence (to our development)”. The resort expected other companies, including Chinese brands to find their way to the Cotai Strip, but they would not be able to land the premier positions as the Sands group had.

Asked if the group would bring new partners to the strip, Adelson stressed their dedication and investment in the strip to make what it is today. “Let me answer your question by another question: Would you share a 100 million dollar lottery ticket with people who didn’t buy the ticket?” he said, “If you will, then I’ll do it.” He also disclosed that the company had already tendered applications for new phases of development near the Four Seasons Hotel on the Cotai Strip, showing ambition to reinforce their advantageous position on the strip. But he would not reveal details of the new projects, only mentioning that more than 3,000 hotel rooms would be added to the portfolio. Local rivals including Wynn and MGM are also planning expansion projects on the strip but are waiting for government approval. 

Local media in Macau expressed concerns that after the completion of Sands Cotai Central in 2013 around one third of the hotel rooms in the city would be controlled by the group and might result in Sands’ dominance in the hotel market. A similar situation also applies in the convention and exhibition sector in which the group also enjoys a superior advantage on the Cotai Strip. The Macau Daily News said “the authority’s decision not to approve new land parcels to the group for development projects on the Cotai Strip years ago will ensure that the risks of monopoly by any single company are alleviated”. The paper with the largest circulation in Macau also urged the government to encourage more competitors to enter into the market to promote positive competition and improve the structure of the casino-resort sector.

Mr Sheldon Adelson disclosed that the company had so far spent USD 4.4 billion to develop the Sands Cotai Central project and more will be invested before completion in 2013. But he would not speculate on how long it would take for the group to recover the investment and start building net earnings.

Adelson attributed the years of delay of the project to the international financial crisis in 2008 after financing dried up. But he stressed not a penny was taken from Macau for the group’s development project in Singapore during the crisis. Government restrictions on foreign workers also pushed back the opening date, he explained.

As to the timing of the opening, Sands Macau President and CEO, Edward Tracy said it was in time to meet the best development period in Macau when gaming and tourism were experiencing the best growth period. He stressed that the casinos on the Cotai Strip were different from those on the Macau Peninsula, especially those closer to the Barrier Gate where visitors tend to stay a shorter period of time and only engage in gaming. Those on the Cotai Strip have more leisure and entertainment elements and would not be in direct competition with casinos elsewhere. Tracy expected visitors to the resort to stay longer in order to enjoy leisure and shopping activities. He estimated that the average time of stay by visitors to Macau would reach 3.6 days in five years’ time, compared with the current 1.5 days. Sands is expected to benefit from the growing number of middle-class visitors drawn to shopping and other non-gambling attractions at their Cotai resorts.

“Asia’s biggest launch party”

Following a high wire performance by sky walker Jade Kindar-Martin and his wife, who traversed a 1,700-foot distance 500 feet above the ground on a wire less than one inch thick, the opening ceremony, said to be “Asia’s biggest launch party”, was kicked off to mark the arrival of an integrated city comprising 1.2 million square feet of retail, entertainment and dining facilities, as well as meetings and convention space.

As to gaming space, the resort currently comprises 300,000 square feet but the number of gaming tables was not specified. But according to AP the first phase features 340 gaming tables and 40 VIP rooms for high-rollers. Another 200 tables will be added later this year. The resort will open in stages and be completed in 2013 when the property will have over 5,800 hotel rooms and suites, 1.2 million square feet of meetings and convention space, and 300,000 square feet of gaming space.

Gaming revenue has been growing dramatically in recent years, powered by the numerous wealthy high-rolling gamblers from mainland China, who are estimated to account for more than two-thirds of total gambling revenue. But the industry is heavily reliant on the wealthy mainland Chinese gamblers in the VIP rooms run by junket operators.

Events were held from early morning to the evening yesterday and senior executives were all there to meet the VIPs and the media. In a press conference attended by hundreds of journalists from around the world, the management team promised to “change the landscape” of the industry.


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## hkskyline

*Ponte 16 owner tips success *
The Standard
Monday, April 16, 2012

Success Universe (0487) is to spend HK$700 million on the third phase of its Macau gambling project Ponte 16 that is expected to provide a faster payback than the previous stages.

The new extension, set to begin later this year, will comprise a mid-tier shopping mall, restaurants and 20 gambling tables spread over 40,000 square meters. It has yet to receive approval from the government. Completion is set for 2014.

Altogether about HK$4 billion will be spent on Ponte 16, which recorded its first net profit in 2011 after opening in 2008.

"We hope to have shops that can attract both locals and visitors in the new shopping mall," said Success Universe deputy chairman Hoffman Ma Ho-man. "We are not aiming at luxury brands, but a wider spectrum. It will be great if we can have H&M and Abercombie & Fitch." 

Ponte 16 is situated in an historic downtown district on the main island. Rival Sands China (1928) opened a three-tower resort Sands Cotai Central last Wednesday with an investment of HK$3.9 billion. Ma said Ponte 16's customers would be different from those in Cotai.

In January, the company raised HK$309 million in a rights issue. This increased chairman Sonny Yeung Hoi-sing's stake to 53.26 percent from 41.45 percent.

Ma said the gearing ratio has fallen to about 30 percent from 76 percent. "We may only need financing again should we come across any attractive acquisition opportunities in Asia," said Ma, adding the company had sufficient funding for the third phase of Ponte 16.

Ponte 16 will include a Sofitel hotel, a casino with 109 tables, and a Michael Jackson museum.

Ma said the hotel room rate was raised 6-8 percent last year and that a further revision is unlikely this year.

The company will take part in an MJ collection auction world tour from August to November. Success Universe's losses narrowed to HK$3.3 million last year from HK$44.4 million in 2010.


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## hkskyline

*More transparency for buildings under construction*
18/04/2012 10:36:00
Macau Daily Times

“We want a healthy development in the property market”, said Executive Council spokesperson Leong Heng Teng yesterday, after announcing the end of debates over a regulation on the sale of units in buildings under construction. The law had already been announced in October 2010 and will suit the purpose of reducing unfinished construction projects by regulating the purchase and sale of said buildings. “In Macau, this is a usual practice of property transaction”, said Leong Heng Teng, “but the buyer awareness is low”. Leong explained that there had been many instances of buildings under construction being sold before the government had approved their construction. Thus, with the new law, the buildings first need to be registered before they can be sold, in order to avoid this problem.

Sanctions based on the value of the building will be imposed, said André Cheong, director of the Legal Affairs Bureau. As a result, the law will supposedly bring more transparency to the transactions and to guarantee the rights and interests of the involved parties.

The new law will be comprised of eight elements, these being the “establishment of an authorization system for the prior sale of buildings under construction”, the regulation of the form and the content of the contracts for the sale of these buildings, the regulation of the registration process of the buildings, the establishment of a special process for the cancellation of the registration, the regulation of real estate brokerage for the sale of the buildings, the stipulation of the inspections and of the administrative sanctions, and the provision of rules for already-sold buildings under construction.

Under the future regulation, every contract for the sale of a building under construction has to be approved by a lawyer, and the signatures of the involved parties must be notarized. After 30 days of the purchase or effect of a mortgage for the building, it must be registered. The contracts for already-sold buildings under construction established before the new law comes into effect are maintained, but the sale of the remaining part must be conducted according to the new regulations.

Confronted with doubts over whether the new regulations are going to delay the construction procedure, André Cheong stated that “if all the necessary documents are delivered properly, the new regulation won’t cause any delay.”


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## hkskyline

*700 million to extend Ponte 16 shopping mall*
18/04/2012 10:37:00
Macau Daily Times

Success Universe (478) is spending HKD 700 million to extend its shopping mall in Ponte 16, adding around 20 to 30 gaming tables to its casino, and planning an extra gaming room.

Yesterday Ponte 16 announced the securing of HKD1.9 billion and RMB 400 million 5-year syndicated loans for its extension plans.

Speaking to Hong Kong media, Success Universe’s Deputy Chairman Hoffman Ma Ho-Man said the company would apply for a 20 percent increase in gaming tables which would, if approved by the authority, add around 20 to 30 new tables to the casino-hotel which currently has more than one hundred tables, 18 of which are considered ‘VIP.’.

Chairman Ho-Man believed the economic situation in the mainland, including the Government’s tightening over monetary policies, would not have much influence on their gaming business.

However he expressed worry that debts would increase as credit conditions become tighter on the mainland; however, the casino would enforce stricter screening of mainland gamblers’ credit records and require mortgage from some VIP clients. In addition, they planned on opening one more gaming room and recruiting one extra junket operator.

He expected gaming revenue in 2012 to be lower than last year but would maintain the double-digit level.

When asked about lottery business on the mainland, Chairman Ho-Man said “The time was still not ripe for launching the investment before the mainland authorities finalize their laws regulating lottery operations.”

But he added that the company was already running a trial lottery business in Jiangxi and Qinghai provinces. 

As to the extension of the shopping mall in Ponte 16, Chairman Ho-Man was quoted as saying “The works would start later this year and finish in 2014.”
The MOP 700 million project is expected to make the mall a 400,000 square-foot shopping enclave in order to further tap the spending power of mainland tourists

“The mainland Chinese are very rich,” he told the media, “we hope to have shops that attract more customers.”

He also indicated that their shop portfolio would not be limited to luxurious brands, citing the inclusion of mid-range brands such as H&M as well as Abercrombie & Fitch.

After Macau Daily Times’ enquiry with SJM - the owner of Ponte 16 - over the extension details, Property Development Limited announced yesterday the signing of HKD 1.9 billion and RMB 400 million 5-year loan facilities with eleven leading financial institutions which the company did not specify, only indicating that the mandated lead arranger and book-keeper of these facilities was Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (Macau) Limited.
“The proceeds of the Facilities will be used primarily to refinance existing credit facilities, to repay shareholders’ loans and to fund the construction of Phase III of the Ponte 16 Resort development,” it said.


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## hkskyline

*Urban planning in action*
25/04/2012 08:30:00 Sum Choi
Macau Daily Times










As a key step paving the way for a long-awaited law on urban planning, the government is launching a public consultation on the draft of the “Urban Planning Law” as well as its complementary regulations, with an aim to create a better urban environment for living and sustainable development of Macau; also to enforce a strict mechanism on land resources management that helps to prevent erratic decisions by public officials that might lead to events similar to the Ao Man Long case.

In a press conference yesterday Lau Si Io, the Secretary for Transport and Public Works, announced the 45-day consultation from April 25 to June 8 to gauge the public’s views on the draft of the much-anticipated law. It will govern the legal mechanism over the urban planning procedures including who and how to draw up a strategic plan on the coordinated use of lands, infrastructures, public spaces and sites of historic and cultural importance. The law is also crucial for Macau’s push to diversify its economy by developing a world travel and leisure hub, and economic cooperation with neighbouring regions.

On the levels of planning, the government suggests dividing the works into “overall” design and “detailed” design; the former governs general planning of Macau such as the orientation of the city as a whole or of individual regions in the territory, while the latter governs more specific planning such as purpose of land use, land development indicators including limits on buildings’ heights and floor areas, as well as requirements on transportation networks, public facilities and public spaces. As for the procedures for urban planning, a department will be set up to implement site investigation, research, surveying, report writing and related works after the Chief Executive initiated the operation by executive dispatch. 

The planning, once decided, would have legally-binding effects on both individual citizens and government officials, and violations are liable for punishments. Lao Si Io stressed that the planning decisions, including the purposes of land use, could not be amended by individual government officials but only through established legislative procedures stating; “that mechanism would serve to address the society’s concerns over the defects in the current system for land grants and deciding the purposes of use of lands,” he said in response to media enquiry over the government’s decision to approve eight more land plots to the company developing the five lands opposite to the Macau International Airport. These are the same lands which are now at the centre of a corruption trial against the former Secretary for Transport and Public Works, Ao Man Long. 

Although the current Secretary for Transport and Public Works declined to comment on the trial itself due to legal considerations, he said the Urban Planning Law, after being enacted, would help to refine the system for management of public land resources and to prevent possible irregularities in land tenders. 

As an initiative to strengthen transparency in decision-making, the authority is required to launch a 60-day consultation prior to each planning to collect feedbacks from the public and property owners affected, as well as a cross-departmental government committee.

An advisory committee will also be set up as a channel to communicate the opinions of the public and the professionals in relevant fields to the Chief Executive for a more all-round decision that addresses the concerns of different stakeholders.

Wong Chan Tong, Chief of the Office of the Secretary for Transport and Public Works said at the initial stage, the committee will comprise of around 20 to 40 members including scholars, prominent social members and government representatives in architectural, cultural, ecological, landscapes, transportation, infrastructure and engineering fields.

While the nature of the body is an advisory one, it could become a decision-making one “should the conditions be ripe after a period of practical functioning,” Wong said. He stressed that social members should constitute the majority of the committee while government representatives would be the minority, or less than half of the total number of members. There will be a mechanism to avoid conflict of interests by committee members in relation to the planning projects they are requested to advice on.

In response to the media’s enquiry into the long delay of the works on legislature on urban planning, Wong mentioned the works in preliminary consultations, as well as “a lack of experts in urban planning.”

The Macau Urban Planning Institute and the Architects Association of Macau were not immediately available to respond to Wong’s assertion, and whether they have any expectations of the committee.


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## hkskyline

*Government eyes theme parks for economic diversification*
27/04/2012 08:06:00
Macau Daily Times

Chief Executive reassured the Legislative Assembly of the government’s determination to diversify its economy by developing innovative industries in Hengqin, and transforming itself into a world travel and leisure hub, and one the crucial elements is the building of theme park. He also promised more venues for art groups.

In answering lawmaker Cheang Chi Keong’s enquiry regarding the practical works being taken by the government in relation to its ambition to become a world travel and leisure hub, Fernando Chui Sai On said that the city needed to create more attractions and tourist spots. He mentioned more resorts were being created in recent years along with new casinos, but Macau still had no theme park.

“What we lack now is a theme park. Maybe we could have some kind of policy inclination to encourage and support the city to have its own theme park” - Chui Sai On

“What we lack now is a theme park - maybe we could have some kind of policy inclination to encourage and support the city to have its own theme park,” he said, without elaborating on the number of theme parks Macau ‘needed’, or what kinds of theme parks he was envisioning - such as established brand names like Disneyland and Universal Studios, or newly created ones. Neither did he mention possible sites for the parks, or time-frames for the idea.

As another initiative to diversify Macau’s economy, Chui also suggested the open bidding for land dedicated to medium and small-sized department stores, as well as budget hotels, which are deemed the elements urgently needed to make Macau’s economic structure healthier. 

He admitted that it’s a very challenging job to diversify the economy, but he assured that the authority had been trying hard to do this. He mentioned that casinos are now adding more non-gaming elements, including shopping and entertainment, as well as convention areas and exhibitions to their new projects.

Chui also stressed the new opportunities that Hengqin offered, including the University of Macau’s new campus, and the industrial zone for Chinese traditional medicines, in which Macau has competitive advantages (including national laboratories set up in local universities). He pledged to help Macau’s small and medium-sized enterprises develop in Hengqin. 

Regarding cultural issues, Chui promised to allocate rehearsal and performance space for cultural groups and artists. When addressing lawmaker Vitor Cheung Lup Kwan’s concern that local artists had complained of difficulties in securing these venues – a crucial element contributing to their career development, Chui also stressed that the authority had been looking for affordable venues in various areas for these purposes.

In response to Chan Chak Mo’s question regarding Macau’s efforts to join the International Olympic Committee, Chui said the body was for sovereign countries, and not special administrative regions under the protection of a sovereign country, so Macau would be unable to join. Instead, the city should use its ample resources in sports facilities and venues that have hosted major international competitions to further promote sports amongst the public and to better train athletes for international games.


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## hkskyline

*Hengqin to act as Macau’s extension zone, accommodating up to 10m visitors*
23/11/2012 
Macau Daily Times










Speaking about economic diversification and regional development, Francis Tam said the Hengqin new development zone will play a supplementary role to Macau by accommodating as many as 10 million visitors out of the 40m expected, while Nansha port will be the new port for Macau’s expected marine tourism boom. 

Numerous legislators expressed dissatisfaction over the lack of any real economic diversification and pressed the Secretary for more concrete measures on this front. “I don’t see any practical results in diversification but I see new casino-resorts are popping up one after another,” said Paul Chan Wai Chi. “Although you’ve put a limit on the growth of gaming tables, the rate will still be at 3pct annually. Moreover, the work in limiting the penetration of gaming activities into local communities has had very limited results.”

Chan Meng Kam questioned if the current gaming policy would lead to “bubbles” in the industry and create a potential financial crisis when the gaming sector declines in revenue: “In Macau only the gaming industry is thriving, gaming tax occupies some 80pct of public revenue and is expected to be so in the coming years. But the global economy is facing great uncertainty while other jurisdictions are opening their own casinos to compete with Macau.”

To diversify the economy away from gaming, lawmakers pointed to Hengqin and Nansha. Chui Sai Peng asked if the government would consider turning the annual cash handout into a long-term investment by buying premium land in Hengqin, and helping local companies develop there so as to avoid the burden of surging rents in Macau. He also suggested setting up a cross-departmental agency to push for the development as world travel and leisure hub, and more details on the Chinese medicine park in Hengqin. Mak Soi Kun called for a “sense of urgency” over diversification, with special attention to be paid to Macau’s carrying capacity, or how many visitors the city can entertain.

In his response, Francis Tam said Hengqin could play a role in extending Macau’s carrying capacity: “This is the most beneficial role Hengqin can play for Macau. The region’s supplementary cooperation can make one plus one equals three.” He said he assumed Macau’s annual visitor numbers would reach 40m, and Hengqin could accommodate as many as one quarter of them at any time. For Nansha, Tam said it would be the “Macau-Nansha” port that would bring visitors from Nansha to Macau within one hour. This cruise terminal will play a crucial role in Macau’s marine tourism.

Vitor Cheung Lup Kwan asked if MICE, the convention and exhibitions industry the authority counted on for diversification, could play enough of a role because so far, only international expo organizers are guiding the industry while local organizers seem to be playing only a minor part, and local workers might not have the skills to work in MICE. Francis Tam said the government is serious about MICE as one of the key industries for diversification, and would continue to push for its development. As concrete results, he said as many as 300 new companies had registered in the MICE sector and workers in this field had increased from 200 people ten years ago to over 2,000 now, while its economic effects had increased seven fold. Mak Soi Kun and other lawmakers also called for more support for green industries and loans for young entrepreneurs.


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## hkskyline

*Builder wagers $6b on Cotai push*
The Standard Excerpt
Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Paul Y Engineering (0577) is switching from construction to the gaming business by spending HK$6 billion to develop a casino on the Cotai Strip in Macau.

The locally based firm will conduct a massive equity financing drive that will lead to its parent, PYI Corp (0498), shedding control.

In an exchange filing yesterday, Paul Y said it will acquire a 65,000-square- foot Cotai Strip plot for HK$2 billion. On this it plans to build and operate a five-star hotel with ancillary retail and entertainment facilities, such as gaming.

The development will include two floors of gaming rooms with about 66 tables, as well as restaurants and shops.

One of Macau's gaming concessionaires or sub-concessionaires will operate the gaming activities. The total cost of the project will be about HK$6 billion.

Paul Y said it will raise the funds by selling shares and convertible bonds worth HK$3.2 billion to HK$6.4 billion, with the balance funded by bank loans.

***********************

Credit Suisse analyst Gabriel Chan said the scale of the planned hotel, with an estimated 200 rooms, is "tiny" compared with other gaming complexes in the area, but Paul Y will likely try to grab business from the niche high-roller market. He said the project will also need Macau government approval and collaboration from existing gaming operators.


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## hkskyline

*New USJ campus to be completed in two years*
29/11/2012 
Macau Daily Times









_Photo source : USJ _

The new campus of the University of Saint Joseph is expected to be fully operational in two years. Speaking yesterday on the sidelines of the contract signing for the construction works, Rector Peter Stilwell explained (see interview below) that the plan is to open in the new facilities in the 2014/15 academic year, although the current amenities will remain in use for post-graduates.

The ceremony attended by D. José Lai, Bishop of Macau, government officials and USJ scholars, started with the projection of virtual images depicting the structure to be built in Ilha Verde. Miguel Campina, director of Macau Professional Services (MPS), the company responsible for the architecture and also for some of the engineering projects, described the campus buildings that will comprise a construction area of 12,622 square meters, occupying less than one third of the total area of the Ilha Verde plot (38,180 square meters). Besides the University, the campus will also host a Secondary School (Saint Joseph College).

The u-shaped academic building will be the larger of the complex, reflecting the attempt to construct a “green campus”. It’s conceived as an environmentally friendly edifice according to Campina, equipped with structures like “roof gardens” and solar panels that will provide electricity. It will be able to accommodate 800 college and 1,200 university students. Besides this, the space will also be able to receive 600 post-graduates. The academic building includes three auditoriums and four science labs.

Apart from the academic building and the chapel, the other main structure consists of the residential building, comprising 128 single rooms for students (the capacity of these rooms can double up) and 18 apartments for teachers. The concept of the campus implies that “many facilities will be shared between the secondary school and the university, like the swimming pool and a gymnasium,” Campina described.

Another of the signatories was Paul Lee, from HCCG Building and Civil Engineering (Macau). In his speech he said that the first phase of the construction works should take around 450 days and the whole project should be finished within two years. The contractor also stressed the safety measures to be implemented during the works, as well as the project’s “high standards in terms of environmental protection”. 

D. José Lai mentioned that yesterday’s signing ceremony signifies “a moment many of us have been looking forward to for a very long time”. “We [the Church] see education as our commitment to develop every person’s dignity,” he added.


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## hkskyline

A newly-constructed residential just off the Cotai Strip :


相當摩天 by b.cx, on Flickr


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## hkskyline

This is the new *Galaxy Casino* that opened on the Cotai Strip earlier this year :


Galaxy Macau Panorama by Anthony Benger, on Flickr


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## hkskyline

Ferry terminal renovation works on *Cotai* from May 2012
Source : http://www.airliners.net/aviation-forums/trip_reports/read.main/230857/


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## hkskyline

*New bus terminal at “Edifício do Lago” to open Dec 18*
13/12/2012 08:28:00
Macau Daily Times









_Photo from : http://www.dsat.gov.mo/bus/pt/bus_news_detail.aspx?a_id=1726 _

The new bus terminal at “Edifício do Lago” is set to open on the 18th of this month. Accompanying the Taipa building terminal, several bus services will be “optimized”, Lou Ngai Wa, Division chief of Public Transport Management at the Transport Bureau (DSAT) explained yesterday during a tour around the soon-to-be opened installations. To offer “better dislocation (displacement) possibilities” to residents who will move into the building by the middle of the month, nine bus routes will pass through the new terminal, namely numbers 11, 26, 30, 34, 35, 36, AP1, MT3 and N2. In addition, there will be a direct line going from the “Edifício do Lago” to “Praça de Ferreira do Amaral”, continuing to other areas on the Macau peninsula. This Express Line crosses the Nobre de Carvalho Bridge and will function daily from 7 am until 11:30 pm every 15 minutes.

Four bus lines will also stop at the “Jardim do Lago” bus station opposite the building.

Mr Lou also announced that the construction of the Taipa Central Park will be completed soon, and DSAT plans to build new two new bus stops there; one at the Rua Seng Tou, near the Central Park and another on the Rua de Coimbra. In addition, he informed the media, “We are going to extend the service time for the line 37, which will then run every day from 7 am to 11:45 pm every 15 minutes.” Following the bus route adjustments, the stop at Rua Almirante Sérgio will also be reinstalled “to help the dislocation (displacement) of the nearby students and teachers”. However, the one at Travessa dos Vendilhoes will be cancelled, “to relieve the density of bus stops in the area a bit.”

At the same time as the terminal’s opening, the building’s car park will also begin functioning on the 18th, providing 1,132 parking spaces for motorbikes and 678 for cars. And by the end of the year, more than 5000 spaces will be available. Parking will be free for the first 12 hours, followed by a charge of MOP1 per hour for motorbikes and MOP3 for cars.


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## hkskyline

*UM announces three-stage relocation plan to Hengqin*
28/12/2012 06:54:00
Macau Daily Times

The University of Macau (UM) will start a three-stage relocation process next April to move into its new campus in Hengqin, with an objective to complete the hefty removal in as short as six months in order to facilitate a full operation at its new home at the start of the 2013/2014 academic year next autumn. According to information released by the university, currently UM has set up a central authority in charge of overseeing the whole “mission impossible” a few months away.

University contractor said the new campus would be completed and delivered to the Macau government in late March or early April 2013, after which the S.A.R government will hand over the campus to UM as the user. UM will then arrange for some staff to move to the new campus first to carry out various work related to the relocation, which will be conducted in three stages.

The Pilot Move stage will last from April to June 2013. Some staff from the Rector’s Office, Campus Management Office (CMO), Campus Development Office, Information and Communication Technology Office (ICTO), Office of Health, Safety and Environmental Affairs (HSEO), Communications Office, and the new campus project task force, will move to the new campus to carry out post-delivery cleaning, quality inspection, testing, furnishing, equipment installation, etc.

“In addition to getting familiar with the various operation systems in the 80 individual buildings to be managed by the university, UM will also need to follow up on the contractor’s defect list, carry out decoration, install equipment and move in furniture,” UM stated. “The great challenges will include relocating and fitting out the dry lab and wet lab, which will require a high level of professionalism; installing phone system, campus network, WiFi and AV systems for about 260 classrooms and meeting rooms; installing about 1,500 split air conditioners and kitchen cabinets; renovating lobbies; setting up security and cleaning services, clinics, restaurants and commercial outlets. Preparations are underway, and some of the work may need to extend into next September. Public tendering for about 80 items is in progress.”

June –July 2013 will be the Trial Use stage. The postgraduate hostels, residential colleges (RCs) and staff residential area will serve as the Trial Use Zone. Small-scale trial relocation will also be conducted to gain practical experience for full relocation. UM will recruit volunteers from its students and staff to participate in this stage. It also plans to invite some units closely related to the relocation, such as the Student Affairs Office (SAO, especially those responsible for student accommodation service) and members of the new campus project task force to participate. Students, resident tutors and management personnel of RCs as well as staff quarter colleagues will also be encouraged to participate. To make sure the new campus provides a safe, healthy, clean and comfortable living and learning environment, during the Trial Use stage, offices, classrooms, meeting rooms and dormitory buildings within the Trial Use Zone as well as sports facilities, transport service, security service, cleaning service, water, electricity and gas systems, bathroom equipment, lifts, and other facilities on the new campus will be put into trial operation. Fire drills will be carried out to test the new campus’s capacity to handle unexpected incidents.

July –August 2013 will be the Full Relocation stage. The hope is that relocation can be complete before the start of the 2013/2014 academic year. The relocation will be a huge project that requires the involvement of every UM member. The university has also established the Campus Relocation Student Affairs Sub-Command Centre, headed by Vice Rector (Student Affairs) Prof Haydn Chen. Each unit has appointed a liaison person responsible for liaising with the relocation task force on behalf of his or her unit. The responsibility of a liaison person includes providing supplementary information for the relocation plan when required, listening to feedback, coordinating logistic distribution during the relocation process, and arranging for co-workers within the same unit to participate in specific relocation-related tasks.

To better coordinate the various jobs during the Trial Use stage, the university has established a trial operation task force, headed by the dean of students. “It’s not at all easy to complete all the jobs mentioned above within six months,” UM stressed, “it requires thoughtful planning, close inter-departmental cooperation, and the support of various external organizations in order to accomplish this ‘mission impossible’ and to make sure the new campus can begin operation at the start of the new academic year.”


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## hkskyline

*Mong Ha contract dispute renews doubts on quality of public housing *
11/01/2013 08:16:00
Macau Daily Times

Twenty people from the construction material suppliers and the sub-contractor that built part of the facilities of Phase 2 of the affordable housing estate of Mong Ha staged another demonstration outside the construction site yesterday, delivering a petition demanding the outstanding payment of MOP40m that the contractor allegedly owes them. But the contractor denied the allegation, prompting new doubts on the quality of public housing estates after Phase 1 of Mong Ha was found to have massive peeling of its tile covering earlier this month. 

The group of suppliers and the sub-contractor staged a rally outside Mong Ha’s construction site on the road of Rua de Francisco Xavier Pereira in the northern district, requesting an intervention by the government to help them claim back the MOP40m. Police was standing by at the scene.

But the contractor told the broadcaster they terminated the contract with the sub-contractor due to the sub-contractor’s low construction and management skills. The contractor also filed a lawsuit against the subcontractor for document forgery, and denied owing the sub-contractor any outstanding remuneration after an earlier payment of MOP62m had settled all due charges. The company was quoted as saying that the dispute would not affect the quality of the Mong Ha public housing estate. Mong Ha’s Mong Sin Building was found to have tiles falling from walls on several floors into public areas, prompting debate on whether construction quality was sacrificed for a timely completion of the public housing units the government promised.

Regarding the Sin Fong Garden building that was evacuated last October due to structural problems, the Government is calling for cooperation by Sin Fong shop owners, and posted notices outside shops on the ground floor of the building. The notice says shop owners have a legal obligation to allow government workers inside their premises to carry out reinforcement works intended to prop-up the demised structure, which was found to be suffering from large cracks in the walls, as well as distorted main pillars, prompting fears of a building collapse.
According to TDM’s report, the owners refused entry of workers after the government granted urgent housing allowances for residents in the building, before the authority claim back the money from the party/parties responsible for the problem. An investigation report initiated by the government is entering its final stage, and will likely pave the way to compensation claims against the party/parties responsible for the exodus affecting hundreds of residents.

But the shop owners on the ground floor were not given the same subsidy, expressing fears that they might not be able to independently claim their losses against the responsible party/parties. The owners have sent petition letters to the Chief Executive requesting assistance. The government also published a press release on Wednesday calling for cooperation among shop owners, as the reinforcement works on the ground floor are crucial in ensuring the building is protected from possible collapse.


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## hkskyline

*Susana Wong stresses need for second water recycling plant*
14/01/2013 08:16:00
Macau Daily Times

Maritime Administration Director Susana Wong said the use of recycled water is part of a wider environmental initiative the society needs to undertake, and that the water recycling plant in Coloane is not enough to meet the needs of all of Macau in “green water” supply. As a result, the city needs a second recycling plant on the Peninsula.

Wong was speaking to the media in a public consultation session yesterday held in the Three Lamps District, to explain the authority’s position on recycled water to the public, and to gauge the public’s views on the campaign. She was quoted by TDM as saying that the ten-year program is of great importance to the city, and she said the toll for recycled water will be 85 percent that of the tap water currently supplying the whole city. She said that the lower water toll meant to encourage the use of recycled water, and that every citizen has a responsibility in environmental conservation in the use of more environmental friendly utility-use. She disclosed that certain casinos have already expressed willingness to join the campaign for use of recycled water.

She also stressed that a recycled water plant is essential on the Peninsula side because the one in Coloane, upon the completion of construction in 2015, will only be enough to meet the needs of residents on the island, thereby putting pressure on the Peninsula to secure an additional supply source.


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## hkskyline

*CE in Beijing to discuss new Macau-Zhuhai border crossing*
22/01/2013 08:31:00
Macau Daily Times

Chief Executive Fernando Chui Sai On is in Beijing to meet with officials in the Central Government on the establishment of new foot-traffic passage between Macau and Zhuhai. Speaking to reporters as he led an official delegation to Beijing yesterday, Chui said they would meet with representatives from the Ministry of Public Security, the State Oceanic Administration, the Ministry of Land and Resources, and the General Administration of Customs. “The governments of Guangdong, Zhuhai and Macau have held several rounds of talks to discuss the building of a new passage after it had been proposed. The importance of the new project to the substantial development of these places was recognized by the Central Government,” he said. “The governments were working closely to get approval from the Central Government and this was one of the aims of this visit.” He said that the new model for port management, enhancing the efficiency of customs clearance and remedying flooding on the Canal dos Patos, a canal between Zhuhai and Macau, would be discussed.


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## hkskyline

*Set up environmental impact evaluation system asap, government promises*
24/01/2013 10:55:00
Macau Daily Times

Notification of construction projects should be put forward to identify whether an environment evaluation is needed, according to the government.

“Within this year, the government plans to launch a system of notifications before projects are carried out. For example, to identify minor construction or projects with lesser impact that don’t require environmental impact assessments. As for other projects, evaluation will be made compulsory through legislation,” as declared by Secretary for Transport and Public Works, Lau Si Io. The official hopes the measures will help avoid disputes in the industry.

The government promised to set up a scheme as soon as possible to assess the potential impact that construction projects would leave on the environment.

In response to the disputes raised by the ecological ponds program near the Taipa Houses Museum, Lau told TDM radio that he understood the concerns society had and would look into the case for more details.


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## hkskyline

*UM enters residential college era embracing all-round education*
24/01/2013 10:55:00 
Macau Daily Times

The University of Macau will enter a new era of residential college education after it relocates into the vast new campus in Hengqin. As many as 12 residential colleges will accommodate up to nearly 6,000 students there in order to usher in the schools’ pedagogic aspiration of a “four-in-one” education that combines professional knowledge, research training, general education and social experience. These are intended for fostering all-round graduates suitable for Macau’s development. 

UM invited top scholars from Taiwan and Hong Kong’s leading universities to share their perspectives on residential college with local students. At the workshop held yesterday in UM’s Ho Yin Centre, UM’s Dean of Students Peter Yu said that the new Hengqin campus brings the school both challenges and opportunities. “The world of higher education is transforming itself rapidly, reaching out from the ivory tower to the masses.” Yu said, “In Asia the reform is even more dramatic as the landscape in the mainland’s higher educational field is unrolling some of the refreshing changes ushered in by its economic development. Japan’s colleges are rapidly internationalizing, in HK universities there is a shift from 3-year to 4-year education and Taiwan’s reform in this field is equally as eye-catching.”

The educator said residential college education mode is one of the practical objectives of UM’s pedagogic aspiration of a “four-in-one” education that combines training of students’ professional knowledge, academic research skills, as well as general education and community education which will prepare them for playing their role as a member of society. 

“Residential college education existed in our remote history, as long ago as the Confucian era when the ancient educators lived together with some of his 70 followers and thousands of students. They stayed under the same roof, shared their meals, exchanged debates, and even travelled together to different countries. Isn’t that a form of residential college?” He noted that UM dispatched staff to American and European countries to study the experience of other tertiary institutions’ college education modes. UM is striving to build up its unique model combining both eastern and western specialties in this field. 

During the workshop UM disclosed that after it completes its relocation and starts operation in the new campus this autumn, it will completely enter the “residential college mode” the following year, or in 2014. The school will have 8 to 12 such colleges, each of them able to accommodate 300 to 500 undergraduate students, or around 6,000 in the initial planning.“They come from different colleges studying different professions, they are from different countries and family backgrounds, but the teachers and students will live together, eat together, and study together. This kind of close and caring relations among the members of the school will help to encourage a liberal environment in which people can freely debate and exchange their views on academic and other issues across all disciplines. This will be beneficial for widening their horizons and interpersonal networks, and develop themselves as all-round talents with multi-cultural visions.”

As a lead up to this plan, the workshop aims at fostering the exchange and cooperation between the universities in the region and enhancing the development of student affairs in Macao’s higher education. The invited participants from Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau talked about the latest development trends and shared their points of views on student affairs and residential colleges. Keynote speeches included “Hard Skills and Soft Skills - Education of Students of the 21st Century” by Prof. Haydn Chen, Vice Rector of University of Macau; “Integrating Student Affairs into Student Learning” by Albert Chau, Dean of Student Affairs & Director of General Education, University of Hong Kong; “Colleges within a Modern University: Tradition and Innovation” by Prof. Kenneth Young, Master of C.W. Chu College, Chinese Univ. of HK; “Development of Multi-types of Dormitories” by Chen Yuh-Shuen, Dean of Students, Hungkuang University, Taiwan; and “Re-emergence of Liberal Arts Education at Tunghai” by Lo Dean of Students, Tunghai University Win-Tsung, Taiwan.


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## hkskyline

*Zhuhai-Macao gas line to be completed by June* 

BEIJING, Jan. 29 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese official said Tuesday that construction will be completed on a gas pipeline from Zhuhai, Guangdong Province, to Macao Special Administrative Region before June.

China National Offshore Oil Corp. (CNOOC), the country's top offshore oil and gas producer, started construction on the pipeline on Jan. 8, Yang Lei, an official with the National Energy Administration, said at a press conference.

The 7.7-kilometer pipeline is designed with an annual transport capacity of 520 million cubic meters of natural gas, according to material posted on the CNOOC website.

The new line will replace an existing one. Operations on the existing line have been suspended since June 1, 2011, in line with the urbanization plans for Zhuhai.

According to Yang, the Chinese mainland also plans to supply 2.23 billion cubic meters of natural gas to Hong Kong this year, slightly below last year's 2.59 billion cubic meters.


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## hkskyline

*New prison construction project requires an extra 200 days*
31/01/2013 10:20:00 Grace Yu
Macau Daily Times

The first phase of Macau’s new prison construction suffered setbacks last year and engineers estimate that some 200 extra days will be required for work to be completed, which means the government may fail to meet the schedule of “within 2014” as it originally declared.

Under the pressing situation of lacking accommodation for inmates, the MSAR government is building a new prison in the Ka Ho area in Coloane, which is intended to hold some 2,700 male and female inmates at the most. The whole construction debuted in August of 2010 and authority set the deadline by 2014.

“The Land, Public Works and Transport Bureau (DSSOPT) is having an extra construction dealing with the pedological problems found on site, which we roughly estimated to take 200 days or more. Therefore, the first stage of the project may be postponed to the middle of this year,” said Mr. Lee Ka Nang, an engineer involved in the project.

When asked if the new penitentiary will be unable to be completed as they expected before, the Macau Prison (EPM) gave a blurred answer: “The first stage may have to be put off to mid 2013. The best hope is that we can speed up the process of the 2nd and 3rd phrases so as to meet the scheduled time.” 

The other issue the authority brings into focus is the progressing expansion of female prisoner numbers. With the ever-increasing number of female inmates, Macao Prison admitted that prisoners that have to sleep on the floor were less than 10 at peak period.

Ng Ioi On, who heads the Prison Affairs Department, confirmed that as stated on previous occasions, some of their female inmates slept on the floor, “The number reached single-figure at peak period,” as stated by the department head.

The expansion of the female penitentiary has been underway since last November, which will take about 240 days to finish, as estimated by the engineer Mr. Lee Ka Nang.

The government is to use the high security prison in Coloane as back-up accommodation for female inmates affected by the expansion project. The high-security penitentiary is specifically set up for felons or major criminals. Once completed, the project aims to include 100 new quotas for female inmates.

Seen from the latest data released by EPM yesterday, by the end of 2012, the number of male prisoners reached 933, accounting for 81 percent of the accommodation; female inmates totaled 179 and occupying 97 percent of the general quota. Among all crimes, up to December 31, 2012, nearly 35 percent are drug-related, namely drug trafficking (27.45%), drug taking (5.6%) and drug possession (5%). Categorizing geographically, local prisoners comprise some 36 percent of the population, slightly less than that of mainland prisoners (38%).

Yesterday, a carnival was organized at the Macau Prison in celebration of the coming Chinese New Year. More than 120 inmates performed in the show.


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## Tiger Beer

MACAU has so many interesting changes. Thanks for taking the time to post about them.


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## hkskyline

*Hengqin in 175b yuan development push*
The Standard
Friday, February 08, 2013

China will spend 175 billion yuan (HK$218 billion) to develop Hengqin Island in Zhuhai as an industrial and commercial complex.

Authorities have finished editing a directive index for Hengqin, Shanghai Business News reported yesterday.

It will be a substantial push for the island, the state-owned paper said.

A proposal for an offshore yuan clearing area, and a pilot scheme to encourage cultural innovation have been submitted, the newspaper reported.

The island is designated for a free- trade zone, and has already attracted investments from Hong Kong and mainland businesses.

For example, Lai Sun Group and Shimao Property (0813) pledged to spend 20 billion yuan on a cultural-cum- commercial development in the area.

Special tax rates for companies investing in Hengqin will be offered and tax rebates for foreign workers given.


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## hkskyline

*DSSOPT claims higher efficiency in construction plans approval*
07/02/2013 10:05:00
Macau Daily Times

Land, Public Works and Transport Bureau (DSSOPT) said after new procedures were introduced to the construction plan approval system, its efficiency has greatly improved, and it has finished 88 percent of the application so far. In response to lawmaker Chan Meng Kam’s written enquiry, the Bureau said since they introduced a streamline system in 2008 for construction plans approval, the speed was greatly improved and now enters a stable condition, which means the bureau is able to keep the new modus operandi. As practical examples, the Bureau said they received 4,117 construction plans application in the first three quarters of last year, and until last November, some 88 percent of the applications were already handled, which showed much improvements in comparison with the same period in the previous year. The average time taken for approvals was shorter than the statutory requirement.


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## hkskyline

*New hotels provide new chances and challenges for workers*
19/02/2013 08:20:00 Sum Choi
Macau Daily Times

Macau will have an additional 25,000 hotel rooms in the coming years in some 11 hotels under construction. Scholars in tourism studies expect room tariffs to decrease as much as 30 percent due to demand-and-supply effects but hotel operators’ earnings will be compensated for by the rise in visitors, who are likely to stay longer or re-visit Macau to try the new facilities. The hospitality industry does not expect the new facilities to cause too much pressure on human resource supplies but warns of the lower competitiveness of local workers if they do not acquire more professional skills to secure more senior positions with better remuneration and promotional opportunities.

“According to the Demand-and-Supply economic theory, when the supply of hotel rooms increases, the retail price of hotel rooms will decrease,” said Ivan Lai Ka Wai, Assistant Dean and Associate Professor of the Faculty of International Tourism, Macau University of Science and Techology (MUST), “For example, Sheraton provided a special offer of under MOP1, 000 per night for advanced booking last month.”

The scholar expected the second and third-tier hotels to reduce their retail prices in order to protect their market share. “Therefore, the low hotel room price can attract more travellers, and travellers may be willing to stay longer. It is good for the tourism market development since many travellers have stated the retail prices for hotel rooms are high in Macau.”

“The main point is that those new hotels are not offered at the same moment,” the scholar told MDT; “Travellers like to try new hotels. This can stimulate travellers to re-visit Macau. For the hotels, they should adjust their marketing strategies to retain their customers and/or keep their customers longer in their hotels. Sheraton is offering a “two nights’ stay” discount. We can foresee that the retail price of a hotel room may be cut by 1/4 to 1/3 of current prices in the non-peak seasons. Of course, the number of visitors may not increase in proportion to the number of hotel rooms. However, travellers may stay longer. This can compensate for their lower room tariff. For the hotel industry, hotels earn much more during peak seasons for example CNY holidays. Macau can earn more from the tourism industry at peak periods.”

The scholar would not speculate on whether the 25,000 rooms are enough to meet growing demand. “It is hard to say whether it’s enough or too much to meet market demand, because the demand for hotel rooms also relates to tourism facilities and recreational activities such as ‘House of Dancing Water Show.’ If hotels build more points of attraction, the demand of hotel rooms will be increased. This can accelerate the development of Macau as an international recreational tourist city.”

The Institute for Tourism Studies (IFT) is positive about the additional supply of new rooms. “The increase in room supply may have two positive effects for tourists, more room capacity (hence choices) and opportunities for room rates to be driven down.” 

The pressure on the human resources market won’t be that serious because the industry relies heavily on foreign workers, who currently constitute over 50 percent of the labor force in the hospitality sector

But in response to MDT enquiries, the Institute pointed out that tourists visit a destination not for hotel rooms but for the destination’s tourist attractions, and it’s the attraction that brings additional visitors. For the new supply itself, IFT said: “More hardware [new rooms] will mean more demand for HR to operate them. IFT always monitors the changing business and social environment and strives to offer education and training programs to fill emerging needs.”

Lei Pou Loi, president of the Macau Hotel Employees Association, expects the new rooms to come into practical operation in several years in separate batches. “According to the information released by the government, I expect some 7,000 new rooms to be available in the coming one and a half years,” he told MDT, “and the remaining 18,000 or so in the following few years to come.”

He estimated that some 7,000 new jobs will be created by the new rooms: “Doing the calculation in five-star standards, where one staff is needed to serve each room on average, that would mean about 7,000 new workers are needed in 1 to 2 years to operate the new rooms.”

“The pressure on human resources market won’t be that serious because the industry relies heavily on foreign labor, which currently constitutes over 50 percent of the labor force in the hospitality sector. So I think about half the new jobs would go to local workers while the other half will be filled by migrant workers.”

The workers’ leader lamented the increase of rooms might not necessarily mean higher salary for workers: “The ratio of foreign workers is too high, causing negative impact on salary inceases and promotion chances for local workers. Unlike casino workers and drivers whose salaries go up with industry expansion and HR demands, the case of the hotel sector is different. While the average salary for the casino workers has reached the MOP15,000 level that for their hotelier counterparts are still under MOP10,000. That’s why many graduates who received professional training in hotel and tourism management choose to work in other fields, because they are facing too much peer-pressure. It’s a waste of our educational resources. The prospect for local workers is even gloomier as Macau further integrates with the mainland, and hotel workers have to compete with mainland counterparts.”

He said as a possible solution, local workers could upgrade their professional skills, including language training and innovative management and reception techniques with an aim to serve the top-tier clients who put more focus on quality services. For the government’s part, he suggested the authority to encourage hotel operators to give local workers more opportunities in senior positions, including possible on-the-job training, to help them build a better career path.

Lei would not speculate if the new rooms could meet the demands in the coming few years, instead he said it’s more important for the city to upgrade its public transport system and provide more tourist attractions in separate regions so that Macau can accommodate new visitors.

Talking about human resources, Professor Lai said: “The number of workers required is not only for serving the hotel rooms. We need more labor for other hotel facilities such as F&B. Sheraton employed 1,800 part and full-time staff for the first phase of Sheraton Macau hotel in last August. Based on these figures, we need 20,000 more workers in the coming few years. Do you think Macau has 20,000 extra workers? Macau citizens complain about the employment of non-resident labor, but increasing the number of non-resident workers seems to be the only way to solve the problem.”

“Quality is a more serious problem compared with quantity. There are over 3,000 undergraduate students graduating in Macau every year. Half of them come from the mainland. They are well educated for the hospitality sector. They have lived in Macau for four years. They have many friends in Macau and know the Macau culture well. They are the new blood for the Macau hospitality sector. However, most of them return to China because they are not allowed to work in Macau. The Macau government should adjust its immigration policy in order to guarantee the sustainable development of the Macau hotel industry.”


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## hkskyline

*Wu studies Macau’s economic development and urban planning*
22/02/2013 08:34:00
Macau Daily Times









_Xinhua_

The head of the Chinese parliament yesterday met Macau’s top business leaders and toured the city’s tourist spots whilst hearing briefings on the territory’s latest development and urban planning, which he described as “very good”.

Wu Bangguo continued the second day of his visit in Macau. After attending a conference at which he gave the guidelines for the implementation of the Basic Law, he visited some of the city’s major tourist sites, including the Cunha Street in Taipa, and the Macau Tower near Sai Van Lake.

Accompanied by the Chief Executive Fernando Chui and other officials, *Wu went to the observation deck on the 58th floor and overlooked the city’s landscape, including the land reclamation area currently under construction, and the Hengqin new economic zone in neighboring Zhuhai. He was briefed by the Secretary for Transport and Public Works, Lau Si Io, on the latest development of the major construction projects, including the LRT light rail system which will join up with the light rail linking to Zhuhai and Guangzhou.*

*In the briefing, Lau also expressed gratitude towards the central government’s support for the construction of a new border-crossing point linking Zhuhai.* He said that the local authority is speeding up the project in accordance with the central government’s requests, especially in the works of building more efficient and convenient ways of immigration for visitors. Lau said that the authority has started preliminary works in vacating lands for the new checkpoints, and expected relevant removal works to be completed within the next year.

When asked about the impressions of the city’s latest development, the top parliament member said they were “very good”. Earlier in the day, Wu praised the city for the unprecedented economic success. He pointed out that Macau has also built a social welfare system covering all citizens for the first time ever, and improved people’s living standards in an all-round way.

“These are not just the results of the central government’s support, but also the former and current Chief Executives, and the government as well as the people’s collective efforts, in building the city and in implementing the ‘one-country-two-system’ principle and the Basic Law,” Wu said. 

After the briefing, he also met the city’s top business leaders in the Macau Tower at a banquet celebrating the centennial of the Macau Chamber of Commerce.

During the event, Zhou Tielong, vice-chairman of the standing committee of NPC, gave a speech highlighting the business sector’s importance in realizing an economic diversification in Macau.

“(The business leaders) should further study and promulgate the Basic Law to have a precise grip of its spirit and nature in order to be a loyal practitioner of the ‘one-country-two-systems’ principle and Basic Law,” Zhou said, “and they should further play their bridging role between the government and the business and industrial sector, to congregate the power and wisdom of the sector in its firm support of the government’s governance, by proactively making suggestions.”


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## hkskyline

*100m high rise plan officially received, gov’t in talks*
14/03/2013 07:54:00
Macau Daily Times

Secretary for Transport and Public Works Lao Si Io confirmed yesterday that the authority had officially received plans for the Seac Pai Van residential tower and had sent out consultations to various departments.

In response to the statement from local businessman Sio Tak Hong last week that developers had delivered plans for the residential tower project in Coloane to the government, Lao stated that the authority would review it according to the law. As for society’s worries about environmental conservation and heritage protection, he said the government would talk with related departments. “We will ask the developer to hand in more information,” said Lao.

Talking with journalists after attending the AL standing committee’s discussion over the land bill, the Secretary said the government has already taken urban planning into account in some related projects before the urban planning law is set to come out.

Jaime Roberto Carion, Director of the Land, Public Works and Transport Bureau (DSSOPT) added that the application is now undergoing administrative procedures: “We are collecting opinions from different departments. We had sent out consultations to the Fire Service Bureau, the Transport Bureau and the Environmental Protection Bureau. Given the controversy raised by the former Portuguese military building nearby, we also consulted the Cultural Affairs Bureau.” Carion said the final decision is pending, subject to replies from various departments.

He said the government would ensure the construction would not exceed the stipulated scope. However, when asked how to guarantee that hills would not be destroyed by the project, he replied that, “Destruction is one thing, while protection is another thing.”

When asked if the government had felt pressure when facing businessmen and developers who made public announcements earlier in Beijing, Secretary Lao refused to comment. 

In reference to an earlier MDT report, during the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) in Beijing last week, local businessman Mr. Sio Tak Hong confirmed that he would continue with the high-rise residential tower in Seac Pai Van, Coloane. Sio declared that the developer had handed in the project plan to the government and would stick to the project in spite of great controversy, on the grounds that the land is private property and thus is protected by laws.

The 100-meter high residential building will consist of twenty to thirty stories with over 2,000 units. There is currently no timetable, and they await the authority’s reply, according to Sio.


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## hkskyline

*Disagreement continues between AL and Gov’t on urban planning*
13/03/2013 08:15:00
Macau Daily Times


澳門 Macau by asterisktom, on Flickr

The Legislative Assembly (AL)’s 2nd Standing Committee yesterday continued it’s deliberations on the draft Urban Planning Law but the two sides still disagree over who should have the final decision on the master and specific urban development plans. Lawmakers prefer to have control over such an important decision, or at least stipulate the basic principles of urban planning in the new law instead of leaving all decisions to future government executive orders. They also mentioned the possibility of “overturning” the draft and taking the bill back to the AL plenary session for debate.

Chan Chak Mo, president of the 2nd Standing Committee told the media after the meeting that the problem related to master/detailed urban planning, which caused much dispute during the plenary session in February, which resurfaced again in a different form.

“In our meeting today, individual lawmaker(s) raised the point that according to the draft, the existing urban planning principles will continue to remain as the guidelines if the government can’t immediately come up with a master/detailed plans after the new law is enacted,” Chan said. “The problem is that the current principles are not well known to the public at all. So we’re thinking the government should disclose details of the current principles and guidelines, otherwise we would require the government to come up with master/detailed plans in 3 or 6 months after the new law is passed. Otherwise we face the risk of using the old rules for an unspecified length of time.”

During the plenary session that gave preliminary approval to the bill the committee president said “some lawmakers had already raised concerns about whether the government should control all the power in master/detailed planning, or whether the AL should have final say over the very important issue, especially when the government has to compensate property owners in order to take control of their properties. Unfortunately the bill was already passed in the plenary meeting despite (two) individual lawmakers casting abstention votes.”

Asked about the possible follow-up over the disagreement, Chan said they would ask the government to stipulate in the new law the principles for drawing up the master/detailed plans. “We’ll raise the request in our next meeting with government representatives next week. If the authority refuses, well, as you know the bill would have to undergo a final voting by all lawmakers in a new plenary session. (The bill would become a law) unless it’s vetoed and we start over again with the established legislation procedures.”

He would not comment on whether such a possibility is high or not, but he stressed that the new law must be enacted within the current AL session.

Talking about other issues, Chan said the Committee believed that there’re interrelationships between the Urban Planning Law, the Land Law and the Cultural Heritage Conservation Law, so it might be advisable for different AL committees deliberating the laws to come together and discuss the necessary coordination on consistent legal terminology.

The Committee also wanted the government to specify what it means by “major public interests”, based on which the government decides whether to acquire ownership of some private properties.


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## hkskyline

*Tower project planned for Seac Pai Van may be changed*
22/03/2013 08:07:00
Macau Daily Times

More consultations need to be conducted with relevant government departments about the high-rise building planed for Seac Pai Van, the government indicated.

The developer of this project may be required to change the plans in accordance with the departments’ suggestions, disclosed Jaime Carion, Director of the Land, Public Works and Transport Bureau (DSSOPT). 

However, he reiterated that the Coloane project was not regulated by the rule set forth by the Portuguese administration to preserve natural scenery, since the site does not exceed 80 meters.

Earlier, the Chief Executive Chui Sai On referred to regulations that any project 80 meters above sea level in Coloane had to be approved by the Cultural Affairs Bureau.

Carion said they would consult the Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau (IACM) on the project’s impact on green areas nearby. The Cultural Affairs Bureau will also be consulted about the military pillbox. “As to whether the building will affect the natural environment, we are not experts and we need to consult with other departments. If they say the building plan has to be adjusted, we will definitely order the developer to change the plan,” he told TDM.


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## hkskyline

*Macau’s oldest Chinese theatre gets MOP20 million facelift*
26/04/2013 08:42:00
Macau Daily Times










The Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC) and Cheng Peng Cultural Centre Company announced Wednesday in a joint press conference at the 138-year old Cheng Peng Theatre that the historic building will be given a MOP20 million facelift to restore it to its former glory.  The Cheng Peng is Macau’s oldest Chinese theatre. It opened 15 years after the city’s Portuguese D. Pedro V Theatre opened in 1860. William Kuan Vai Lam, the company’s vice manager, told reporters his company has the support of the bureau to turn the theatre, located in Travessa do Auto Novo near the history-laden Rua da Felicidade, into a place to show the history of Cantonese opera, in addition to becoming a venue for other cultural activities.

“During the Second World War, Macau became a refuge for people fleeing the Japanese invasion [of large parts of mainland China]. Among the refugees were many Cantonese opera performers who left their mark on the theatre,” Kuan told The Macau Post Daily. “We hope we can use this place to promote Cantonese opera and turn it into cultural centre for locals.”

Kuan, whose company is in charge of the renovation project, told reporters that the project would take a few months to complete. He said the main objective was to restore the theatre to the way it looked in its heyday, adding that the budget will be over 20 million patacas. He also said that his company had secured a 30-year lease on the property.

The company plans to set up an exhibition hall showcasing the history of Cantonese opera and resume opera performances in the 950-square-metre theatre in addition to showing films and staging plays and musicals.

Kuan said his company was trying to collect memorabilia such as costumes worn by performers and pictures taken during the theatre’s halcyon days, adding it was lobbying to have the theatre as a venue for next year’s Macau Arts Festival.

Cheong Cheok Kio, who heads the Cultural Heritage Department of the Cultural Affairs Bureau, said that the theatre has a distinct cultural value that should be preserved. He also said that the bureau would provide technical support for the theatre’s renovation.

“We’ll look into revamping the theatre… so it’ll have a modern look while maintaining its original style,” said Cheong. “We shall also research its cultural history, such as finding out who performed in the theatre and significant events that took place here,” said Cheong.

Built in 1875, the theatre was the first purpose-built theatre for Cantonese opera in southern China. It was a performance hall for Cantonese opera for much of its existence while it also served as a cinema for much of the 20th century, before it was closed down on August 21, 1992 when the air-conditioning system broke down.


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## hkskyline

*Chan Meng Kam urges gov’t to use idle land to build more homes for residents*
07/05/2013 07:11:00
Macau Daily Times

Lawmaker Chan Meng Kam submitted a written petition yesterday to urge the government to make use of land that has been illegally occupied or abandoned. He suggested that this land should be used to build residential housing for Macau people. Since 2009, the MSAR government had been claiming back land that has been unlawfully occupied by a number of groups. The plan is to allocate more space for the Authority’s public housing projects. The petition stated that the government has seized over fifty properties that were illegally occupied since the land-recovery campaign commenced.


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## hkskyline

*UM to move into new campus in phases*
10/06/2013 07:37:00
Macau Daily Times

The Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture, Cheong U, said last Friday that he was confident that the University of Macau’s new campus in Hengqin would be ready in September. Cheong also stated his view that moving into the campus phase by phase was the most appropriate approach. Explaining that instead of making the shift to Hengqin all at once, it is more viable for students, teachers and facilities of certain courses to be relocated to the new zone opposite to the Cotai first, with other courses to be relocated at a later date. Speaking to the media on the sidelines of a public event, he said that the new campus is currently undergoing inspections and that there was not as yet any final decision about the future of the current UM campus in Taipa.


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## hkskyline

Cotai Strip


Room view at the City of Dreams by kevincrumbs, on Flickr


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## hkskyline

hkskyline said:


> This is the new *Galaxy Casino* that opened on the Cotai Strip earlier this year :
> 
> 
> Galaxy Macau Panorama by Anthony Benger, on Flickr



DSC07352.jpg by Ullrich Moser, on Flickr


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## hkskyline

*Early spring for Wynn's floral-themed Macau casino* 

HONG KONG, July 30 (Reuters) - Gambling magnate Steve Wynn said he would open his first casino resort on Macau's prime Cotai strip earlier than expected in first-quarter 2016, sending shares in the Macau unit of his U.S. firm at least 3 percent higher despite lower quarterly earnings.

Wynn Macau, a unit of Wynn Resorts Ltd, has been losing market share to rivals Las Vegas Sands and Galaxy Entertainment because of its absence from the Vegas-style Cotai area.

Slower revenue growth in Macau due to hotel renovations led to lower-than-expected second-quarter earnings for Wynn Resorts Ltd, but founder Wynn said the company was committed expanding in the world's biggest casino market.

Analysts had expected the Cotai property to open by 2017.

"I feel sanguine and comfortable about being here and plan on being here a lot longer," Wynn told an earnings briefing.

The new resort, called the Wynn Palace, will be similar to Wynn's palatial Las Vegas property, the Bellagio, and will be fronted by a massive lake with a light-and-fire show, Wynn said. Guests will be ferried across the lake in an air-conditioned gondola.

Wynn set the property's budget at $4 billion, allaying investors fears of spiralling costs, and said the resort hoped to attract punters with moving floral sculptures, up to 12 metres wide, of carousel horses, peacocks and tigers.

"The theme of this hotel is flowers, floral things. The use of flowers, of water and natural light... has been taken to a new level for our company," Wynn said.

Macau, located on the heel of China's southern coast, is the only place in the country where casino gambling is legal, resulting in $38 billion in gaming revenues last year, more than six times that of the Las Vegas strip.

The Cotai strip of reclaimed land is currently the most popular gambling destination in Macau, with punters drawn to its lavish casinos that include Galaxy's gilded palace and the Cotai Central and the Venetian, owned by Sands.

Both Galaxy and Sands are rapidly expanding in the strip, and analysts said Wynn will continue to underperform its competitors until it also sets up resorts in the area.

Wynn Resorts Ltd said its second-quarter net revenues from Macau rose 2.6 percent year-on-year, slower than the 16.2 percent increase from its Las Vegas operations.

Adjusted property EBITDA in the second quarter of 2013 slipped 4 percent to $290.1 million versus analyst expectations of $300 million.

Wynn Macau is renovating 600 guestrooms in its existing Wynn Macau resort which led to a 5 percent reduction in the number of available rooms. The renovation is scheduled to be completed by the end of this year.


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## hkskyline

*Hengqin seeks to woo investments from Hong Kong*
South China Morning Post
12 August 2013

Hengqin, formerly an oyster farming island next to Macau, is seeking investments and tourists from Hong Kong to develop the tourism and medical industries, according to a top official.

Niu Jing, director of the administrative committee of the Hengqin New Area in Zhuhai, said the island intended to develop the non-casino tourism, financial, medical and technology industries.

"Tourism will be our core development, but we would also like to develop financial services such as wealth management and private banking services," Niu told the South China Morning Post in an exclusive interview. "The central government has confirmed Hengqin can develop yuan exchange services. The Big Four stated-owned banks have set up branches on the island, and we hope Hong Kong-based financial firms will set up offices in Hengqin.

"While Macau is our closest neighbour, Hong Kong is our partner. Hong Kong is an international financial centre and we would like to let Hengqin companies raise funds in Hong Kong by listing on the stock exchange, issuing dim sum bonds or borrowing money from banks."

Hengqin, an island within a few minutes by ferry from Macau and about two hours from Hong Kong, is one of the three special economic zones in Guangdong. Hengqin, Qianhai and Nansha are identified in the country's 12th five-year plan to 2015 as testing grounds for new free-trade-zone concepts.

Niu said Hengqin could offer incentives to attract Hong Kong and foreign investors. For example, companies' profit tax can be reduced to 15 per cent from the normal 25 per cent. People from Hong Kong and Macau working in Hengqin can also pay the same tax rates as in Hong Kong and Macau, which are lower than on the mainland.

*The 106-square-kilometre Hengqin was initially relatively primitive with only a few thousand residents, who made a living by raising oysters. In 2009, it gained the special economic zone status and the government has since spent 45 billion yuan (HK$57 billion) on infrastructure projects. It has also completed the 6 billion yuan University of Macau campus, which could house 10,000 students. It has 56 ongoing projects in the tourism, Chinese medicine, health-care, culture and technology industries involving a total investment of 226.3 billion yuan.*

*"Hengqin now has about 7,000 residents, and we target 280,000 by 2020," Niu said. "Our planned facilities, due to be completed in the next few years, will be able to handle 20 million to 30 million visitors every year. In the longer run, we will be able to handle 60 million visitors a year."*

He admitted there was competition from other special economic zones such as Qianhai.

"There is competition but we are not worried. Good competition can drive all of us to do a better job," Niu said. "Hengqin has advantages as we are seven times the size of Qianhai, and we have more land to develop. While Qianhai focuses on financial services, Hengqin has a wider scope, ranging from tourism, financial services, culture, health care to Chinese medicine."

Niu said the trip between Hong Kong and Hengqin was too far now. But that will be shortened to about 30 minutes by car after the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau bridge is open in 2016.

"After the bridge is in use, people can live in Hengqin and work in Hong Kong. Hengqin could be the home for people from both Macau and Hong Kong," he said.


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## hkskyline

*Versace to build Macau casino resort hotel with SJM *

MILAN, Aug 20 (Reuters) - Italian fashion house Versace has signed a deal to build a luxury hotel at a casino resort in Macau, Asia's gambling capital, it said on Tuesday.

In a joint statement with local casinos operator SJM Holdings Ltd, Versace said the five-star Palazzo Versace hotel will be part of a resort SJM is building in the former Portuguese colony's Las Vegas-style Cotai strip.

The statement did not give any financial details.

SJM, controlled by the family of gambling tycoon Stanley Ho, was given initial approval in May to build its first resort in Cotai, where it has been facing competition from rivals like Las Vegas Sands Corp and Galaxy Entertainment Group Ltd .

The property, which is not expected to open before 2015, will have 700 gaming tables and 2000 hotel rooms.

The Macau hotel is Versace's first hotel in Asia and the third in the world after one in Australia and another that will open next year in Dubai.

Macau, located an hour away form Hong Kong by ferry, is China's only legal casino hub. Gambling revenues totalled $3.7 billion in the month of July alone, up 20 percent on a year earlier, thanks to rising numbers of mainland Chinese visitors.


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## hkskyline

*Versace CEO says planned Macau hotel design will be fine-tuned for Chinese appeal*
5 September 2013

MACAU (AP) - Italian fashion house Versace and Macau casino company SJM say the Versace-themed hotel they're planning for the Asian gambling city will be tweaked to appeal to the local Chinese market and open in 2017.

Gianni Versace SpA CEO Gian Giacomo Ferraris said Thursday that the five-star Palazzo Versace would retain the "neoclassical style" found at its other two hotels, in Australia and Dubai. But he added, "clearly there will be some fine tuning with the local culture."

He declined to give more details, saying designer Donatella Versace would be responsible for the design. The luxury brand, known for its Medusa-head logo and over-the-top style of its clothes, is already popular with China's growing pool of affluent consumers.

Versace and SJM Holdings Ltd. signed a deal last month to build the hotel at SJM's Cotai resort in Macau, a former Portuguese colony turned semiautonomous Chinese region that's the world's most lucrative gambling market.

SJM Chairman Ambrose So said the resort would open in 2017 and is expected to cost about 2.5 billion Hong Kong dollars ($322 million). Versace's hotel will be one of several at the resort. It will have 270 of the resort's 2,000 hotel rooms and some of its 700 gambling tables, So said, without being more specific. The Versace hotel will also feature a restaurant, swimming pools and shops.

So and Ferraris declined to give any details on the hotel's cost.

The project gives Versace a new way to raise its profile with mainland Chinese, who account for two-thirds of the more than 28 million visitors to Macau each year. It also gives SJM a big-name luxury brand popular to help keep up with rivals who have a head start on expanding in the Cotai Strip, Asia's version of the Las Vegas Strip.

"We have been looking at greater China for a while as this is one of the priority markets for the entire Versace business," said Ferraris. Versace has outlets in two Macau casinos, which Ferraris said are among the "best performing stores" globally. It also has numerous stores in mainland China.

Macau raked in $38 billion in gambling revenue last year, about six times the amount on the Las Vegas Strip, powered by high-rolling Chinese gamblers.

SJM, founded by billionaire tycoon Stanley Ho, is the long time market leader in Macau's casino industry but its lead is slipping as competitors such as Las Vegas Sands Corp. expand rapidly in the Cotai Strip. Macau's six casino companies, which also include Wynn Resorts and MGM Resorts International, are all planning major projects expected to open starting mid-2015 in Cotai, a patch of reclaimed swampland earmarked for all future expansion. SJM was one of the last casino operators to get approval for its Cotai project.

SJM Managing Director Angela Leong, one of Ho's four wives and a fan of the Versace brand, said the idea for a hotel in Macau first came to her in 2003. That's when Ho and their family stayed at the Palazzo Versace in Australia's Gold Coast to escape from the outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome that killed hundreds, most of them in nearby Hong Kong.

"We saw the Versace hotel was a beautiful, elegant, world-class hotel," she told reporters at a signing ceremony with Donatella Versace. "I thought it was 100 percent worth it to have such a hotel in Macau."


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## hkskyline

Hengqin


横琴新区 by elvisinchina, on Flickr


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## el palmesano

^^ what is that?


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## Highcliff

looks like a castle....


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## hkskyline

el palmesano said:


> ^^ what is that?


Hengqin was an oyster farming island and is now being transformed into a tourism, cultural, research, and health care destination. It is connected with a border crossing with Macau. The University of Macau is also building a new campus on the island, thanks to special co-operation with Guangdong province.


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## hkskyline

*Welcome to Cotai -- and Construction!*
28 October 2013
Forbes Asia

Macau's six casino powers are rolling out an array of new resorts on the stretch of reclaimed land connecting the Coloane and Taipa islands. The Cotai Strip follows on the earlier betting parlors of old Macau. As the only place in China where gambling is legal, the once-sleepy Portuguese colony is on track to soar well beyond last year's take of $38 billion, already more than six times that of the Las Vegas Strip. Major public-infrastructure projects, in tandem with the development of Hengqin Island (China's neighboring special economic zone) over the next few years, are expected further to increase the flow of flush Chinese punters to the casino hub. --Robert Olsen

GALAXY ENTERTAINMENT GROUP, controlled by Hong Kong billionaire Lui Che Woo, will complete phase 2 of its expansion by mid-2015. Galaxy has the largest land plot in Cotai and the second-biggest share of the overall gaming market in Macau. Earlier this year Galaxy acquired the adjacent Grand Waldo (green and blue roofs) casino for HK$3.25 billion. The 84-year-old patriarch's son, Francis Lui, runs Galaxy as the company's deputy chairman.

THE VENETIAN MACAO, THE PLAZA MACAO AND SANDS COTAI CENTRAL, all owned by Sheldon Adelson's Sands China. Back in 2007 Adelson took his own huge gamble by loading up with $10 billion of debt to fund multiple casinos in Macau and the Marina Bay Sands in Singapore, along with an expansion in Las Vegas. He hit the jackpot, propelling his net worth from a low of $3 billion to its current $28.5 billion. Here he's spending $2.7 billion more on an adjacent 3,000-room hotel and casino called The Parisian Macau, which is due to open in late 2015.

CITY OF DREAMS, the flagship casino of Melco Crown Entertainment, a joint venture between Australian billionaire James Packer and Lawrence Ho (the son of casino pioneer Stanley Ho). Melco has teamed up with Henry Sy's Belle Corp. to develop a casino resort in Manila that should open next year. Ho has also recently revealed plans to invest in two more casino projects in Vladivostok, Russia.

MELCO is investing $2 billion to keep up with its larger rivals by building its new Studio City casino resort, which is scheduled to open by mid-2015 convenient to expected inflows from bridge-connected Hengqin.

MGM CHINA HOLDINGS, a partnership between MGM Resorts and Hong Kong's richest woman, Pansy Ho (daughter of Stanley Ho), has no presence in Cotai but plans to invest HK$20 billion ($2.5 billion) to build a casino resort with 500 gaming tables, 2,500 slot machines and 1,600 hotel rooms.

STEVE WYNN'S WYNN MACAU has budgeted $4 billion for the Wynn Palace, a 2,000-room casino resort slated to open in early 2016. Wynn has recently been involved in legal disputes with shareholders and former director Kazuo Okada, a Japanese gambling baron, over a $135 million pledge to a Macau university. Wynn, like MGM, is open in old Macau.

SJM HOLDINGS, controlled by Stanley Ho's family, was the last of the six operators cleared to build here on the Cotai Strip. SJM is in talks for neighboring plot from Ho's fourth wife, Angela Leong. Asia's largest casino operator thanks to Ho's four-decade monopoly that ended in 2002, SJM plans a resort with some 700 betting tables and 1,000 slot machines as well as 2,000 hotel rooms.


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## ramakrishna1984

*Bouygues secures contract for Macau hotel in China​*
Bouygues Construction subsidiary Dragages Macau has secured a contract, worth about €360m, to construct a hotel in Macau, China, which will be part of the City of Dreams entertainment complex. (*source*)


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## hkskyline

*Macau's U-turn over light rail fails to stem criticism*
2 December 2013
South China Morning Post	

Macau chief executive Fernando Chui Sai-on has bowed to public pressure and the Macau Commission Against Corruption (CCAC) over a light rail project.

During his policy address on November 12, Chui announced the Light Rapid Transit (LRT) railway will adopt a waterfront route recommended by CCAC and a Macau residents' organisation, Community Development Macau, instead of passing through London Street and Porto Street as previously planned.

Community Development Macau and CCAC had opposed the route through London Street and Porto Street.

The LRT project, intended to serve most of Macau's urban areas and connect with the rail network of the Pearl River Delta, is suffering delays and cost overruns. A Macau government agency, the Transportation Infrastructure Office, known as GIT, is in charge of the design and construction of the light rail. In September last year, CCAC and the Macau Audit Commission issued reports criticising the project.

"GIT got so much flak from the CCAC and audit reports as well as from the public, they are afraid of their own shadows now. They are afraid to make a mistake, so they won't do anything. This has delayed the project by at least two and a half years," said a source linked to the LRT project.

"GIT pays great attention to and cooperates with the reports of the Audit Commission and CCAC," GIT told the South China Morning Post. GIT said it was studying the suggestions of the audit and CCAC reports, and is reporting the situation to the higher authorities.

According to the Macau Infrastructure Development Office's estimate, the project is more than 18 months behind schedule. Phase 1 of the light rail was originally scheduled to start operation in 2014.

"It is impossible to start operation in 2014. Construction of the Macau peninsula section didn't start yet and will not within the next six months," said a Macau engineer.

Construction has begun on the Taipa section of the light rail, but work has been delayed by more than six months due to various factors such as weather and ground conditions, GIT told the South China Morning Post. The Macau peninsula section of the light rail is lagging behind the Taipa section, and GIT has commissioned consultants to study how to improve the situation, GIT said.

"The reasons given for diverting the rail route were unconvincing and unscientific. The work has been too slipshod, which may lead to many technical problems during construction in future," said the CCAC report.

Another reason for public dissatisfaction was the lack of co-ordination between government departments such as GIT and the Macau ministry of land, public works and transport, the report added.

"In such a large and important project, GIT was inadequate in technical and management aspects. This caused many problems and contradictions. Unconvincing regulations and procedures were adopted during the consultancy stage," said CCAC.

The source said: "The main problem with the project is incompetence and a lack of technical knowledge."

First proposed in 2003, the budget for the LRT project was 7.5 billion patacas in 2010, up 79 per cent from previous estimates, the South China Morning Post earlier reported.

Subsequently, GIT reassessed the construction budget and found it to be 11.07 billion patacas, said the Macau Audit Commission report.

As of the end of 2011, the funds disbursed for one sub-project within the LRT project was 489 million patacas, 32 per cent higher than budgeted, while the funds granted to another sub-project was 386 million patacas, 45 per cent above budget, said the audit report.

"There was a rather big discrepancy between the budget and the funds disbursed by GIT. Although GIT professed it had asked its employees to control costs, it did not clearly stipulate in writing the methods and scope of cost control, which risked disunity in implementation," the audit report added.

In reply to the audit report, GIT said it would control costs through its "Commercial Management Plan" and was studying how to control costs.


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## hkskyline

*Stanley Ho's SJM makes fresh start with new Macau casino*


















_Renders from Macau Daily Times_

MACAU, Feb 14 (Reuters) - Macau gambling kingpin Stanley Ho helped put the former Portuguese colony on the map 40 years ago with the fluorescent, onion-shaped Casino Lisboa. Now, the pioneer of old Macau is creating a new landmark - a $3.9 billion resort that will be one of the final projects to open on China's booming Las Vegas-style Cotai strip.

The 92-year-old Ho, through privately held company Sociedade de Turismo e Diversões de Macau (STDM), presided over much of Macau's development as a casino city, shielded by a four-decade monopoly on gambling until 2001 when the door was opened for U.S. casino moguls Sheldon Adelson and Steve Wynn.

Built for gambling purists, Ho's seedy, windowless halls have been superseded by the entry of flashier resorts over the past decade. The five other licensed operators have opened non-gaming attractions including grand convention spaces, gondola-filled lagoons and luxury retail plazas. Even so, Ho's 17 Macau casinos still rake in the most revenue each year.

Now home to 35 casinos, Macau is one of the world's fastest growing economies with more than 80 percent of government revenues derived from the gaming industry.

But new regulations forcing casinos to diversify into non-gaming tourism are shaking things up. Over the past two years, Beijing has made clear that the semi-autonomous southern territory needs to balance gambling with more leisure and family-focused attractions.

For SJM Holdings Ltd, the Hong Kong-listed entity and main asset of STDM, the changes mean its new Cotai resort - introduced as Lisboa Palace at a groundbreaking ceremony on Thursday - cannot rely on the old pure-gaming model.

"SJM's only problem is it has only ever been a gaming company. It is a company so ingrained in gaming that it could be a limiting factor," said Macau-based David Green who heads Newpage Consultancy, an advisor on the gambling industry.

Casino operators' efforts to diversify are likely to be a key consideration in renewing gaming licenses which start to expire in 2020, industry experts said. Secretary for Economy and Finance Francis Tam has said discussions on the renewal process will start next year.

Under the new rules, Macau is only granting gaming tables to casinos based on their non-gaming facilities - the more activities they offer to general tourists the more tables they will be allotted.

SJM responded by allocating 90 percent of its new 70,000 square metre (753,500 square feet) resort to non-gaming facilities including a wedding pavilion and multi-purpose theatre.

Design renderings of the resort depict an ivory-coloured facade modelled on the palace of Versailles, Chinese motifs such as imperial gardens of the Summer Palace, and cultural relics from the 16th and 17th centuries.

The 2000-room Lisboa Palace also includes a 270-room, six-star hotel by Italian fashion house Versace.

"We are mindful this is a new area we have come into, in which we compete with the other operators in Cotai," Ambrose So, the 39-year veteran and chief executive of SJM, told Reuters in an interview in the company's minimalist offices above the garishly adorned Casino Lisboa.

"Ten years back the main thing for them (customers) was really gaming-centric. They just wanted to go to the casino and were glued to the tables. We have seen there is a gradual change."

The Lisboa Palace represents a significant upgrade to SJM's most lavish property, the Grand Lisboa, a 54-story tower shaped like a lotus flower which remains a Macau landmark 7 years after its opening.

QUALITY, NEW EXPERIENCES

The targeted demographic is also vastly different from the chain-smoking punters who frequent SJM's dimly lit casinos.

"The customer type is looking for more quality, entertainment and new experiences," So said, adding that the company was close to finalising a deal with another fashion house to develop a 270-room hotel.

Until SJM finishes construction in 2017, the company is likely to continue ceding market share to competitors, analysts said. Once the sole player, SJM's share has slipped to less than a quarter of the market.

By the time Lisboa Palace opens, Macau is expected to have a light rail service and a bridge connecting the tiny territory, one sixth the size of Washington D.C., to Hong Kong and Zhuhai.

While Ho no longer owns a tangible shareholding in STDM or SJM, the company still has a huge presence in Macau, with stakes in everything from luxury hotels to transport services, real estate and horse racing.

As Macau continues to transform rapidly, SJM looks set to remain rooted in the vision of its founder. Angela Leong, known as Ho's fourth wife and former ballroom dance teacher, is also deeply involved in the business.

"We should always remain authentic and local, preserving our own characteristics. We really integrate into society. We are a local company interwoven with society," So said.


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## el palmesano

whta about restoration of old buildings??


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## hkskyline

el palmesano said:


> whta about restoration of old buildings??


The historic city centre is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is protected. Don't think there are major restoration projects happening within the city centre at this point, or do you have a project in mind?


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## el palmesano

No, I just ask because I saw those pictures, and lot of those buildings are not colonial buildings, but are buildings from begining of the centrury that should be restored...

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?p=110956351#post110956351


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## hkskyline

el palmesano said:


> No, I just ask because I saw those pictures, and lot of those buildings are not colonial buildings, but are buildings from begining of the centrury that should be restored...
> 
> http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?p=110956351#post110956351


A lot of those are in the historic city centre and have been preserved. They are still functional structures. Some are museums and there is even a post office in one.


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## hkskyline

*Galaxy plans Hengqin resort expansion*
The Standard
Thursday, March 20, 2014

Galaxy Entertainment Group (0027) yesterday said it has reserved 10 billion yuan (HK$12.53 billion) to invest in a high-end resort project in Hengqin, after reporting its annual results had missed estimates.

Deputy chairman Francis Lui Yiu-tung said a non-gaming resort will be developed on a 2.7-square-kilometer site in the southwest of Hengqin, an island in Guangdong, next to Macau.

"The resort enjoys a 2.5-kilometer-long coastline, which will make it suitable for some casual activities and Maldives-style facilities. Hopefully, it can be opened when the Hong Kong-Zhuhai- Macao Bridge commences operation," Lui said.

The Macau casino operator's net profit rose 36 percent to HK$10.1 billion last year from 2012. But this was lower than market expectations. Revenue gained 16 percent to HK$66 billion. Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization jumped 28 percent to HK$12.6 billion.

For the first time, it proposed a special dividend of 70 HK cents a share. "The group can afford the dividend, thanks to good performance by Galaxy Macau and StarWorld Macau. As for the future payout ratio, the group has to be cautious. But the special dividend is a good start," said Lui.

VIP turnover at Galaxy Macau rose 11 percent to HK$774.1 billion in 2013. Mass-gaming revenue climbed 44 percent to HK$10.5 billion in the period.

Lui said the VIP turnover grew slower than the mass-gaming sector and the number of mid-class gamblers hailing from the mainland is growing fast.

Phase 2 of Galaxy Macau is set to be completed by mid-2015. Lui said the development plan will not be affected by the renewal of the Macau gaming licence. Its shares fell 2.8 percent to HK$72 yesterday after the results came out.

Chairman Lui Che-woo said people in Hong Kong and Macau hold different views toward mainland visitors. But he hopes Hongkongers can be reasonable and friendly with mainlanders.


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## hkskyline

*New Macau casinos have luck of the draw in second expansion phase*

MACAU, March 12 (Reuters) - Galaxy Entertainment Group Ltd and Melco Crown Entertainment Ltd look best placed to benefit from the next phase of Macau's development as the world's gambling capital adds eight more mega-casinos by 2017.

The expansion will take place in the Chinese territory's glitzy Cotai Strip and is expected to more than double Macau's annual gaming revenues to $115 billion in four years, according to research from U.S. brokerage Wells Fargo.

Cotai is an area of reclaimed land that is becoming a Las Vegas-style tourist hub with shopping centres, hotels and entertainment to complement the casinos.

U.S. billionaire Sheldon Adelson's Las Vegas Sands Corp was the strip's pioneer, setting up the Venetian casino there in 2007. Adelson's Hong Kong-listed Sands China Ltd is set to open its final casino planned for Macau at the end of 2015 in Cotai, but for Melco and Galaxy, their growth in the area is just beginning.

Galaxy and Melco's casinos will be the first properties to open in the second expansion phase starting early-2015.

That puts them ahead of peers like MGM China and Wynn Macau in the race for dealers and gaming tables, which are both in short supply. MGM and Wynn are also planning to open casinos in Cotai, but at a later date.

Galaxy, owned by Hong Kong construction tycoon Lui Che Woo, has the largest plot of land on Cotai and will still have half the area left to build on after its new resort opens next year.

Sands, in contrast, will use up the last of its Macau land for its Parisian complex, slated to open at the end of 2015.

"Sands has had a great run here with the last property to open...Clearly from the beginning of next year it is going to get tougher from a competitive standpoint," said Philip Tulk, who tracks gaming companies at Standard Chartered in Hong Kong.

Adelson, in an email to Reuters, brushed aside the competition, saying Sands China was still the dominant player in Cotai, a strip he said he created.

"I was the visionary," Adelson said of Cotai. "I filled in the swamp and the bay, and was the first company to build there."

"There is not enough land left anywhere in Cotai to catch up to the number of hotel rooms that SCL (Sands China Limited) has. Galaxy doesn't have enough land to even equal our Sands Cotai Central, which has 6,000 rooms."

DIMINISHING RETURNS

Macau, one of the world's fastest growing economies for the last three years, is the only place in China where citizens can legally gamble in casinos. Located on China's southern coast, Macau gaming revenues last year were nearly three times greater than Las Vegas, Australia and Singapore combined.

Some 29 million people visited the semi-autonomous zone in 2013, and new rail and bridge connections to Hong Kong and mainland China are expected to increase those numbers. New hotel rooms opening by 2017 will double current capacity.

The bulk of Macau's 35 existing casinos lie on the former Portuguese colony's tiny peninsula, whose skyline was dominated for years by the fluorescent, onion-shaped casino of SJM Holdings Ltd, owned by the family of Macau kingpin Stanley Ho. Lack of space led developers to reclaim land for Cotai.

SJM and Sands dominate the gambling scene in Macau, together accounting for nearly half of total gaming revenues that stood at $4.8 billion in February.

But competition is expected to heat up as other casino operators expand their portfolios, potentially crimping profits.

"I would not expect the share price performance to be comparable with last year but I would still foresee there would be a decent amount of growth," said Victor Yip, gaming analyst at UOB Kay Hian in Hong Kong.

With four Macau properties, Sands China raked in more revenue last year than all of the Las Vegas strip. Its shares have surged more than six-fold from their IPO price in 2009 and doubled since the last big casino opening in 2012.

While all operators in Macau are blessed with surging demand, analysts have become more selective as gaming revenue growth starts to mature.

Sands, which has more hotel rooms than the other gaming operators combined, remains a popular pick with 22 of 25 analysts awarding it a "buy" or "strong buy" rating, according to Thomson Reuters data

Galaxy is slightly less popular among analysts due to a more expensive valuation, with 20 of 26 giving it a "buy" or "strong buy" rating. Its shares, however, have surged more than 350 percent since their launch in 2011, valuing it at $40 billion.

Several factors, however, clouding the outlook for all casino operators in Macau. Slowing economic and credit growth in China may pinch high-rollers and there is uncertainty over gaming license renewals due in 2020.

The labour market in Macau is also tight. Analysts estimate new casinos opening in 2015-2017 will require 12,600 new dealers, yet only about 700 are available per year. Macau laws dictate only locals can work as dealers, and the government is under pressure from residents who regularly take to the streets to ensure these restrictions remain.

Macau's government has also not confirmed how many new tables it will allow in the next phase of expansion for the Cotai Strip.

Casino operators, however, appear unfazed for now by these concerns, focusing instead on Macau's massive potential.


----------



## hkskyline

*Galaxy targets China high-rollers with new casinos after bumper earnings*

HONG KONG, March 19 (Reuters) - Macau casino operator Galaxy Entertainment Group Ltd looks set to build on last year's record earnings as it pencils in plans for glittering mega casinos and positions itself for the next wave of high-rollers from mainland China.

*The company is also ploughing big money into a kids-friendly resort on a neighbouring island to attract Chinese families.

Hong Kong-listed Galaxy, the second-biggest gaming firm in Macau after Sands China Ltd, is launching its second phase of expansion since winning its first gaming concession in the former Portuguese colony more than a decade ago.*

Macau, a special administrative region like nearby Hong Kong, is the only place in China where casino gambling is allowed. Located on China's southern coast, Macau's gaming revenues last year were nearly three times greater than Las Vegas, Australia and Singapore combined.

Galaxy, controlled by the family of Hong Kong construction tycoon Lui Che Woo, on Wednesday posted a 36 percent jump in 2013 net profit to HK$10.1 billion ($1.30 billion). The company also said it had HK$10.3 billion of cash on hand and was virtually debt-free as of the end of December.

A strong balance sheet will help Galaxy compete with MGM China Holdings Ltd and Steve Wynn's Wynn Macau Ltd as casino operators race to develop new properties to capture a larger slice of the Macau market, which raked in $45 billion in gaming revenue last year.

*Galaxy is expected to launch a new casino in 2015, making it one of the first operators to open a new gambling property. Macau's second wave of casino expansion will see eight new mega properties by 2017.

Galaxy is armed with the biggest land bank on Macau's developing Las Vegas-style strip known as Cotai. The company's current casino on Cotai accounts for just 25 percent of its total allocated space.

Construction for its third and fourth phases is expected to begin at the end of this year with a budget of HK$50 billion-HK$60 billion.*

HENGQIN RESORT

*Galaxy is also set to build a 10 billion yuan ($1.6 billion) resort on neighbouring Hengqin island, an area three times the size of space-starved Macau. The resort will be located on the southwestern tip of the island.*

While Hengqin authorities will not permit gambling, Macau casino operators have been keen to expand leisure facilities to help complement their gaming properties across the water.

*"We hope to build an iconic product which is five-star and leverages on the coastline, on land, on sea to offer entertainment facilities," Deputy Chairman Francis Lui told reporters at an earnings briefing on Wednesday.*

"We have a lot of flexibility with this project," he said, adding that there is no need to raise funds for the project.

*Galaxy may look to build villas over water as seen in the Maldives.*

Shares in Galaxy have surged 134 percent in the past year versus the benchmark Hang Seng Index which is down 2 percent in the same period.

Galaxy, a $40 billion company by market capitalisation, is the best performer among 52 top casino operators in the world on price performance, according to Thomson Reuters StarMine.

The stock ended 2.83 percent lower on Wednesday, after the earnings announcement. The Hang Seng fell 0.07 percent.

Galaxy said earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose 41 percent to HK$3.5 billion in the fourth quarter from a year earlier. That was about 4 percent below the average of analysts' estimates.


----------



## Neungz

*NEW HOTEL IN MACAU BY ZAHA HADID*
http://aasarchitecture.org/2014/03/new-hotel-in-macau-by-zaha-hadid.html


----------



## hkskyline

Thought Norman Foster has come up with that lattice design before!


----------



## Neungz

*City of Dreams Hotel Tower | Zaha Hadid Architects*
http://www.arch2o.com/city-of-dreams-hotel-tower-zaha-hadid-architects/


----------



## binhai

Whoa!


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## el palmesano

wow!!!!!!!


----------



## hkskyline

More project information : http://www.zaha-hadid.com/architecture/city-of-dreams-hotel-tower-cotai-macau/




























40 floors, under construction to 2017


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## el palmesano

^^


:cheers::cheers:


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## the spliff fairy

ok she's gotta build that


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## hkskyline

*Casino riches fuel Macau property 'bubble' forcing residents elsewhere *

MACAU, April 7 (Reuters) - As the world's gambling capital Macau races to open more than 17,000 new hotel rooms over the next three years to keep pace with a flood of Chinese visitors, only about 4,000 affordable homes for locals are expected to be built in the same period.

With an average apartment costing more than $500,000, the Chinese special administrative region has emerged as one of the world's costliest places to buy property, outranking neighbouring Hong Kong, where prices are already among the most expensive in the world.

Prices in Macau are forecast to rise 10-20 percent this year and the situation looks set to worsen as Macau's new crop of mega resorts open.

For residents like taxi driver Dengbao Xian, soaring property prices mean the chance of owning a home in the former Portuguese colony looks impossible.

"Buying a flat? Not a chance, even if you work for your entire life," the 50 year-old lamented as he drove past the glitzy front of MGM's metallic hued casino tower.

Population growth in the tiny territory, one-third the size of Manhattan, is expected to jump 20 percent to 700,000 by 2016 according to government estimates.

"Four years ago you could buy a flat with 1 million patacas ($125,100). Now you can't even buy a parking space," said Cherrie Choi, a sales director at realtor Centaline Property.

Some residents are choosing to buy in Hong Kong where investment returns are twice that of Macau. Others are buying in neighbouring Chinese provinces and some, like many retirees, are giving up on the city and moving as far away as Thailand.

In March more than 400,000 people competed for 1,900 affordable housing units with locals lining up outside Macau's public housing bureau at 4 a.m., local media reported.

"It's really the biggest problem in Macau. Right now the rents and prices of flats have shot up way beyond people's financial capabilities," said lawmaker Jose Coutinho, who accuses the government of not doing enough to reverse the situation due to its ties with tycoon developers.

Property prices have more than tripled since 2009, according to data from the Macau government. The rise is in tandem with Macau's gaming revenues, which last year totalled $45 billion, nearly three times greater than Las Vegas, Australia and Singapore combined.

Macau's economy relies on the gaming industry with gaming taxes accounting for more than 80 percent of government revenues.

With unemployment at 1.7 percent, an estimated 40,000 new workers will be required as new properties open over the next three years, increasing demand for housing and exacerbating tension among protectionist labour unions worried about job security.

Macau laws dictate only locals can work as dealers, and the government is under pressure from residents who regularly take to the streets to ensure these restrictions remain.

Analysts estimate new casinos opening in 2015-2017 will require 12,600 new dealers, yet only about 700 are available per year.

A lack of a long-term plan for affordable housing is widening inequality say lawmakers and property consultants, to such a degree that even well-paid foreign executives in the casino industry are finding Macau prohibitively expensive.

"I have great empathy for the local Macau residents," said Linda Switzer, vice president of retail at MGM Macau, who explained her monthly rent has jumped from a low of 8,000 patacas ($1,000) to 33,000 patacas in the seven years she has lived in Macau.

Macau's government said it will continue to "be mindful" of outside economic changes impacting the local property market and deploy timely measures like increasing land supply and launching public housing depending on the situation.

Two of Macau's largest property developers, Shun Tak Holdings and Polytec Asset Holdings, declined to comment for the story.

For now, new housing developments are limited to the luxury segment with projects such as the Fountainside, featuring 3,000 square-foot villas and landscaped gardens, which are springing up across Macau's crammed peninsula to cater to wealthy buyers looking for a convenient place to park their gambling winnings.

With the majority of properties lying idle once purchased and a lack of affordable housing projects in the pipeline, locals are feeling increasingly marginalized.

"One of the sayings in Macau is that since I can't afford to buy a house, I might as well buy a car," said Macau-based political analyst Larry So.

($1 = 7.9910 Macau patacas)


----------



## hkskyline

*Portuguese School stays at current location, undergoes renovation work*
15/04/2014
Macau Daily Times










The issue has dragged on for many years, but a final decision has been made: the Portuguese School of Macau (EPM) will remain at its current location and will undergo renovation work, the Portuguese Minister of Education and Science, Mr Nuno Crato, confirmed yesterday.

Visiting Macau for the first time, the minister told reporters that the Portuguese government based the decision on students, families and professors’ stability.

Moreover, the school’s location allows the Portuguese presence to remain right in the center of the city.

“Our decision deserved the support of the Chief Executive, of the Portuguese School Foundation and the school’s board,” he said, adding that the current location gives families greater security, as the land was granted to the Association for Macanese Education (APIM), which integrates the school’s foundation.

Over recent years, several suggestions for the future of the school have emerged, with the possibility of relocating it to the former Hotel Estoril building in the Tap Seac area on the table. The gaming concessionaire, Sociedade de Jogos de Macau, even provided a donation of HKD65.5 million for the relocation.

Nuno Crato recognized that the current facilities are in need of improvement. He added that the MSAR government is willing to financially contribute to the renovation of the educational institution.

However, no calendar has been defined for now. The minister explained that, ideally, renovation works will need to be developed over the summer, when students are on holidays.

Asked if it would be possible to start working on the school’s renovation by this summer, Nuno Crato replied that it “would be good” but all entities involved need to work on the best possible plan.

“We need to have a plan for these renovation works, particularly a plan that does not interfere with classes and the school’s normal functioning. We first need to talk with parents and see what kind of improvements the school is lacking,” he said.

As the MSAR government has already agreed to provide funding, “there’s a dialogue process that needs to take place.”

With the decision to keep EPM’s current location, other questions arose, as the gaming concessionaire Sociedade de Jogos de Macau had donated a total of HKD65.5 million for the school’s relocation. Asked what has happened or what will be done with that amount of money, Nuno Crato stressed that, indeed, “there was a donation from SJM to the Portuguese School’s Foundation” and that there will be a “dialogue process” taking place to assess what could be done.

He added that this is not a problem and that soon the school’s foundation will conduct talks with SJM.

“[This donation] is in the foundation’s accounts and now we need to talk with SJM, because part of the donation was intended for the regular functioning of the school. We will see what can be done, but our decision has been made,” he assured.

Nuno Crato highlighted the role that EPM has played along the years, particularly in representing Portuguese presence and culture not only in Macau, but also across the globe.

In addition, he recognized the school’s quality too: EPM “has achieved a notable educational quality and it has had a presence right in the center of Macau, which is very important for all of us.”

Nuno Crato was visiting Macau for the first time. Speaking to reporters, he said he had enjoyed the food, and was particularly impressed with “the great respect people show toward the Portuguese culture.” The Portuguese Minister of Education and Science revealed that he will soon return to Macau, as this first visit was too short.

Lisbon willing to intensify scientific cooperation with UM

The Portuguese Minister of Education and Science, Mr Nuno Crato, has guaranteed that Portugal is committed to further developing its scientific collaboration with the University of Macau (UM), particularly following the establishment of a new campus on Hengqin Island.

In a short visit to the campus yesterday, Nuno Crato was impressed with how quickly the new facilities were built. He also expressed the will to maintain and further develop the current collaborations between Portugal’s educational institutions and UM.

“We are thinking of further developing our collaboration with the university. These are co-operations that already exist, for instance, with Instituto Superior Tecnico (IST) and the University of Coimbra and with several universities related to humanities and sciences,” he said, adding that a robotics lab he had the opportunity to visit has maintained a close relationship with a similar one in IST, in Lisbon.

Nuno Crato met with Portuguese teachers and visited scientific labs in the new campus.

Science is, indeed, an area in which he believes the relation between Portugal and the university could be furthered: “science is now being developed through international collaborations; science is an international project and, in this area, we see that Portugal and Macau are very much involved in scientific projects related to robotics and electronics (…)”
In addition, the Minister of Education and Science recalled that such co-operation between education institutions in Portugal and Macau goes beyond science and has also got a strong focus in the areas of history and law.

“We have built a relationship with the university at a high standard scientific and educational level, which of course pleases us,” he told reporters.


----------



## hkskyline

*MSAR asks Beijing for territorial waters and land from Hengqin*
23/04/2014
Macau Daily Times










Chief Executive (CE) Chui Sai On has announced that the Macau government has officially put in an application for use of more land on neighboring Hengqin Island, as well as asking to be granted maritime authority similar to that which Hong Kong exercises over its nearby marine territory.

The announcements were made during yesterday’s Legislative Assembly (AL) plenary session where the CE joined lawmakers in order to answer their questions relating to government policies and Macau residents’ livelihood issues. Several AL members have asked the CE to detail the administration’s plan to tackle housing issues in the city.

“We have officially submitted the request for the administrative rights of Macau’s sea territory. Everybody knows that Macau has not had the right since the handover. After the hard work of the Macau delegates of the National People’s Congress these last two years, and their close collaboration with the MSAR government, [the Macau government] has already applied for [administrative rights to] the maritime territory. It is a very precious resource for us,” Chui Sai On explained.

He broke this news while answering lawmaker Ho Ion Sang’s question relating to Macau’s housing issue. Ho pointed out that the authority had failed to provide enough accommodation for residents, which has resulted in a situation where there are more than 40,000 applications for around 1,900 multi-bedroom affordable housing units. Measures such as special stamp duty (SSD) are also unable to curb housing prices, because there are no other effective measures to follow. He suggested that residents are waiting for the government to resolve the housing problem, and asked the CE what kind of tangible policies he would introduce in order to respond to their needs.

Chui Sai On stressed that it is pivotal to increase the supply of land for Macau’s use. “I would like to share [the administration’s] opinion regarding land supply. We would like to [boost the supply] in several ways. First, we have been in the process [of handling] some idle lands in the hope of building public housing on them, after reclaiming them. We will have to look at the demand [for public housing] after the allocation process [has been conducted for the recent applications]. The second [approach] is about the lands acquired from reclamation. As we have revealed, there will be 43,000 units [built on lands to be reclaimed in the future].” The CE continued, pointing out that the government is looking into using land that is not currently included in any urban planning projects. He stressed that the administration will follow the Urban Planning Law when making plans for the use of Macau’s land resources. He expressed the hope that the MSAR can have its own land reserve, not just for constructing public housing, but also for other purposes, in order to maintain the city’s competitive standing.

Moreover, when answering Au Kam San and Ng Kuok Cheong’s enquiries, the CE indicated that his government is not planning to introduce any new measures similar to those of SSD, because he does not believe that they can help to lower local housing prices further. “More measures would only reduce the number of transactions, without necessarily lowering the price. As we can see, it is because it is the locals who are buying the houses in Macau.” He also asked the younger generation to be patient, saying that it also took a long time for many people in the past to save up the premium needed to buy a house.

Furthermore, lawmaker Angela Leong On Kei has asked the CE about the government’s policy on diversifying Macau’s economy. Chui Sai On said that the administration is putting more resources into supporting small and medium-sized enterprises, in order to develop and to collaborate with other regions. “We have found that many enterprises cannot enter [Hengqin]. Therefore, we have decided to officially request more land on Hengqin from the central government, in order to allow our SMEs and other enterprises to enter Hengqin. We have experienced [the reality] that the five-kilometer square is not enough.” He said that asking for more land in Hengqin would help to diversify Macau’s economy and the city’s regional collaboration.


----------



## hkskyline

*Protection of Inner Harbor urgently needed, experts say*
19/06/2014 
Macau Daily Times










A group of experts debating the Macau Inner Harbor’s future believe that protection of the city’s old commercial and trade hub is “urgently needed.” Architects, historians, sociologists and urban developers, among many others, have joined forces at the Inner Harbor Roundtable event in order to provide policy recommendations that could help build a more solid future for such an old part of town.

Last year, the International Institute for Asian Studies, the University of Macau and the Institute of European Studies, with the support of the Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC), started working on a roundtable to discuss strategic ideas for the Inner Harbor – ideas that can now be used to revitalize this old part of town, stretching all the way back from Barra to Patane.

Under the coordination of architect Nuno Soares, over 50 local and international experts drew on recommendations, which were presented yesterday at Ponte 9 – right at the heart of the Inner Harbor.

In a document compiling various conclusions and suggestions, the group emphasizes that it is crucial to help Macau people have closer contact with the riverside. Some of the listed recommendations include engaging people in a close relationship with the waterfront; providing view corridors; or building a continuous and obstacle-free walkway along the river.

Nuno Soares mentioned the popular Cais 22 restaurant (Pier 22), which provides a view to the river. He believes that there should be more restaurants like Cais 22 along the Inner Harbor’s waterfront.

In their opinion, while maintaining the Inner Harbor’s lively environment, further cultural and creative places could be added by using, for instance, some of the empty and decrepit buildings. Terraces, cafés, watersport activities, green areas and playgrounds are also listed as recommendations.

Furthermore, transportation needs to be rethought, they said, while a ‘walkability’ plan could help people to re-establish the connection between Macau people and the Pearl River.

However, in order to open up the waterfront to Macau people and tourists, “breaking down” barriers seems imperative. “At the moment, there are obstacles: barriers that don’t allow us to stroll around the riverside,” Nuno Soares told the Times.

Travelling back in time to recall the busy days of the Inner Harbor, Nuno Soares stated: “This is a very interesting area of the city, because it has its very own rhythm (…) It was the city center for centuries. All the boats would moor here, and trade was done here, too. With the change of the terminal to the Outer Harbor, the center of Macau has changed.”

Preserving the Inner Harbor’s heritage is also extremely urgent, they say. With “heritage disappearing month by month,” revitalization is indeed a word not to be forgotten.

“Inner Harbor’s heritage is a vast one. It is immense, and yet to be preserved. We are talking about old bridges, piers, patios, neo-classic buildings,” Nuno Soares added.

As experts believe that the Inner Harbor lost its main role when the Outer Harbor’s opened for main routes, such as the one covering Hong Kong–Macau, the city’s old trade point is yet to find another defining role.

Such a role could combine the Inner Harbor’s oldness and the unique typology of its piers with cultural, educational and creative clusters. In a sense, experts defend a “return” of the Inner Harbor to its people’s daily lives.

If the harbor is still home to many fishermen and if its liveliness has been able to survive over the years, there are still many Macau residents who remain too far from a part of their city surely hiding unique memories.

Wishing to create a closer proximity between people and the river, the group of experts deemed it fundamental to identify this plan’s stakeholders: residents, non-residents owning shops in the area, institutions, fishermen and many other interested parties. They think that the government’s action plan for the Inner Harbor should be designed taking into account these stakeholders’ interests in the area.

For instance, they have suggested that universities and educational institutions could be “physically present” in the Inner Harbor by establishing creative areas or laboratories in this part of the city.

Finally, when it comes to funding such a diversified plan, experts suggested that, in addition to government support, it would be convenient to also convince private companies and corporations to jump onboard as well.

The group working on the Roundtable on the Inner Harbor expects the Cultural Affairs Bureau and the government to take into consideration these suggestions that have now been provided for a possible revitalization of the area.

The president of the Institute of European Studies of Macau, Mr José Luís Sales Marques, who also contributed throughout the roundtable initiative, said yesterday that the Inner Harbor’s relationship with the rest of the city is part of the harbor’s narrative – one that needs to be preserved and further promoted.

Group launches book on inner harbor

The Inner Harbor Roundtable event led local and international experts to conduct in-depth research on one of Macau’s oldest commercial trade points.

As the research progressed, experts decided to launch a book looking at the Inner Harbor’s multiple facets. This includes areas such as its geographical context, its historical and urban evolution, its heritage and architectural interest, as well as current activities and commercial exchanges. In addition, the book also looks at opportunities and threats surrounding the Inner Harbor.

An exhibition on the book’s research was yesterday inaugurated at the third floor of Ponte 9, a building next to the Sampanas Sul Pier.


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## hkskyline

*Possible delay in new public hospital opening*
04/07/2014 
Macau Daily Times

The Health Bureau (SSM) has confirmed that the construction process for Macau’s second public hospital is taking longer than expected.

The hospital complex will be located east of Estrada do Istmo in Cotai, between the Seac Pai Van Reservoir and the Macau Dome. Officials have stressed that the bureau will strive to finish the first phase of the project in 2017. They also indicated that the opening of a health center in Edificio do Lago in Taipa will be postponed. SSM has said only that there are various reasons for the delay.

During a meeting of the Island District Advisory Committee for Community Service, SSM deputy director Cheang Seng Ip said that the hospital project is progressing according to plan and that the contractor is currently laying the foundations. However, he admitted that some of the construction procedures were taking longer than previously estimated.

Mr Cheang did not directly indicate whether or not there would be a delay on the completion date, but rather reiterated only that “[the first stage of the construction] can finish in 2017 according to the original plan, for now.”

Following this, some members of the Committee told the media that SSM was planning to open the emergency department of the Taipa hospital complex this year. Nevertheless, due to the lack of supplementary facilities, such as roads, SSM has decided to set the completion date for the first and second stages of the complex in 2017.

Moreover, some members have questioned SSM for taking five years to make plans for the complex. SSM officials explained that this is because they do not have the relevant experience.

As for the health center in Edificio do Lago, the Bureau initially promised that the center would open in the second half of 2013. However, SSM now estimates that residents will have to wait until the second quarter of next year to see the center in operation.

Cheang Seng Ip explained that they have to spend time designing the center, as well as acquiring the necessary permissions from other government departments.


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## hkskyline

*DSAT starts feasibility work on fourth cross-sea passage*
Macau Daily Times _Excerpt_
Friday, April 10, 2015 

The Transport Bureau (DSAT) responded to a written enquiry, filed by lawmaker Chan Meng Kam at the end of January, demanding for the authorities to disclose details of the next stage in the construction of the city’s fourth cross-sea passage. The bureau stated that studies are being conducted in order to explore the feasibility of the project.

However, as such a construction project might involve comprehensive and large-scale works according to Wong Wan – who is still DSAT’s director, despite having filed his resignation last month – information will be disclosed later, when the bureau has collected sufficient data on the project.

In 2006, the government proposed an infrastructure plan for the city, connecting two new reclamation areas – one of them located on the Macau peninsula, and the other in Taipa – with a passage across the sea. During the nine years since that plan was disclosed, the authorities have endeavored to collect suggestions from the public, but have not announced any further details.


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## hkskyline

*Slump spreading from gambling tables to property market*
Macau Daily Times _Excerpt_
Friday, June 26, 2015










Macau’s six-year lucky streak has come to an end. That’s become evident not just at the baccarat tables but at real estate agencies, too. After more than quintupling over six years, residential prices are heading for their first year of declines since 2008, tracking a gambling revenue slump in the world’s largest casino hub. Home prices may drop 15 percent this year, real estate broker Jones Lang LaSalle Inc. forecasts.

Homeowners – mostly local residents who had been enriched by Macau’s casino boom – have been selling properties at lower prices as the drying up of high-stakes gambling ripple through the city’s economy. Residential prices will stay under pressure as gaming revenue shows few signs of recovery, falling for the 12th straight month in May.

“We don’t see any upturn in Macau’s gaming industry in the near term, so I don’t see residential prices going back up,” said Gregory Ku, managing director for JLL in Macau. “Most economic figures are dropping to various degrees.”

Transaction volumes fell in the first quarter to the lowest in six years, according to Macau’s statistics and census bureau. Luxury residential values have been the hardest hit, dropping 13.4 percent this year, almost double the pace of declines for mass-market homes.

For example, prices fell as much as 26 percent at One Central Residences, high-end serviced apartments located next to casinos owned by MGM China Holdings Ltd. and Wynn Macau Ltd., according to Franco Liu, Macau head of Savills Plc.

“Those in the casino industry are concentrated in the luxury home segment,” Liu said. “They’ve made lots of money in the past and spent it on properties or cars. These past few months, the drop is more significant because they’re offloading some of their investments.”

China President Xi Jinping’s drive to eradicate corruption and a slowing economy has kept high rollers away, dragging down the city’s economic output 24.5 percent in the first quarter.

Gross gaming revenue in June may drop as much as 38 percent from a year earlier, which would mark the worst month in five years, JPMorgan Chase & Co. analyst DS Kim said in a June 23 note. For the full year, gaming receipts are expected to slump by about a fifth.

Macau’s low unemployment rate and strong incomes will likely help put a floor under price declines, Savills’s Liu said. The city’s jobless rate has stood at a record low of 1.7 percent for more than a year, one of the lowest in Asia. Gross domestic product per capita ranks fourth globally behind Luxembourg, Norway and Qatar, according to The World Bank.

The home market is dominated by Macau residents, with non- local buyers making up just 2 percent of total transactions last year, according to Savills. That compares with mainland Chinese and foreigners accounting for 13 percent of purchases in 2011 amid the casino boom and before the government imposed extra taxes to rein in home prices.

Investors are returning with the latest sale of Shun Tak Holdings Ltd.’s Nova Park, according to Midland Holdings Ltd. The Hong Kong-based developer is luring buyers with a plan that allows them to pay for the apartments over 28 months, including a 25 percent down payment.









_Nova Park rendering from project website_


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## hkskyline

*Officials downplay concerns over reclaimed zone high-rises*
Thursday, July 9, 2015
Macau Daily Times _Excerpt_










Public sentiment continues to escalate over the government’s possible intention to allow 100-meter high-rises to be constructed on Reclamation Zone B. The Secretary for Transport and Public Works, Raimundo do Rosário, told media yesterday that authorities may not accept “amateur opinions” received through public consultations.

“The text is for consultation, not for decisions,” said the Secretary after a committee meeting at the Legislative Assembly. “There could be another one after a consultation,” he said. “I think consultation is necessary in every single society, which is a good thing. But then sometimes due to other reasons, like technical ones, not everyone’s opinions on the matter are appropriate,” he added.

During the very first consultation that was open to local citizens on the subject of urban planning in the five reclamation zones last Saturday, some participants voiced their concerns over allowing the construction of buildings in Zone B with a possible height of 100 meters, as this may impede views of the Chapel of Our Lady of Penha, sitting on Penha Hill, from the waterfront.
This morning, Cheong Ion Man, acting deputy director of the Land, Public Works and Transport Bureau, attended TDM’s call-in program on social affairs in order to discuss the ongoing public consultation, which will conclude on August 8th.

“The height limitation [for Zone B buildings] is 100 meters, while that of Penha Hill is a mere 60 meters; basically, they are incompatible with each other. It would also create a loophole for zones C, D and E. The blocks at the waterfront are this high, let alone those situated [closer to the hill],” remarked a caller surnamed Sou.

More : http://macaudailytimes.com.mo/officials-downplay-concerns-over-reclaimed-zone-high-rises.html


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## hkskyline

*Claim of affordable housing land scarcity is nonsense, protesters say*
19 October 2015
Macau Daily Times _Excerpt_

Macau From Above by Giselle Leung, on Flickr

Protest leaders at a demonstration in Tap Seac Square yesterday afternoon denounced a recent housing draw and criticized the government’s efforts to provide affordable housing. They specifically refuted the administration’s claim that the scarcity of land in Macau has restricted its capacity to provide housing units.

Hundreds of demonstrators (1,500 according to the organizers, 700 according to the police) held signs with slogans such as “Claim back land not being used properly”; “Build more public houses” and “Produce a timeline for housing.” They cheered on activists who accused the government of catering to the interests of property tycoons and wealthy foreigners.

Cloee Chao, activist and co-founder of the Macau Gaming Industry Frontline Workers’ Union, took to the stage and said, “We don’t want to work in Macau but be forced to live in Zhuhai.” She claimed that the authorities were exclusively catering to the city’s wealthy, while neglecting their responsibilities to the rest of the population.

Ms Chao also criticized the government’s line on limited space as the reason for the lack of housing development, saying that “the government’s claim of scarce land is nonsense.” According to her estimates, there are sufficient reserves to satisfy the entirety of the current housing requirements.

Other speakers blamed the ‘investment visa’ policy of previous MSAR administrations for the increased demand for property and the subsequent surge in prices. The policy, which granted residency to investors who purchased real estate valued at MOP 1 million or more, was discontinued in 2007.

The protest was organized by the Macau Community Development Initiative (MCDI), which was established last month and is supported by lawmakers Au Kam San and Ng Kuok Cheong. The organization aims to exert pressure on the government to change its housing policy, and to build 40,000 new housing units to accommodate unsuccessful applicants from the current scheme.

After hearing speeches in Tap Seac Square, protest leaders, cheered on by hundreds of their fellows, led the demonstration on a march toward the Old Court Building, located at Avenida da Praia Grande.

Demonstrators reminded the public that there are still 40,000 applicants waiting to hear the results of the second round of the application system, although there has been no information on when the second wave of results will be announced.

In March 2014, a similar number of people competed for approximately the same number of affordable housing units - about 40,000 applicants for 1,900 units. The media then criticized the government for allowing the construction of another 17,000 hotel rooms over the following few years despite planning to provide fewer than 5,000 affordable housing units in the same period.

The current system groups applicants according to their characteristics. Families consisting of biological relatives are prioritized, followed by groups of non-related adults and finally individuals. Under the former system, a proportion of the available housing was allocated to each group, but the system now prioritizes biologically related applicants over those from any other group.

If the number of affordable housing units does not exceed the number required by the biologically related group, no further housing allocation remains for other applicants.


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## hkskyline

*Glamour over gaming as Melco resort opens*
28 October 2015
South China Morning Post _Excerpt_


Studio City Construction ~ two months to opening by Azchael, on Flickr

Multibillion-dollar casino project launches with help of Hollywood stars as Macau looks to reinvent itself as a family-oriented holiday destination

Macau’s bid to reinvent itself as a mass-market, family-oriented gaming destination was underlined yesterday as its latest lavish casino resort opened with a combination of Hollywood glamour and a bold statement of intent.

Movie directing icon Martin Scorsese lined up with living screen legends Robert De Niro and Leonardo DiCaprio as Melco Crown Entertainment’s HK$3.2 billion Studio City development went live with the promise of tinseltown-tinged entertainment and – in a first for the world’s premier gaming hub – a casino floor with no VIP tables in sight.

The ambitious Hollywood-themed resort headed by Melco Crown CEO Lawrence Ho Yau-lung and his Australian business partner James Packer marks Macau’s most significant shift to date from a VIP-junket-dominated casino model to mass-market, Las Vegas-style resorts.

Underlining that shift is the fact that Studio City on the Cotai Strip is the first major development in Macau not to target VIP gamblers, amid an 18-month slump in gaming revenues and Beijing’s crackdown on corruption – which has scared mainland Chinese high rollers away.

The shift also reflects a collapse of the junket system in Macau, which has seen a number of operators – whose main role has been to recruit high rollers to casinos and make loans – either shrink or close down completely in the face of looming greater regulation and falling revenues.

The move towards the mass-market model was further emphasised by Melco Crown’s gaming table count – Studio City is opening with just over half the 400 tables it initially requested from gaming regulators.


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## hkskyline

Macau Daily Times _Excerpt_
*50 berthing points for tourist yachts to open before year-end*
November 5, 2015










The Marine and Water Bureau (DSAMA) has presented to the press new facilities for yachts traveling between Zhongshan and Macau. The facilities have been made ready for the implementation of the so-called “individual visit scheme.”

In a tour organized by the DSAMA and held last Friday, the marine authority guided journalists through the new facilities and explained the procedures to be enforced when the berth becomes operational, which is expected to happen before the end of this year.

As explained by the Shipping and Seafarers Department head, Jesse Lei, “On the Macau side, everything is about ready. We are just waiting for the conclusion of the works on the Zhongshan pier, the facilities of which had to be upgraded from commercial port to a tourism berth.”

On the Macau side, the new berth setup in Coloane, just across from the University of Macau’s new campus, is ready and has the capacity for fifty yachts between 12 and 40 meters long. 

At arrival on the new berth, there will be a transportation ferry with a capacity for 12 persons. This will transfer passengers from their yacht to dry land, where they will complete the customs formalities as per normal. These formalities will be conducted at the Coloane Customs Point in order to facilitate and provide assistance to the boat owner or person responsible, who are obliged to declare all goods and products carried on board.

The transfer operator, which will make 15 to 20 workers available to support this operation in this first phase, will be available 24 hours a day to perform these transportation tasks at any time needed.

The rest : http://macaudailytimes.com.mo/50-berthing-points-for-tourist-yachts-to-open-before-year-end.html


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## hkskyline

*Architect favors Hotel Estoril preservation*
Tuesday, November 10, 2015 - 
Macau Daily Times _Excerpt_










The architect José Manuel Fernandes is in favor of the preservation of the Hotel Estoril, arguing that the building is part of the collective memory of Macau.

Interviewed by Radio Macau, the professor at the University of Lisbon stated that he did not understand the reasons for a possible demolition. “What is the problem? It’s kitsch, it’s from the 60s, is from an architect named Alvarez,” he asked rhetorically, defending a prudent assessment of the architectural value of the building. “It having its presence and a history that is linked to Stanley Ho is the genesis of a very important thing in Macau,” he argued.

“Honestly, it deserves to be evaluated, and I am certain that if the right documents are given to whichever architect that will be invited to assess this information, any good architect will know that he is in the presence of something with a collective memory,” he added.


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## ramakrishna1984

Replica of Paris's Eiffel Tower in Macau, simply amazing.....construction....


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## hkskyline

^ Is that the real thing or the fake? Doesn't look like Macau in the background.


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## Manila-X

Definitely not Macau! Though there is one in The Paris Hotel in Las Vegas!


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## hkskyline

*NEW HENGQIN–COTAI WATER PIPELINE APPROVED*
Dec. 3, 2015
Macau Daily Times _Excerpt_

A plan to build a new water supply pipeline was approved after Macau’s Marine and Water Bureau signed an agreement with Zhuhai authorities on November 30. The pipeline, which is planned to run between Hengqin and Cotai, will be about 15 kilometers long and will supply 200,000 cubic meters of water per day.

Authorities have stated that the pipeline is required to meet Macau’s growing demand for water as the city expands.

The agreement includes the Macau government picking up the RMB528 million tab for the project – the pipeline’s entire cost. Meanwhile, Zhuhai authorities will take the lead on its construction, along with its subsequent maintenance and repair in future years.

Work on the pipeline is expected to commence this month and will be completed by mid-2017.


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## hkskyline

*Airport expansion expected to bring more passengers and cargo*
Macau Daily Times _Excerpt_ 
Friday, December 4, 2015 

the sidelines of a cocktail reception celebrating the Macau International Airport (MIA)’s 20th anniversary, Simon Chan, President of the Macau Civil Aviation Authority, commended the recently announced plans to transform Macau’s airport infrastructure. The impending scheme, which would enable the airport to accommodate long-haul flights, includes an extension to the passenger building and is expected to increase the maximum transit capacity from six million visitors to seven and a half million. “It will be positive to Macau because what we will have is more [flight] slots. It depends on the commercial development. Maybe we will have more passengers for the regions. Mainly tourists, maybe some of them cargo”, he said, cited by TDM.

Mr Chan added that the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge (Delta Bridge) would have a significant impact on Macau’s economy, allowing more passengers and cargo to transit through the SAR.

Acting Chief Executive Sonia Chan stated at the celebration that the MIA was a fundamental transport hub for Macau’s international accessibility.

When the Macau International Airport was inaugurated in 1995, it catered mainly to the Taiwanese market, due to the absence of direct flights between mainland China and Taiwan. After mainland China resumed flights to Taiwan in 2008, MIA began to revise the airport’s focus.


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## hkskyline

*Macau construction costs second highest in Asia*
Friday, December 11, 2015
Macau Daily Times _Excerpt_










Macau is the second most expensive Asian city to build in after Hong Kong, while Singapore ranks third, says the latest International Construction Costs 2016 index published by Arcadis, a global design and consultancy firm for natural and built assets.

Globally, Macau is ranked fifth, behind Geneva (4), Hong Kong (3), London (2) and New York (1), according to the index which collates construction costs data from 44 major cities. According to the study, the MSAR is subject to less-than-ideal market pressures which inflate costs in the construction sector.

Construction projects for casino and entertainment resorts, residential housing units, and land reclamation works are in high demand here, while a lack of space and available labor to satisfy this demand exerts upward pressures on costs.

In October information from the Statistics and Census Service indicated that the value of construction for the year of 2014 was up by 63.2 percent when compared with the previous year. The bureau accredited the rise to the construction of new hotel and entertainment facilities.


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## hkskyline

*Coloane stilt houses could become cultural shops*
Thursday, January 7, 2016 
Macau Daily Times _Excerpt_










A local government official has proposed the transformation of Coloane’s empty stilt houses into cultural and creative products stores in order to promote tourism, Macau News reports.

Islands Community Services Consultative Committee member Ku Man Tai, who also sits on the board of the Macau Islands Industrial and Commercial Association, proposed the idea at a meeting with government officials on Tuesday.

Stilt houses stand elevated above water level by (often) slim wooden beams that support the underside of the structure. They are an integral part of Coloane’s cultural memory and are popular with tourists exploring the “Coloane Heritage Walk,” which meanders through the historic village on the island.

Ku estimated that there are around 20 stilt houses in the area near the Coloane ferry pier, most of which have been empty for a while.

“The remaining stilt houses are either restaurants or dried food shops,” said Ku at the meeting. “There are not many [shopping] options for tourists [in the area].”

Ku met with government officials from the Marine and Water Bureau on Tuesday at a community center in Rua da Ponte Negra in Taipa, run by the Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau.

Ku added that the government could consider allowing residents to operate hostels in some of Coloane’s village houses, which could attract more visitors and boost the island’s tourist trade.

More : http://macaudailytimes.com.mo/coloane-stilt-houses-could-become-cultural-shops.html


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## hkskyline

*Macau construction costs second highest in Asia*
11 December 2015
Macau Daily Times _Excerpt_ 

Macau is the second most expensive Asian city to build in after Hong Kong, while Singapore ranks third, says the latest International Construction Costs 2016 index published by Arcadis, a global design and consultancy firm for natural and built assets.

Globally, Macau is ranked fifth, behind Geneva (4), Hong Kong (3), London (2) and New York (1), according to the index which collates construction costs data from 44 major cities. According to the study, the MSAR is subject to less-than-ideal market pressures which inflate costs in the construction sector.

Construction projects for casino and entertainment resorts, residential housing units, and land reclamation works are in high demand here, while a lack of space and available labor to satisfy this demand exerts upward pressures on costs.

In October information from the Statistics and Census Service indicated that the value of construction for the year of 2014 was up by 63.2 percent when compared with the previous year. The bureau accredited the rise to the construction of new hotel and entertainment facilities.


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## hkskyline

*No time-frame given to new projects*
Macau Daily Times _Excerpt_
Thursday, January 28, 2016 

Following recent announcements from the Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture, Alexis Tam, the MGTO director, Helena de Senna Fernandes, has said that developments would be made this year in projects such as the setting up of a “café and creative activities at the Nam Van Lake and Taipa Houses Museum” areas. “There are many features that we want to include in those places,” Senna Fernandes said, though no clear time-frame was given. “We plan to implement at least something [with respect to those projects] this year.”

Other new projects in preparation include expanding the Macau Grand Prix Museum and revitalizing the Coloane stilt houses. A feasibility study on the possibility of launching leisure cruise tours between the Macau Peninsula and Taipa/Coloane will also be undertaken. New walking tour routes and “more attractive touristic packages” are being arranged as well.

Events like the “Parade Through Macau, Latin City” and the “Macau Light Festival” will be maintained, the director said. Overall, the plan is to promote more touristic offers, in order to attract more visitors and to foster diversification of the region’s source markets.

Outdoors, the MGTO will hold many promotional events, ranging from a food festival in Japan to a “major event” in Korea (Seoul and Busan). A promotional video will be launched under the new slogan “Experience Macau Your Own Style.”

To finance these projects, the MGTO will spend over one billion patacas coming from the Tourism Fund, an increase of 4 percent when compared to the spending from 2015. That amount doesn’t include the bureau’s operational expenses. The bureau’s head said that all the projects will be evaluated in order to avoid unnecessary spending. “It’s not only about organizing events; we must see that the events are reaching the goals that we set.”


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## freedomsurfer

Studio City looks nice! I will be visiting Macau in a few weeks, can't wait to visit all these developments!


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## hkskyline

*THE INT’L SCHOOL LAUNCHES NEW EXPANSION PROJECT*
Feb. 4, 2016
Macau Daily Times _Excerpt_ 










A special ceremony was held at The International School of Macao (TIS), situated on the Macau University of Science and Technology (MUST) campus, to mark the official launch of the “Phase II” construction of the extension of the school.

The ceremony, held yesterday, included the unveiling of a banner, the burying of a time capsule, and a preview musical rendition by some 40 elementary school students of a song from the school’s upcoming musical performance, “Seussical The Musical,” inspired by children’s author, Dr Seuss.

“We are very excited to be taking the first step in constructing Phase II, a building which will complete the full school model and the original vision for the TIS campus,” said head of school, Howard Stribbell.

The new campus addition measures 12,500 square meters of classroom and school space that will be spread over five floors and will connect with the main school building. It includes a two-story library, purpose built classrooms for both kindergarten and high school students, a theatre/auditorium, and additional computer labs and music rooms. The expansion will also feature a “discovery center” and “covered playgrounds.”

“Some of the parents want a swimming pool… but we are lucky to be on the Macau University of Science and Technology campus,” Stribbell told reporters.

Stribbell added that the expansion was the result of increased demand for school places by both local and expatriate applicants. According to him, the completion of the second phase will increase the school’s capacity from 1,200 students today – a figure that was reached in the 2013-14 school year – by a further 400 students.

**********************************************************

Phase II builds on previous developments made at TIS, including the renovation of existing buildings and facilities. A number of projects were completed in the previous academic year, including the addition of new chemistry equipment and storage units, a new waterproofing and rooftop, new fitness equipment and lockers kitted out with power outlets for easy charging of mobile devices.

Phase II is scheduled to open in August 2016, just in time for the 2016-17 academic year.


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## hkskyline

Macau Daily Times _Excerpt_
*A-Ma Temple | Gov’t calls on heritage staff to prioritize electrical safety*
Monday, February 15, 2016 










The government has announced plans to conserve and restore parts of the A-Ma Temple pavilion and relics that were damaged in a accidental fire that occurred last week during the Chinese New Year celebrations.

In a statement, the government said that it is highly concerned about the incident – believed to have been caused by an electrical fault – and that the government calls on all owners, managers and staff members at Macau’s heritage sites to ensure close attention is paid to fire and electrical safety.

The statement also indicated that the government would offer its complete support to the temple’s management during the restoration process by providing a thorough fire safety inspection of the site, assisting with the safeguarding of its architectural structure and offering consultative advice for the works.

Last week a government inspection of the damaged site, undertaken by the Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC), revealed that the initial restoration work might take two to three months. However, it was estimated that it could be at least one year before the structure is fully repaired and the interior restored.

Other experts and engineers, such as those from the Macau Institution of Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (AEEMM), conducted further damage assessments at the A-Ma Temple, uncovering faults in the site’s electrical system that may have been responsible for the outbreak of the fire.

A lead engineer in the inspection told TDM that, worryingly, basic safety standards were being overlooked.

“The size and use of some metal wires was not thought through. Calculation of circuits was not even made. The possibility of a faulty situation was not considered,” said Lei Chi Chio, a member of AEEMM. “[Temple management] should take Beijing’s palace museum as a reference and have regular maintenance inspections conducted every five years.”

The fire, which broke out at the World Heritage Site in the early hours of Wednesday morning, resulted in severe damage to some of the pavilion’s interior, including an altar, some wall plaques, and wooden furniture.

According to the IC, the statue of the Goddess A-Ma – regarded as the item of the greatest historical value in the damaged pavilion – suffered no major damage.


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## hkskyline

*Hung’s ‘ultra-luxury’ hotel named ‘The 13’*
Macau Daily Times _Excerpt_
Friday, February 26, 2016


Louis XIII Construction by Azchael, on Flickr

The “ultra-luxury” Louis XIII hotel expected to open later this year has been named “The 13,” according to a press statement from the Louis XIII Holdings. The company has also released the first images of the property’s interiors.

“As the business and the brand have developed, we felt that the name ‘The 13’ most accurately reflected our Macau hotel’s combination of Baroque inspiration and contemporary accents,” said co-chairman Stephen Hung in a press release issued yesterday.

“Thirteen is my lucky number and the new name along with the new logo fit perfectly with my vision,” he added. “There is a hint of tradition while also suggesting a chic and fun edginess.”

The company has also announced its intention to change its corporate name to “The 13 Holdings Ltd,” subject to approval by its shareholders and other relevant authorities.

Released photos of the hotel’s interior reveal intricate design details that evoke the Baroque style. According to the company, almost every design detail in the hotel is bespoke, including sculptures, fabrics, wall coverings, furniture and tableware.

“Our brand represents a unique vision of a global luxury lifestyle based on strong bespoke traditions while embracing modern elements that enhance these traditions,” said Stephen Hung. “We are proud that Macau will be establishing a new world standard for ultra-luxury hotels through its native brand, ‘The 13’.”

Of the ‘all-villa’ hotel’s 200 rooms, most will be Villa du Comte suites, or the luxury property’s entry-level accommodations. Each of these rooms will be approximately 2,000 square feet in gross floor area.


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## hkskyline

*Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau bridge expected to boost hotel industry*
23 June 2016
Macau Daily Times _Excerpt_

The future landscape of the hotel market in Hong Kong and Macau was discussed yesterday at the Business Luncheon of American Chamber of Commerce in Macau at the St. Regis hotel.

The speaker, Chun-Kong Lau, international director and head of Valuation Advisory Services of Jones Lang LaSalle Limited, emphasized the importance of tourism in the growth of Macau’s economy.

Lau stressed that Macau has a lot to offer, especially now that the hotel rooms in the region have increased in number and improved in quality over the years.

He noted that the number of luxury hotel rooms in Macau has already overtaken that of Hong Kong.

“The room size itself and the facilities [that are] offered in the hotels have a lot of attractions and these appeal to the visitors, no matter [visitors from] Hong Kong, China or overseas,” the real estate expert said.

Lau added that attracting high-rollers was the “right move” for the city, given the current trend of more wealthy tourists investing in “creating good experiences.”

He said that the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-*Macau Bridge (HKZMB) will play a vital role in encouraging visitors from across the Pearl River Delta to visit Macau, as the traveling time and costs will both be reduced.

The HKZMB is expected to help generate non-gaming revenues in the city, as incoming tourists will be attracted to larger retail spaces and the food and beverage offerings at the city’s hotels.

Lau also commended the local government for driving innovation in its creative industries.

“These are all non-gaming [activities and] all of these would be able to help Macau to grow further. These will help diversify the economic base,” Lau stressed.

Although Lau believes that the bridge will create several economic benefits, he is unsure whether it will generate a “significant or large amount” of income. The three regions have invested a staggering sum of over HKD110 billion in the bridge to date.

The discussion also focused on the significance of the region’s MICE industry. Events facilities and convention halls like the Cotai Arena are already a major attraction for several guests.


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## hkskyline

*MGM Cotai to open in the second quarter of 2017*
Macau Daily Times _Excerpt_
November 8, 2016










MGM China confirmed yesterday that its Cotai resort will open in the second quarter of 2017.

The resort’s budget remains approximately HKD24 billion.

“We believe it [MGM Cotai] will be well received by the market and we are confident to capture the growth opportunities of Macau,” stated Grant Bowie, chief executive officer and executive director of MGM China.

The gaming operator also announced its unaudited results for the third quarter. The company recorded total revenue of HKD3.9 billion, an increase of 11 percent from the second quarter of 2016. Adjusted EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) was up 24 percent from Q2 to HKD1.3 billion.

During Q3, the main floor table games win increased by 13 percent from the previous quarter, compared to Macau’s mass-market growth of approximately 8 percent. Hotel rooms achieved an occupancy rate of 95.7 percent. VIP table games win increased 3 percent from the second quarter of 2016.


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## hkskyline

Parisian (just completed) 


20161103 Photo 050 by flicka.pang, on Flickr


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## hkskyline

*Bill to ban construction in Coloane vetoed for the third time *
Tuesday, November 22, 2016 
Macau Daily Times _Excerpt_ 

For the third time, a proposal that aims to protect Coloane’s environment in a more meaningful way has been rejected in the Legislative Assembly. The motion was supported by 11 lawmakers and opposed by 20.

According to Macau law, there are 198,060 square meters in Coloane that are included in the city’s protection area. This area exists to protect the region’s science, ecosystem, and education fields.

José Pereira Coutinho proposed the law be extended so that it will ban the construction of buildings in Coloane’s legally protected lands.

Song Pek Kei voiced concerns about how the neighborhood, more specifically the Seac Pai Van’s public housing residents, will be treated once the law is passed.

According to Coutinho, it has not yet been revealed to the public how much land is still under the protection of the law. He noted that many years have passed since the law’s first establishment by the Portuguese administration.

“Coloane is the backyard of Macau. Besides Zhuhai, Coloane is the only relatively green place in Macau that local residents can visit,” said Leong Veng Chai, who remarked that even the pandas live in Coloane. “If buildings are to be built in Coloane, where are the pandas going to go?”

Ho Ion Sang also expressed his opinion on the bill. Ho said “I am willing to protect Coloane,” although he still has many doubts over the details regarding an article on preventing construction in the area.


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## hkskyline

*Beijing frees up more land for Macau development projects* 
Commentator and Macau observer said move had “tremendous economic and political *implications
South China Morning Post _Excerpt_
November 24, 2016 

Macau – one of the smallest and most densely-populated cities on the planet – looks set to get a little bit bigger as Beijing ramps up its drive to turn the casino town into a mass-market international tourism hub.

A top mainland development official has said that more land – over and above the 5 sq km of mainland real estate already set aside on Hengqin Island for the former *Portuguese enclave – was on offer

The reverse land grab – which was not quantified – follows a visit by Premier Li *Keqiang two months ago, during which he heaped praise on the city’s efforts to diversify its economy.

It also coincides with this week’s announcement that just short of HK$11 billion of public money is to be pumped into an *expansion of Hong Kong’s Disneyland theme park on Lantau which in the near future will be connected to Macau and Zhuhai by a road bridge.

Speaking this week at the 2016 Guangdong-Macau Industrial Cooperation Park meeting, in *Macau, a senior mainland development official said an as yet unspecified amount of land was available for Macau developments.


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## hkskyline

2016.10.26 Taipa Walk 2 by Tony Lei, on Flickr


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## hkskyline

Macau_LRT_MPA_5 by Macau PhotoAgency, on Flickr

Macau_LRT_MPA_2 by Macau PhotoAgency, on Flickr

Macau_LRT_MPA_7 by Macau PhotoAgency, on Flickr


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## hkskyline

*New Hengqin border facilities to be completed in six years*
December 7, 2016
Macau Daily Times 










The Zhuhai authorities have initiated the construction of an integrated border transit center at the Hengqin border. According to Macao Daily News, Zhuhai has invested RMB26 billion in the new facilities, which will be located on Zhuhai’s side of the border. Construction works are scheduled for completion in six years. Occupying a total of 1.21 million square meters, Zhuhai’s new border facilities will have 14 manual checkpoints and 60 automatic checkpoints, 11 of which will be for buses and six for cargo. The Zhuhai government expects the new facilities to have the capacity to handle 220,000 passengers per day.


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## hkskyline

*Light Rapid Transit : Gov’t admits no idea of passenger numbers, journey fares*
January 6, 2017
Macau Daily Times _Excerpt_

With the Taipa Line of the Macau Light Rapid Transit (LRT) project planned for a 2019 launch, local transport authorities have admitted that they have no estimates for ticket fares, nor do they have projections for the number of passengers expected to use the service on a daily basis.

The Transportation Infrastructure Office (GIT) announced that it is conducting studies on ticket pricing, the results of which will be announced closer to the launch date.

“The government is conducting relevant studies and preliminary works on the LRT ticket pricing. To formulate future policies, the government will carefully consider various factors including social and economic benefits, public affordability [and] system operating costs,” said the GIT in a statement emailed to the Times. “Relevant progress will be announced in due course.”

Early government projections claimed that the system could accommodate a maximum of 7,800 passengers per hour per direction across both lines.

However, as the Taipa Line took priority over the Macau Peninsula Line, the GIT said “the government will further study and assess the passenger flow for the project.”

The GIT refused to comment on whether project developers had forecasted an average number of commuters per hour. A GIT representative said the only passenger assessment conducted to date was of the system’s expected maximum capacity.

“At the very beginning of the LRT project development, the project consultant carried out relevant research on capacity of the LRT system. According to the assessment at that time, the LRT will operate 19 hours a day with the maximum capacity of 7,800 passengers per hour, per direction. Based on the assessment result, the government then carried out the procurement of rolling stock and systems and the construction works,” explained the GIT.

If the LRT operates as expected – for 19 hours a day, with a total capacity of up to 15,600 passengers per hour – the light rail infrastructure would be able to accommodate almost 300,000 passengers daily.

However, Macau’s small land mass and abundance of alternative transportation options means that the willingness of residents and non-resident workers to use the LRT will depend on ticket pricing, relative convenience and journey length, among other factors.

More : http://www.macaudailytimes.com.mo/zhuhai-reveals-details-port-hong-kong-zhuhai-macau-bridge.html


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## hkskyline

*Government to initiate preparation for LRT*
Friday, February 3, 2017 
Macau Daily Times _Excerpt_

Transportation Infrastructure Office director Ho Cheong Kei has stated, during a TDM radio show, that the government will initiate preparatory work for the operation of the city’s Light Rapid Transit (LRT) this year.

Ho explained that this preparation will include establishing consultation works regarding legal matters connected to the LRT and assembling the companies involved in the LRT.

Overall, the government’s focus for this year is to install train system facilities and to construct an LRT depot.

“I believe we can accomplish our goal of beginning operation of the LRT Taipa section in 2019,” said Ho. According to him, four companies have been engaged in construction work without issues since last September, when the depot project restarted.

Ho revealed that if the construction contractors can finish projects on time or ahead of schedule, the government will grant them 8 percent of their contract budgets as a bonus. 

In addition, Ho noted that the inauguration of the LRT in 2019 only concerns the Taipa section. The authority will initiate plans for the section connecting to Barra this year.

The 9.3 kilometers of trestle and 11 stations in Taipa are all connected, Ho said, adding that the main construction of the LRT Taipa section is basically complete.


----------



## hkskyline

2016.10.22 Taipa Walk by Tony Lei, on Flickr


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## hkskyline

*Light rail chief to be hired from abroad*
Macau Daily Times _Excerpt_
February 14, 2017 

A Transportation Infrastructure Office (GIT) representative acknowledged that at the moment there are no local people with the needed skills to run the Macau Light Rapid Transit (LRT) project. “The model of the LRT is a novelty for Macau and in regards to the implementation of the project, Macau lacks seasoned professionals to manage the LRT project. Consequently we are thinking about hiring someone from outside with experience in operating light rail projects,” said GIT’s deputy director, Ng Keng Chung yesterday during a press conference held at the Transport Bureau (DSAT).

GIT organized a meeting with local journalists to present the law draft that will serve as a basis for the operations of the future LRT Company which entered public consultation yesterday.

The bill proposes that the LRT be funded by a publicly-owned company. “The government will create a company which is integrally publicly owned to be able to run the LRT. We are not going to include any funding from abroad or from private entities,” Ng Keng Chung explained.

According to Ng, the basis of the decision for creating a publicly owned company was the fact that “outsourcing” a private company with the needed experience to run the transport system “could lack in flexibility on the management of the LRT.” The government felt that its power to supervise in case of a formal concession “could be compromised,” since the company will run autonomously and will be responsible for expenditure and income.

When questioned on the constitution of such a company and when it would be created, Ng did not reply in concrete terms, instead noting that the bill currently under public consultation only defines the guidelines of each party, namely the government and managing company. “For the time being, that’s what we are doing. We haven’t yet stepped to the creation of the company,” he added.

Ng also noted that although it was assumed that no people with the required skills to run the LRT are in Macau at the moment, the government hopes to have local people with capacity to manage the LRT system in a short period of time. Thus, the need to train local staff could be one of the conditions stated clearly in the the contract with the management company.

The government will “delegate competences on this company to run the daily operations of the LRT,” Ng said, adding that the government will also inspect whether or not the company is fulfilling its duties.

In response to a question on when such a law could be delivered to the Legislative Assembly (AL) to be discussed and approved, Ng said: “We expect that with the collection of these opinions we should be able to perfect and improve this first draft into the final law draft to be presented to the AL. Presumably we expect to finish the writing of this law draft within this year.”


----------



## hkskyline

*Tam confirms Central Library will be built at Old Court Building*
Thursday, February 16, 2017
Macau Daily Times _Excerpt_

The new Central Library will definitely be built on the site of the Old Court Building and former Judiciary Police headquarters in central Macau, the Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture confirmed yesterday at the Legislative Assembly (AL). During a meeting requested by lawmaker Song Pek Kei to discuss the location of the project, Alexis Tam said that the location “is ideal for holding such facilities.”

Song noted that the plan to build the new library in the city center does not gather the consensus of society, nor of the lawmakers. Some of the lawmakers do not see the “urgency” of a project that, in her opinion, is “under-evaluated and under-estimated.”

The lawmaker said that there are currently “305 libraries” in the territory, which receive around 2 million visits per year. In the preliminary plan for the central library, it is forecasted that the number of annual visitors could reach 3 million, a number that the lawmaker considers exaggerated and unrealistic.

On top of concerns with the location and the budget, which remains unclear, Song remarked that there are also concerns over the preservation of the historical aspects of the building, which will necessitate more complex and more expensive works than building the project on a vacant site.

She suggested alternative locations for the library, such as the new land reclamation areas or adjacent to the Macau Science Center. “To insist on the idea of the current location would be a waste of time and money. It is best to choose another location and build it from scratch as that is more adequate to the needs of residents,” Song said.

The Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture disagreed, claiming that the government has heard many opinions and concluded that building the facility at the site of the Old Court Building was an appropriate decision. “Such a facility needs to be built in a location with several other facilities and a transportation network in place […] It is not just us [the government] saying this it is IFLA [International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions] saying it too,” he mentioned.

Putting together the figures to back his argument, Tam recalled that the Nam Van area is currently served by four parking lots with a capacity for 1,600 cars and 700 motorcycles as well as about 30 bus routes.


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## hkskyline

*'Peoples' Opinions Matter' in Deciding Lai Chi Vun's Fate*
Feb. 20, 2017
Macau Daily Times _Excerpt_


sunday afternoon... by hugo poon, on Flickr

The Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture, Alexis Tam, said on Friday that he is paying attention to the opinions and concerns expressed by the public regarding the old shipyards of Lai Chi Vun in Coloane.

In a statement issued by the office of the Secretary, Tam said that the Land, Public Works and Transport Bureau (DSSOPT) will soon proceed with the demolition of a part of the old shipyard due to safety issues, and will also launch a tender for a study and plan for the area.

Tam also stated that the Secretary for Transport and Public Works, Raimundo do Rosario, is fulfilling his duties in terms of planning, adding that the services will also express their opinion on the cultural significance of the venue.

Tam hopes that after the work is completed, the area will serve as a new tourist attraction for the region and contribute to the welfare of residents in the area.


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## hkskyline

*TWO LOTS AT LAI CHI VUN SHIPYARDS DISMANTLED*
MARCH 9, 2017 
Macau Daily Times _Excerpt_ 

Two lots of the Lai Chi Vun shipyard area were dismantled yesterday because of their precarious state.

In a statement issued yesterday, the Marine and Water Bureau (DSAMA) said the demolition was necessary since the structures are “seriously damaged due to lack of maintenance, which led to the partial collapse of the main structure of their premises, creating a high security risk.”

The bureau urged the company responsible for the demolition to ensure that the work would not affect the safety of any neighboring facilities and structures.

Additionally, the statement also informed that as a security precaution, the Housing Bureau (IH) advises residents of neighboring houses to temporarily vacate the area while works are being undertaken. The bureau will provide temporary accommodation in cases of urgent need.

The government reclaimed three properties in the Lai Chi Vun area in May 2016. Previously, the president of the Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC), Ung Vai Meng, said discussion between the Macau Government Tourism Office (MGTO) and the Land, Public Works and Transport Bureau (DSSOPT) had concluded that these properties – which include shipyards and two small wooden houses – will “serve to launch a display of traditions” showcasing the heyday of Macau’s shipbuilding industry.

According to the DSAMA statement, from the 18 lots located at Lai Chi Vun shipyards, only four have facilities that are in an acceptable condition and can thus have their licenses renewed.


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## hkskyline

*MGM unveils lion statue, announces Chinese name for Cotai property*
March 8, 2017
Macau Daily Times _Excerpt_









_Source : http://en.mgmchinaholdings.com/media-releases?item=137_

MGM unveiled its golden lion statue at MGM Cotai yesterday, with the announcement of the integrated resort’s name in Chinese “Mei Si Mei 美獅美高梅, meaning “Beautiful Lion, Beautiful MGM.” The ceremony was officiated by Pansy Ho, co-chairperson and executive director of MGM China Holdings Limited, as well as MGM’s team of senior executives.

“This gold-gilded lion statue reveals our passion and dedication for MGM Cotai and its significance. Our gratitude and appreciation goes to everyone who has contributed in bringing this statue to life over the last three years,” said Pansy Ho “With prominent presence in Macau, the two properties of MGM each possesses distinctive characteristics strategically put in place to enhance the city’s diversified non-gaming offerings in broadening its economic diversification while positioning Macau as a world leisure and tourism destination,” she continued.

According to a press release issued yesterday by the gaming operator, the new golden statue “provides an iconic entrance to MGM Cotai” and constitutes “a testament to MGM’s legacy in artistry and entertainment.”

The lion statue, MGM’s emblem, stands at 11 meters in height and weighs 38 tons, and is the first MGM lion statue to be gilded in 24-karat gold with the use of approximately 32,000 sheets of gold foil. The lion sits adjacent to the new resort’s North entrance.


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## hkskyline

*HENGQIN LIKELY TO BE AS DEVELOPED AS SHENZHEN*
MARCH 17, 2017 
Macau Daily Times _Excerpt_

Shenzhen has rapidly developed into a city with an economic status and output to rival that of Shanghai, China’s very own global financial hub.

Barry Wilson, chairman of the British Chamber of Commerce in Shenzhen, predicted yesterday that Hengqin, which is currently undergoing development, will develop in a similar manner to Shenzhen.

“They’re going to produce exactly what they say they’re going to produce. […] it’s a great opportunity for Macau to integrate with Hengqin,” he said.

Wilson, who is the director of a construction consultancy firm and also a scholar, argued that Shenzhen has outperformed Guangzhou in several areas as the leading city in the Pearl River Delta (PRD) region, particularly in technology and design-
related industries.

He attributed the city’s economic growth to its ability to attract talent, due to the jobs offered by internet and finance companies headquartered in the area, as well as local property prices.

Last year, Shenzhen surpassed Beijing and Shanghai as the mainland’s most expensive housing market, Wilson pointed out.

Speaking on the sidelines of the British Business Association of Macau’s (BBAM) monthly breakfast talk, Wilson acknowledged that the significant and rapid growth of the modern metropolis was due to the visionary government.

“The government has been given a mandate for this to happen and they’ve done it. The environment they’ve created has absolutely been pro-business; there’s been all sorts of incentives for companies,” he explained. That is why, he argued, Shenzhen is slated to be China’s second most prominent city, outstripping Shanghai.

Questioned by the Times as to how and why Hong Kong and Macau have lagged behind Shenzhen in their development of industries such as technology and design, Wilson noted that the two SARs were unable to strategically plan for the long term.

“They have had the central government quite happy to give them freedom to carry on in their own way, but at the same time the government here has not felt totally in control to make their own vision,” he said.

“Hong Kong has not really moved forward in 20 years; it hasn’t been able to adapt. It’s trying to protect a lot of the cornerstones and benchmarks of its economies in a very changing landscape, and I think you need to be flexible in today’s world in business and strategic [planning].”


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## hkskyline

*SJM SIGNS HKD25B LOAN FACILITY*
Macau Daily Times _Excerpt_
April 7, 2017

Sociedade de Jogos de Macau (SJM) announced the signing yesterday of a HKD25 billion syndicated loan facilities agreement with 19 leading financial instructions, in order to provide the company with the finances for the construction of the Grand Lisboa Palace.

According to a statement issued yesterday by SJM, the facilities consist of a HKD15 billion term loan facility with final maturity in 2022 and a HKD10 billion revolving credit facility with final maturity in 2020.

The facilities are guaranteed by SJM Holdings Ltd. and carry interest at HIBOR (Hong Kong Interbank Offer Rate) plus a variable margin.

The facility agent and the security agent for the agreement is Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (Macau) and the senior mandated lead arranger is Bank of China Macau Branch.

Representing SJM at the signing ceremony were Chairman of the Board of Directors for SJM, Ambrose So, the company’s Managing Director and Chief Administrative Officer Angela Leong and Director Rui Cunha.

“We are delighted to see the positive response of the banking community to these loan facilities,” said Ambrose So during the signing ceremony yesterday. “This transaction demonstrates the confidence of the capital markets in participating with us in helping Macau achieve its destiny of becoming a world center of tourism and leisure.”

*Budgeted at HKD35 billion, the Grand Lisboa Palace resort in Cotai is scheduled to open in the first half of 2018.*


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## hkskyline

*MOP1 BILLION IN 2016 *
SECRETARY ROSÁRIO SAYS LIGHT RAIL BUDGET IS AS FORECAST
Apr. 12, 2017
Macau Daily Times 

In 2016, the government spent MOP1 billion on the Macau Light Rail Transit (LRT) project bringing the bill to a total of MOP9.2 billion, the Secretary for Transport and Public Works, Raimundo do Rosário, said yesterday at a meeting of the Legislative Assembly Follow-up Committee on Land and Public Concession Affairs.

After the meeting, the president of the Committee, lawmaker Ho Ion Sang, informed the media that “the government told us that the cost [of the LRT project] is according to the forecast.” Back in 2011, Rosario estimated the budget for the first phase of the project, which includes the Taipa line and the connection to the transport hub in Barra, to amount to MOP11 billion.

Rosário reassured that the Taipa section will be running in 2019 and reported that the Transportation Infrastructure Office will be extinct in 2018.


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## hkskyline

*MGM COTAI TO OPEN IN Q4*
Macau Daily Times
May 1, 2017

The MGM resort in Cotai is set to open in the fourth quarter of this year around “National Day Golden Week”, MGM Resorts CEO James Murren revealed during a conference call discussing the group’s first-quarter earnings. In March this year, Grant Bowie, CEO and executive director of MGM China, said the company was “working to meet the target of the opening date in the second half of this year.”

“We want to be open this year. It’s important for us and it’s important for Macau,” Bowie said.

Union Gaming Securities, a boutique investment bank and advisory firm focused on the global gaming industry, also commented on the resort’s opening: “Following the opening of Cotai [project], we expect MGM China to enjoy significant upsides, given what will be an exceptional uptick in room supply for the company, as well as the largest percentage increase in table supply for any of the ‘Big Six’.”


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## hkskyline

The Parisian Macao Hotel

IMG_8738 by Yau Ming Lai, on Flickr


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## mileymc1

Any updates on the Lisboa Palace and other projects going on in Macau apart from MGM?


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## _Hawk_




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## _Hawk_




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## _Hawk_

*The 13 *

http://www.the13.com



























http://macautripping.com/news/blog/457/macautripping-chapter-9-heroes/

Located in the gambling mecca of Macau, in southern China, The 13 is one of the most expensive hotels ever built
The 'all-villa' hotel has 200 suites measuring between 2,000 and 30,000 square feet, with 24-hour butler service
Each villa features a marble Roman bath set under a vaulted Baroque ceiling supported by and a crystal chandelier

This is the first look inside an ultra-luxurious hotel that is styled like a French palace and was built for the world’s super-rich at a staggering cost of £1bn ($1.4bn).
Located in the gambling mecca of Macau, The 13 is being billed as the most luxurious hotel in the world – and it is one of the most expensive ever with a price tag that works out to more than £5million ($7million) per guest room.
Set to open in late summer, the ‘all-villa’ hotel has 200 suites measuring up to 30,000 square feet, 24-hour butler service for every room and a fleet of Rolls-Royce Phantoms to chauffeur guests to Macau’s high-end casinos and restaurants, business meetings or the airport.

Louis XIII Holdings Ltd, the owner of the Baroque-inspired hotel, revealed its name in a joint announcement from Hong Kong and Macau today and released interior renderings of an entry-level room, the one-bedroom Villa du Comte, to provide a sneak peek.
It is an over-the-top project from flamboyant Chinese billionaire Stephen Hung, the company’s joint chairman, who is known for his extravagant lifestyle and luxury car collection.
The former investment banker made headlines in 2014 when he visited England to place a £14million ($20million) order for 30 customised Rolls-Royce Phantoms, the largest single order ever made, for The 13.






In his new hotel, the split-level Villa du Comte guest rooms will be the smallest at 2,000 square feet in size while the largest, the Villa de Stephen (named for Hung), is 30,000 square feet, with some reports claiming it will cost around £70,000 ($100,000) a night.
The hotel hasn’t revealed the nightly rates just yet, however, but it did reveal that every room is unique and virtually every design detail in the hotel is bespoke and created especially for The 13.
That includes everything from elaborately detailed Baroque scrollwork, sculptures, fabrics, wall coverings, furniture, tableware and the Rolls-Royce Phantoms.





































dailymail


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## _Hawk_

*The Roosevelt Macau *

The renowned Hollywood Roosevelt hotel from Los Angeles is set to add to the glitz and glamour of Macau come early next year. The new Roosevelt Macau will be built near to the enclave’s Cotai Strip entertainment hub.

Staying true to the flamboyant style of its Hollywood namesake, the Roosevelt Macau will be developed as a “jetset retreat” and its design is said to be a modern take on Hollywood glam with a 1950s retro twist. The 12-storey Roosevelt Macau will house 373 guest rooms ranging from superior to suites, with balconies overlooking the sea and the neighbouring Macau Jockey Club. Guest accommodation will also include four villas.


















http://www.hotels-g.com/hotels/roosevelt-hotel-macau/


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## hkskyline

*MACAO WATER AGREES DEAL FOR NEW TREATMENT PLANT*
June 15, 2017
Macau Daily Times _Excerpt_

Macao Water, responsible for providing the city’s water supply, has reached a consensus with the MSAR government on the building of the Seac Pai Van Water Treatment Plant in Coloane, the company informed in a statement released yesterday.

The two parties had been negotiating over the terms of the treatment plant for almost three years. This consensus, “marks a significant milestone” in the company’s history of providing water services, claimed Macao Water.

Under the terms of the agreement, Macao Water will be responsible for funding the construction of the Seac Pai Van Water Treatment Plant, while the raw water source will originate from the fourth pipeline to be built jointly by the Macau government and local authorities in Guangdong Province.

Construction work will begin shortly and is expected to be completed by the end of 2019.

When completed, the new water treatment facility will provide a daily production capacity of 130,000 cubic meters of water. This will increase the territory’s total daily water supply to a total of 520,000 cubic meters.

According to Macao Water, this should be sufficient to meet the city’s water demand for the next 10 years as well as “securing the safety and stability of the water supply” in Taipa and Coloane.

Nacky Kuan, the executive director of Macao Water, said that the company was pleased to have finally reached an agreement with the government.

“The Seac Pai Van Water Treatment Plant […] involves a substantial amount of investment that exceeds the investment by far required by the concession contract,” she said. The statement from Macao Water did not specify how much the construction would cost the company.


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## hkskyline

*HOTEL WITH 30 ROLLS-ROYCES AND NO GUESTS SEEKS FUNDS*
June 30, 2017
Macau Daily Times _Excerpt_

Luxury builder 13 Holdings Ltd. has a fleet of 30 bespoke Rolls-Royce Phantoms for its hotel project in Macau, but no guests to ride in them.

That’s because the company has yet to receive a license to operate the exclusive The 13 project in Macau’s Cotai Strip, despite saying in 2016 that it expected to do so by the end of that year. The firm announced its fourth straight year of net losses yesterday as it considers trying to change conditions on its loans amid the delay. 13 Holdings has total debt of about HKD4.5 billion, more than 10 times its bank balances and cash of HKD323.6 million, according to its filing.

13 Holdings announced it would build the hotel in 2013, which was when total gambling takings for Macau peaked at a record USD45 billion. After that, the world’s biggest gambling hub suffered a three-year slump in gaming revenue amid China’s anti-corruption crackdown and slowing economy. While there has been some recovery for the industry this year, risks remain. Macau’s government announced plans in May to require facial recognition and identification card checks at ATMs, to curb money laundering and stem outflows.

“13 Holdings’ debt problems are emblematic of the issues that gaming-related companies in Macau face in light of China’s anti-corruption crackdown,” said Thomas Dillenseger, Hong Kong-based managing director at restructuring firm Alvarez & Marsal. Some companies related to Macau’s gaming industry have seen a significant decline in revenue, he added.

The Hong Kong-listed shares of 13 Holdings reversed course to close down 7 percent, the sharpest drop in a year. They had earlier advanced as much as 1.6 percent.

Certain terms in a bank borrowing of about HKD3 billion outstanding as of March 31 “require the opening of the group’s hotel in Macau to be no later than July 31,” the firm said in an exchange filing. “If in mid-July the group anticipates that the hotel cannot be opened according to the above schedule, the directors of the company will obtain an extension of the opening date under this covenant.”


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## hkskyline

*Beijing Rejects Fourth Bridge, Sinking Macau Investment*
Aug 21, 2017
Macau Daily Times _Excerpt_

Beijing has rejected the proposal for a new bridge connecting Macau and Taipa, citing safety concerns, the Macau Infrastructure Development Office (GIT) informed on Friday.

Authorities in the Chinese capital are demanding further studies on route safety before approval can be granted, calling into question the substantial financial investment that has already gone into the project.

Earmarked as the fourth Macau-Taipa link, the project was intended to connect the reclaimed land at Zone A, east of the peninsula, with Zone E1, northwest of the airport.

The GIT submitted the bridge proposal to the Central Government in July 2016, but received a reply last month that the project could not be green-lit before further studies into safety and waterway conditions had been conducted.

Beijing’s rejection comes less than two months after Macau’s government awarded a MOP188.37 million contract to Ove Arup & Partners Limited, a Hong Kong design and engineering solutions company, to provide project management services between 2017 and 2021.

Last September, the local government also awarded a separate contract for the preliminary design of the fourth bridge to a mainland-based state-owned enterprise, CCCC Highway Consultants Co. The MOP75.19 million contract was to be paid in three installments between 2016 and 2019.

It remains unclear why local authorities required approval from the Central Government. Transportation, infrastructure and urban planning fall within the scope of Macau’s local autonomy, and the proposed site for the bridge was located in Macau’s maritime jurisdiction.

Speaking to public broadcaster TDM, GIT representative Chao Vai Man said that it was “all about the safety of the route as the proposed location of the fourth bridge is in the middle of a high-speed waterway.”

“[We need to] conduct further research before we submit it to the Central Government for a second look,” he said, adding that “the research will begin as soon as we obtain the approval from the SAR government.”

According to Macau’s Five-Year Development Plan (2016-2020), construction on the fourth bridge was scheduled to begin this year and conclude by 2019, with an opening scheduled for 2020.

With the future of the fourth link in limbo, transportation authorities may now double down on the so-called fifth link: an underwater tunnel envisioned to run parallel and between the Governador Nobre do Carvalho Bridge and the Friendship Bridge.


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## mileymc1

Macau is an interesting place that really intrigues me. Crazy to think how it's developing and progressing since the handover. 


Appreciate keeping this page updated!


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## hkskyline

mileymc1 said:


> Macau is an interesting place that really intrigues me. Crazy to think how it's developing and progressing since the handover.
> 
> 
> Appreciate keeping this page updated!


Thanks. Ever since the casino monopoly was broken, there has been a lot of construction on Taipa with many new casino resorts opening and U/C. It is quite a drastic change for them with the government trying to spread some of the gambling earnings through annual special payments to citizens.


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## hkskyline

*CONSTRUCTION ON NEW WATER TREATMENT PLANT TO BEGIN SOON*
Aug. 22, 2017
Macau Daily Times _Excerpt_

After three years of preparation, Macao Water is slated to commence construction of the Seac Pai Van Water Treatment Plant in Coloane soon.

Covering an area of 17,000 square meters next to Seac Pai Van Reservoir on Estrada do Altinho de Ká Hó, Seac Pai Van Water Treatment Plant will be built with an investment of around MOP1 billion from the city’s water company.

The new water treatment plant is a high-standard water treatment facility that uses energy-efficient, emission-reducing intelligent technology to facilitate the city’s water recycling.

At the sidelines of the launch ceremony yesterday, Director of the Marine and Water Bureau Susana Wong estimated that construction of the fourth water supply pipeline will be complete by the end of 2019.

“The mainland water supply company is trying to complete the project by the end of [2019]. Any project progress will be reported to the SAR government, [Macao Water] will stay in close contact with them,” Wong said.


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## _Hawk_

*Imperial Pacific*























































https://www.postguam.com/news/local...cle_707d20a0-615c-11e7-ad5c-1bb416c66f73.html


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## erkantang

That's not macau


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## hkskyline

*VALUE OF WORKS DIPPED LAST YEAR AS RESORTS COMPLETED*
Oct. 9, 2017
Macau Daily Times _Excerpt_

The value of works in the construction sector decreased by 13.9 percent year-on-year to MOP79.38 billion in 2016, according to data released by the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC).

The government department attributes the decrease to the number of completed large-scale resorts and other entertainment facilities by the summer of that year, as well as a decrease in private residential projects.

Total revenue from the construction sector amounted to MOP81.15 billion, down by 13.1 percent year- on-year. Gross value added, (which measures the sectoral contribution to the economy) totaled MOP19.48 billion, down by 17.2 percent.

A total of 2,920 establishments were operating in the construction sector last year, an increase of 170 year-
on-year. Of this, 1,272 establishments were involved in construction projects and 1,648 were undertaking renovation projects. The total number of people engaged in the sector decreased by 5,645 to 45,316.

Around 1,400 construction projects were carried out with permits in 2016, according to DSEC, up by 55 year-on-year. By category, the number of public works projects (542) rose by 71, while the number of private construction projects (890) fell by 16.

The value of construction works completed by the private sector decreased 18.7 percent year-on-year to MOP64.38 billion, of which the value of construction of hotels and entertainment facilities (MOP47.93 billion) and private residential buildings (MOP11.15 billion) decreased by 21 percent and 29.1 percent, respectively.

On the other hand, public sector construction value increased by 18.2 percent year-on-year to MOP12.03 billion, of which public housing construction (MOP2.26 billion) and health projects (MOP2.17 billion) rose by 3.9 percent and 78.3 percent, respectively. The latter’s surge was driven by the foundation works of the under-construction Islands Hospital.


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## mileymc1

Is the MGM any closer to opening? Seems like its just getting pushed back and back and taking forever!


Apart from MGM & Lisboa Place (another sow project) what else is on the cards for Cotai? Morpheus is turning out amazing, the Metro is ongoing, the bridge is coming along nicely but I don't think there is any other major projects in the pipeline... Unless I'm wrong?


I think Macau needs to focus on entertainment now. The hotels are there, casinos, restaurants, retail etc... I think a big theme park, water park or some kind of big attraction is needed next. 


Still plenty of land around the strip if I'm not wrong?


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## hkskyline

mileymc1 said:


> Is the MGM any closer to opening? Seems like its just getting pushed back and back and taking forever!
> 
> 
> Apart from MGM & Lisboa Place (another sow project) what else is on the cards for Cotai? Morpheus is turning out amazing, the Metro is ongoing, the bridge is coming along nicely but I don't think there is any other major projects in the pipeline... Unless I'm wrong?
> 
> 
> I think Macau needs to focus on entertainment now. The hotels are there, casinos, restaurants, retail etc... I think a big theme park, water park or some kind of big attraction is needed next.
> 
> 
> Still plenty of land around the strip if I'm not wrong?


There is plenty of land on Cotai to build more, but I always thought Macau is a purely gambling destination and the entertainment options have never been built up. The visitors come to gamble regardless so they would rather maximize the tables on the floor instead of making it more like Vegas.


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## hkskyline

mileymc1 said:


> Is the MGM any closer to opening? Seems like its just getting pushed back and back and taking forever!


Just got news MGM Cotai is opening in late January 2018.

http://en.mgmchinaholdings.com/MGM-COTAI


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## hkskyline

*SANDS TO INVEST USD1.1B IN ‘LONDONER’ REMODEL*
Oct. 27, 2017
Macau Daily Times _Excerpt_ 

Las Vegas Sands Corp., capitalizing on the rebound in Macau gambling, will spend USD1.1 billion renovating its properties there, including turning the Sands Cotai Central into a London-themed resort.

The property will be rebranded as the Londoner Macao and feature attractions tied to some of the English capital’s most recognizable landmarks, the company said in a statement. The remodeling will add an additional 1.7 million square feet of space, and the resort will accommodate more overnight guests than the Venetian and the Parisian combined, said billionaire founder and CEO Sheldon Adelson. The Four Seasons Macao will get 295 new suites in a separate tower.

“Having three iconic must-see European-themed destination resorts, with a broad range of amenities, will strengthen our marketing and customer-service capabilities and position us to grow faster than the Macau market,” Adelson said on an analysts call on the results.

Sands has already invested over USD13 billion in the region since it was the first U.S. company to open a casino there in 2002. Sands and its rivals have been looking for vindication for their bets on expensive new properties after withstanding a Beijing-led corruption crackdown that stalled growth in Macau for three years. Overall gambling revenue in the region rose 22 percent to MOP67 billion ($8.34 billion) in the third quarter, the fifth in a row of year-over-year growth.

Macau, the only place in China where casino gambling is legal, accounts more than half of Sands’ sales. The city is seeing a return of VIP players even as new resorts such as Sands’ Parisian lure more middle-class gamblers.

Sands’ investments underscore its bet that long-term growth will come from attracting mainstream Chinese visitors.

“The company remains focused on a broad range of non-gaming amenities, which is ultimately what will drive visitation and put the company in a better position to remain a strong operator in the dynamic market,” said analyst Chad Beynon at Macquarie Bank Ltd.

Sands’ appeal to casual gamblers, tourists and families continue to pay off as the company’s third-quarter results topped analysts estimates. About 89 percent of Macau profit in the quarter was generated from mass gaming tables, slot machines and non-gaming offerings.

Visits from mainland Chinese visitors gained 15 percent from a year ago, the company said. The visitors increased the length of their stays, and the casinos’ winnings at the tables and slots generally frequented by casual gamblers increased 8.7 percent to $512 million.


----------



## hkskyline

hkskyline said:


> *Government to initiate preparation for LRT*
> Friday, February 3, 2017
> Macau Daily Times _Excerpt_
> 
> Transportation Infrastructure Office director Ho Cheong Kei has stated, during a TDM radio show, that the government will initiate preparatory work for the operation of the city’s Light Rapid Transit (LRT) this year.
> 
> Ho explained that this preparation will include establishing consultation works regarding legal matters connected to the LRT and assembling the companies involved in the LRT.
> 
> Overall, the government’s focus for this year is to install train system facilities and to construct an LRT depot.
> 
> “I believe we can accomplish our goal of beginning operation of the LRT Taipa section in 2019,” said Ho. According to him, four companies have been engaged in construction work without issues since last September, when the depot project restarted.
> 
> Ho revealed that if the construction contractors can finish projects on time or ahead of schedule, the government will grant them 8 percent of their contract budgets as a bonus.
> 
> In addition, Ho noted that the inauguration of the LRT in 2019 only concerns the Taipa section. The authority will initiate plans for the section connecting to Barra this year.
> 
> The 9.3 kilometers of trestle and 11 stations in Taipa are all connected, Ho said, adding that the main construction of the LRT Taipa section is basically complete.


LRT TRAINS EXPECTED TO ARRIVE NEXT MONTH
*LRT Trains Expected to Arrive Next Month*
Macau Daily Times
Oct. 26, 2017

The first batch of Macau’s Light Rapid Transit (LRT) trains was shipped to Macau from Japan on October 20, according to a statement published by the Transportation Infrastructure Office (GIT). “After coordination with Mitsubishi, […] the trains are expected to arrive at Ocean Station in early November, where the associated train tests will then be carried out *to achieve the target of Taipa Line Operations in 2019*,” the statement reads. The first series consists of four carriages; each one has a length of 11.8 meters, a width of 2.8 meters, a height of 3.6 meters and weighs about 15 tonnes.


----------



## hkskyline

*ARCHITECT: CITY CAN PRESERVE SENSE OF HERITAGE, ADAPT TO CHANGES*
Macau Daily Times _Excerpt_
November 10, 2017

Macau is reaching a stage where it has the foundation, wealth and the know-how to build a sustainable city, said Christopher Law, founder and director of The Oval Partnership.

The Hong Kong-based architect is confident that Macau can develop its own technology that is intelligent and can assist to create sustainable urbanism.

At a talk held yesterday by the British Business Association of Macau (BBAM), Law reiterated the importance of rebuilding and developing communities in a way that does not lose the city’s history and story.

The architect, who has received multiple awards for his design projects, highlighted the importance of involving local residents in projects that aim to conserve the city’s heritage.

He hinted that government councils should improve their interaction with residents on developing communities with a foundation of history.

Questioned by the press on whether Macau could also be receptive of initiatives similar to the “Blue House” project in Hong Kong, a project he took part in, the expert noted that the city’s diverse culture gives it an advantage in such an idea.

The “Blue House”, a nearly century-old building, has undergone a significant revamp and revitalization project in Wan Chai, which has turned itself into a multi-functional services complex.

The space includes a House of Stories, which is dedicated to exhibiting creative works of the city, alongside restaurants and a community services center.

“It [Macau] has got the most unique culture in the Macanese community. What would be better than combining these two together so you can have a living community and a living heritage that not only concerns from the past but [also] developed in the future,” Law told the press.

The architect believes that buildings are only able to last centuries if they know how to adapt to the changing needs of their residents.

He also believes in preserving culture and history, yet adapting to the changes needed by a certain district. This is a way to develop many parts of the city, economically, socially and environmentally, and would enrich the status of Macau as a World Heritage City. 

More : http://macaudailytimes.com.mo/architect-city-can-preserve-sense-heritage-adapt-changes.html


----------



## hkskyline

*SOCIAL AFFAIRS AND CULTURE: NO HIGH-RISE BUILDINGS IN LAI CHI VUN AREA*
Dec 4, 2017
Macau Daily Times _Excerpt_

On the second day of the Secretariat for Social Affairs and Culture Policy Address presentation at the Legislative Assembly (AL), Alexis Tam pledged that the government will not build high-rise buildings in the Lai Chi Vun shipyards area, located in Coloane.

Tam attended the AL meeting on Friday to answer the questions of lawmakers regarding the policy address in the field of Tam’s secretariat.

Sulu Sou pointed out that the government has already spent about half a year in order to carry out the cultural relic evaluation of Lai Chi Vun old shipyards, and that the evaluation has not been completed yet.

What is left of the shipyards in Lai Chi Vun reminds of the time when the coastal villages were thriving in Macau. Historical accounts indicate that in the 1950s, there were around 10,000 fishermen and over 30 shipyards in Macau, many of them in Lai Chi Vun. Suffering from regional competition and the surge of the gaming industry in Macau, the industry collapsed in the 1990s.

“How long are we planning to put off the cultural relic evaluation? […] Two of the shipyards have been demolished because of the incomplete cultural relic evaluation by the Land, Public Works and Transport Bureau,” said Sou, adding “after several seasons, you will not need to do it [evaluation] anymore, [the shipyards] will disappear.”

“Is [the Lai Chi Vun dshipyards land plot] going to be used for building high-rise residences with a view to the sea?” Sou asked.

More : https://macaudailytimes.com.mo/poli...-no-high-rise-buildings-lai-chi-vun-area.html


----------



## hkskyline

hkskyline said:


> *Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau bridge expected to boost hotel industry*
> 23 June 2016
> Macau Daily Times _Excerpt_
> 
> The future landscape of the hotel market in Hong Kong and Macau was discussed yesterday at the Business Luncheon of American Chamber of Commerce in Macau at the St. Regis hotel.
> 
> The speaker, Chun-Kong Lau, international director and head of Valuation Advisory Services of Jones Lang LaSalle Limited, emphasized the importance of tourism in the growth of Macau’s economy.
> 
> Lau stressed that Macau has a lot to offer, especially now that the hotel rooms in the region have increased in number and improved in quality over the years.
> 
> He noted that the number of luxury hotel rooms in Macau has already overtaken that of Hong Kong.
> 
> “The room size itself and the facilities [that are] offered in the hotels have a lot of attractions and these appeal to the visitors, no matter [visitors from] Hong Kong, China or overseas,” the real estate expert said.
> 
> Lau added that attracting high-rollers was the “right move” for the city, given the current trend of more wealthy tourists investing in “creating good experiences.”
> 
> He said that the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-*Macau Bridge (HKZMB) will play a vital role in encouraging visitors from across the Pearl River Delta to visit Macau, as the traveling time and costs will both be reduced.
> 
> The HKZMB is expected to help generate non-gaming revenues in the city, as incoming tourists will be attracted to larger retail spaces and the food and beverage offerings at the city’s hotels.
> 
> Lau also commended the local government for driving innovation in its creative industries.
> 
> “These are all non-gaming [activities and] all of these would be able to help Macau to grow further. These will help diversify the economic base,” Lau stressed.
> 
> Although Lau believes that the bridge will create several economic benefits, he is unsure whether it will generate a “significant or large amount” of income. The three regions have invested a staggering sum of over HKD110 billion in the bridge to date.
> 
> The discussion also focused on the significance of the region’s MICE industry. Events facilities and convention halls like the Cotai Arena are already a major attraction for several guests.


The sheer scale by Phot For The Day, on Flickr


----------



## hkskyline

Studio City 

Studio City, Macau by Stephen Chan, on Flickr


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## hkskyline

*PUBLIC CONSULTATION ON LAI CHI VUN DURING Q1*
Jan. 9, 2018
Macau Daily Times Excerpt


sunday afternoon... by hugo poon, on Flickr

The public consultation on the Lai Chi Vun old shipyards area will be launched during the first quarter of 2018, the head of the Heritage Department of the Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC) and acting deputy president of the IC, Leong Vai Man, said on Saturday, at a public event.

According to TDM, Leong told the media that his bureau would try to have the first batch of public consultation regarding the old shipyard buildings and the area that comprises Lai Chi Vun completed “in the first quarter of this year.”

The measure was said by Leong to be included in the heritage assessment procedure “that we must finish within a 12-month period,” adding, “I’m confident that will not take too long to happen.”

The acting deputy president of the IC also noted that the Land, Public Works and Transport Bureau (DSSOPT) will be in charge of the planning for the public consultation. He explained that “it is still at the research stage now,” and expressed his hopes that DSSOPT would successfully integrate the views of all others bureaus involved (including the IC) to articulate a “suitable plan.”

In 2017, the shipyards was one of the most crucial public disagreements between the offices of Secretaries Alexis Tam (Social Affairs and Culture) and Raimundo do Rosário (Transport and Public Works); the disagreement culminated with Rosario’s decision to proceed with demolitions of some of the shipyards based on “safety concern measures”. Tam had sought an evaluation of the site that would lead to a heritage classification.


----------



## hkskyline

*CONSULTATION ON LAI CHI VUN SHIPYARDS STARTS MONDAY*
Jan 19, 2018
Macau Daily Times _Excerpt_

The Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC) will conclude a report on the evaluation of the Lai Chi Vun shipyards within 12 months. This was the announcement of the acting deputy-director of the IC, Leong Wai Man, at a press conference yesterday.

Leong believes that the IC will be able to finish the work earlier than the 12-month deadline.

The local government will also deliver a report on Macau’s historical city protection to UNESCO.

From January 20 to March 20, the IC will carry out two public consultations: one regarding the protection and management plan of Macau’s historical city and one about the property evaluation regarding the Lai Chi Vun shipyards.

The evaluation of the Lai Chi Vun shipyards will also include the harbor in front of the shipyards, as well as the roads on the other side of the shipyards.

According to Leong, to assess their value, the Lai Chi Vun shipyards will be sorted into three categories: buildings, architectures and memorials.

The Lai Chi Vun shipyards are being evaluated to determine whether they meet the MSAR’s legal definition of cultural relics. The site is potentially significant because Macau’s shipbuilding industry began at the shipyards and because of the formation of a historical village near the area.

When addressing the evaluation, Leong pointed out that Lai Chi Vun, like other facilities, will be evaluated to assess whether it is a human creation with important cultural value or a joint creation made by both humans and nature.

“The most important is their landscape value,” stressed Leong.

There were originally 14 shipyards; two have already been demolished, and three will be transferred to the IC for management.

During the passage of typhoon Hato, the shipyards were damaged.

“Last year, we reinforced the Lai Chi Vun shipyards,” Leong said. “After Hato, we did another reinforcement work. Later, we will increase the number of our inspections.”


----------



## _Hawk_

*City of Dreams*


















http://www.isidorsfugue.com/2017/10/the-morpheus-hotel-in-macau.html


----------



## _Hawk_

*Grand Lisboa Palace *


















http://www.ggrasia.com/grand-lisboa-palace-hopes-for-at-least-150-tables-so/


----------



## hkskyline

*MGM China delays opening of US$3.4 billion Cotai casino resort for fourth time*
Company says it is still going through an administrative approval process, and expects the resort to open in February
South China Morning Post _Excerpt_
January 25, 2018

MGM China Holdings, one of Macau’s six major casino operators, has delayed for a fourth time the opening of its much anticipated US$3.4 billion new resort, MGM Cotai, saying it was still going through an administrative approval process.

The company’s second integrated casino, hotel and entertainment complex in Macau, MGM Cotai was originally scheduled to open on January 29, and invitations to the opening ceremony had already been sent out.

The complex was first scheduled for opening in 2016, a date that was pushed back to the first half of 2017 and then to the second half of 2017, before the company announced in September last year the date would be January 29.

“The company is going through the administrative approval process of obtaining relevant licences to operate MGM Cotai,” MGM China said in a filing to the Hong Kong stock exchange. “As a result, it is now expected that the public opening date of MGM Cotai will be within the month of February 2018.”

It said that the overall budget of the project was expected to remain unchanged at about HK$27 billion (US$3.4 billion).

More : http://www.scmp.com/business/china-...lays-opening-us34-billion-cotai-casino-resort


----------



## hkskyline

*FIVE CONSTRUCTION WORKERS DIED IN 2017*
Feb 1, 2018
Macau Daily Times _Excerpt_

Five fatal work accidents this year in the construction sector were the direct outcomes of misconduct. This figure represents an increase of one death from 2016, said the Labour Affairs Bureau (DSAL) in a press conference this week.

From January to September, Macau recorded 5,591 injuries (including the five deaths) from work-related accidents, 617 of which were from the construction sector.

The department found 234 incidents of misconduct that resulted in the issuance of MOP882,000 worth of fines and penalties, a growth of 48.36 percent.

The department issued a total of 89 work suspension orders (87 to the construction sector) in 2017, whereas in 2016, only 31 such orders were issued.

DSAL said that the department would work harder in 2018, hoping that incidences of poor work safety practices – especially those resulting in injury – will be scarcer in 2018.

The bureau intends to implement more measures to promote safety issues in the construction sector this year.

The number of complaints from workers regarding labor conflicts decreased 31 percent year-on-year, which is primarily attributed to the 30 percent decrease of complaints filed in relation to the construction sector.


----------



## hkskyline

*MGM COTAI OPENS ITS DOORS TO THE PUBLIC*
Feb 14, 2018
Macau Daily Times _Excerpt_

The doors to MGM Cotai officially opened at 7:30 p.m. yesterday at the Lion Lobby Entrance, as the resort’s first batch of visitors filtered by an 11-meter-tall golden lion statue that stands guard outside the property.

At a press conference earlier in the day, CEO of MGM Resorts International and Chairperson of MGM China Holdings Jim Murren credited his partnership with Pansy Ho for the impact he expects the property to make on Macau.

“We set out with a vision to develop an integrated resort that brings first-of-
its-kind experiences to Macau and beyond. I am incredibly proud of the talented global team of MGM professionals for bringing this vision to life with the opening of MGM Cotai,” said Murren.

“MGM is committed to supporting the development of Macau as a global tourism destination and I am grateful to the Macau government for allowing us the opportunity to invest and develop a second property here.”

Murren was joined on stage by Grant Bowie, the CEO of MGM China Holdings, and Pansy Ho, co-Chairperson of MGM China Holdings, as well as two of the resort’s four celebrity chefs, Janice Wong and Mitsuharu Tsumura.

For her part, Pansy Ho said that her ongoing partnership with MGM remains “innovative” and that the collaboration has worked to “serve Macau.”

“We have been working wholeheartedly to build Macau as a world center of tourism and leisure,” she said. “All the while, we have upheld our mission, which is to serve Macau. The Macau SAR […] has now become a distinguished ‘global brand’, allowing us to showcase our ambition and determination.”

Grant Bowie described MGM Cotai as the “next generation of integrated resort,” but added “we are not trying to be everything to everybody.”


----------



## hkskyline

MGM COTAI 美獅美高梅 : 13/Feb/2018 開幕，攝影：大年初四 by henrystudio, on Flickr

MGM COTAI 美獅美高梅 : 13/Feb/2018 開幕，攝影：大年初四 by henrystudio, on Flickr

MGM COTAI 美獅美高梅 : 13/Feb/2018 開幕，攝影：大年初四 by henrystudio, on Flickr


----------



## hkskyline

*SHORT-TERM FLOOD CONTROL MEASURES PROPOSED FOR INNER HARBOR AREA*
Mar 9, 2018
Macau Daily Times _Excerpt_

The Government is garnering opinions from different sectors on a proposal to introduce short-term measures to improve flood control and drainage management in the Inner Harbor area.

Representatives from the Marine and Water Bureau (DSAMA), the Land, Public Works and Transport Bureau and the Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau, among others, have met this week with a group of small business owners from the Inner Harbor area to exchange opinions and discuss the proposed measures to control flooding in that area of the city, the DSAMA informed in a statement.

The director of DSAMA, Susana Wong, explained that the government is proposing to develop a 2.13-kilometre-long flood barrier system alongside the Inner Harbour. The flood barrier system would stretch from the Maritime Training School in Barra, to the New Maritime Administration Building in Doca do Lam Mau.

The proposed barrier would be 3 meters tall and able to withstand tidal waves of up to 4.8 meters tall. Tidal waves of 4.8 meters tall were considered a rare event in Macau, only occurring on average once every 20 years, officials said during the meeting.

The system would include a mix of semi-permanent and fully removable flood barriers, plus reinforced concrete walls. It would also include access points to piers in the Inner Harbor, to minimize business disruption in the area. A total of 13 fixed water pumps would be installed along the flood barrier to improve drainage and prevent backflow of seawater into the city’s sewerage system.

As a long-term measure to prevent flooding in the Inner Harbor district, the government had proposed to build a tidal barrier at Wanzai waterway in Zhuhai Prefecture, and an overall flood control system for the tidal basin covering Zhongshan, Zhuhai and Macao. Both projects have been approved by the relevant ministries and departments of the Central Government, Susana Wong said.


----------



## hkskyline

*CHUI SAI ON MAKES NO COMMENTS ON IMPOSING BUILDING HEIGHT LIMITS*
Mar 20, 2018
Macau Daily Times _Excerpt_

Macau’s work regarding the protection of the region’s cultural heritage adheres to guidelines from the UNESCO World Heritage Centre and to advice from experts in the field, the Chief Executive said yesterday before departing to Beijing to attend the National People’s Congress’ closing ceremony.

During a public consultation regarding the Plan for Protection and Management of the Historic Centre of Macau, the government claims to have received a number of opinions regarding the proposed delineation of a visual corridor in order to preserve the view – as seen from the Macau peninsula – of the Chapel of Our Lady of Penha, at Penha Hill. Chief Executive Chui Sai On said that “it would be difficult to comment on whether there should be height limits for buildings in relation to the proposed visual corridor,” as that topic is still under consultation procedures.


----------



## hkskyline

*GOV’T MAY ALLOW SMALL INNS AND SHOPS AT LAI CHI VUN*
Mar 19, 2018
Macau Daily Times _Excerpt_


the abandoned shipyard by hugo poon, on Flickr

The government’s plan to revitalize the Lai Chi Vun area in Coloane will include the possibility of installing small inns as well as shops in the area. 
“We can think about not [building] hotels but small inns, restaurants, small teashops. We don’t want a big hotel that could destroy the area,” the acting president of the Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC), Leong Wai Man, said.

The seminar on the protection and revitalization of Lai Chi Vun was attended by several experts as well as representatives of the village residents, who presented suggestions for the development of the space, such as the creation of museums, parks, hotels and even real estate projects.

“It can be turned into coffee shops, restaurants, hotels, museums. We can also use the Lai Chi Vun shipyards area as a residential area,” said lawmaker Eddie Wu.

The local historian, Cheang Kuok Cheong, has expressed concern on the proposed projects.

“A lot of money has been spent to preserve the wood and iron structures and I think we should think this in a broader sense,” Cheang said. He noted that the government has enough financial resources to preserve the shipyards and he proposed that the government should consider preserving the Coloane village as a whole.


----------



## hkskyline

*PLAN TO BUILD A ‘NEIGHBORHOOD’ FOR THE ELDERLY IN HENGQIN ANNOUNCED*
Macau Daily Times _Excerpt_
March 23, 2018


Macau 橫琴看澳門 by MelindaChan ^..^, on Flickr

The government is planning to build not just a nursing home for elderly people on Hengqin island, as was revealed previously, but a “neighborhood” dedicated to the senior citizens.

The Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture, Alexis Tam, went yesterday to the Legislative Assembly (AL) for a meeting dominated by elderly-related issues. “We have an idea… maybe we can use Hengqin island to build a all area or a neighborhood for the elderly,” Tam said. “We are still waiting for the master plan for the Greater Bay [area] but maybe we can even have more space in other [neighboring] regions to do this job.”

The focus is to work “in favor of a decent life” for the senior citizens, Tam explained. “In the future, and if that is the wish of the elderlies, they can live in mainland China, at one of the nine regions of the Greater Bay Area. People might consider this as an option,” Tam said, noting that mainland life is cheaper and nursing homes have “great quality and are very well equipped.”

The secretary presented statistical data on the current occupancy of the elderly homes existing in the region. “In Macau there are currently 21 homes and from those, 11 are subsidized by the government, presenting a total of 2015 beds in total,” the secretary said. “There are currently 1,514 elderlies that are housed in those places, which means that the occupancy is currently at 71 percent. For private houses it [the occupancy rate] is 85 percent, so generally I would say that there is still space to house more people.”


----------



## hkskyline

*POUSADA DE SÃO TIAGO EXPANSION PROJECT MOVES FORWARD*
April 26, 2018
Macau Daily Times _Excerpt_

The expansion of the Pousada de São Tiago Hotel, located in Barra, unveiled back in 2014, has received the green light from authorities and will soon move forward, the Land, Public Works and Transport Bureau (DSSOPT) confirmed to Jornal Tribuna de Macau, after receiving a favorable opinion from the Cultural Affairs Bureau.

The five-star hotel unit, installed since 1982 on the former São Tiago da Barra Fortress (dating originally from the 17th century), has been temporarily closed since the end of March 2017.

At that time, the owner of the facility, lawmaker Angela Leong, announced its temporary closure due to a lack of guests at the hotel. This was mostly attributable to the negative impact of the adjacent construction of Barra’s multi-modal transportation center that will connect the light rail to other public transport systems upon completion.

According to DSSOPT, the building owners are preparing to move forward with the expansion, which was announced by the contractor who won the tender for the works. The project scope covers a “new 7-storey building and vehicle access passages in the northeast of its current site.” The same company is also “undertaking excavation, granite chipping and crushing, anchor packing, slope consolidation and other site levelling engineering, as well as the construction of reinforced concrete structures for the new hotel, outer walls, electromechanical devices, gardens and other works.”

The company responsible for the project, the Metallurgical Corporation of China Ltd (MCC) Overseas, also announced on their website in early December that the works commenced in mid-November last year, but did not specify a date of completion.


----------



## hkskyline

*COMMITTEE OPPOSES LISTING SHIPYARDS AS CULTURAL RELICS*
June 7, 2018
Macau Daily Times _Excerpt_

The Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC) has not yet made a final decision on the Lai Chi Vun shipyards’ classification, IC Director Mok Ian Ian said yesterday.

At the current stage, the evaluation process concerning the shipyards is still in motion, according to Mok. A consultation summary report on the shipyards will be published next week.

Mok also revealed that during the public consultation concerning the shipyards’ classification, 80 percent of the public suggested that the shipyards should be listed as cultural relics.

On Tuesday, Macau’s Cultural Heritage Committee held a plenary meeting, with 17 committee members in attendance. Of them, 14 disagreed with listing the shipyards as cultural relics.

Members of the committee generally agreed that the Lai Chi Van shipyards need to be activated and reused so as to better extend the value of the properties in terms of landscape and shipyard techniques, and solidify its role as a cultural resource, thereby achieving a greater benefit for Macau.

Some of the members are worried that if the shipyards are declared cultural relics, the properties will be included under the city’s cultural heritage protection law, which will make activation and utilization of the shipyard properties very difficult.

After the discussion, most of the committee members did not agree that the shipyards are cultural relics, instead focusing on benefit to society.

Most of the committee members are also worried that if the shipyards become listed as cultural relics, a large amount of public money will be used to repair them.


----------



## hkskyline

*KA HO OLD LEPROSERY REVAMP COMPLETE*
June 21, 2018
Macau Daily Times _Excerpt_

The revamp of the Ka Ho old leprosery is now complete and the site will be used for youth education and tourism, the Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture Alexis Tam announced yesterday.

Yesterday, a media group guided by Tam’s Secretariat and the Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC) was taken to visit the Ka Ho village.

During the visit, it was announced that repairs of the five Portuguese-style houses in the former Ka Ho leper colony were finished in May, costing a total of MOP6.7 million. Renovations of the houses have taken five years to complete since 2016.

An IC representative revealed that the properties will be used as training base for young people and to educate the public about the history of leprosy in Macau.

“In the future, the government plans to use this area, which offers a special environment, to let young people use it as a camp site to learn about old architectural history and about the lifestyle of leprosy patients,” said the IC representative.

A church near the newly-repaired houses will also be repaired shortly.

“It was a church in the past. Hopefully it can be renovated as an exhibition space to exhibit social welfare or medical history,” the IC representative said.

The small church, named Our Lady of Sorrows Church, was built in 1966 to serve the needs of the Ka Ho settlement, predominantly made up of the families of cured lepers and those newly afflicted with the disease. It has a bronze crucifix over the north door which was created and given to Ka Ho by the Italian sculptor Francisco Messima.

The Secretary Alexis Tam said, “Not only can they be education centers, they can also be used by tourists for leisure purposes. It’s not just these five houses. There are hills on the back. Hopefully it can be made into a leisure, culture and art area. I believe that more residents, tourists and youth will use the facilities.”

A sixth house is currently under evaluation regarding its renovation plan, with its renovation expected to finish in 2019.

Once complete, this house will also be used for educational and tourism purposes.


----------



## hkskyline

*NEW LUXURY MALL TO OPEN IN CITY CENTER*
June 29, 2018
Macau Daily Times _Excerpt_










This summer, a new retail development will bring luxury retail to the heart of the city’s UNESCO-listed historical center.

The new mall will be located a stone’s throw from Senado Square and next to heritage-listed property Lou Kau Mansion, which was damaged back in late February 2016 and later repaired by the Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC).

Named “Yellow House”, the project is the result of a partnership between Circle Property Development Limited and Hong Kong’s Henry iAN Investment Limited. According to the developers, it has been transformed from a residential building into a four-storey premium retail venue, presenting a trendy interior with a mixed façade that merges modernity with the traditional lines and outlook of the old buildings around that part of the city.

The architectural design was created by two companies: the local office of Aedas, managed by Chan Leung Choi and CAA City Planning & Engineering Consultants Limited, a company established and owned by the Macau Legislative Assembly’s lawmaker and the Chief Executive’s cousin, Chui Sai Peng.

On the development project’s website, Chan stated that his interest in the project had to do with “an obligation to contribute to the other pillar of Macau’s architectural development [after being involved in several mega projects in Cotai], which is the contextual intervening approach to existing historical architecture,” adding that his work’s inspiration came from “university excursions in 1984, and yes, Macau’s vision of conservation started in the 1980s.”

From an architectural perspective, the project “is located in one of the most historical neighborhoods as well as in the heart of the most vibrant tourist area of Macau. With careful control of building volume and preservation of the existing facades, it will be weaved into the urban fabric where local Macanese as well as tourists can immediately tell the story behind its evolution.”


----------



## hkskyline

*RED MARKET LIBRARY TO REOPEN NEXT WEEK*
July 13, 2018
Macau Daily Times _Excerpt_

The renovation works at the Red Market Library have been concluded and the facility will reopen to the public on July 18.

Last year, the library was seriously affected due to the impact of Typhoon Hato. Thousands of books and various equipment, including air-conditioning machines, bookcases and furniture, were damaged. The affected wooden materials added to the problem of environmental hygiene in the venue, leading to its temporary closure.

The renovation works mainly included the supply and installation of air-conditioning equipment, resolution of water leakage problems, deep cleaning and disinfection of floors, inspection and maintenance of electrical switches, replacement of sockets and network cables, among others. According to a statement issued by the Cultural Affairs Bureau, “most of the facilities and furniture are moveable and can be reused in the future.”

Currently, the Red Market Library features a collection of approximately 6,000 books and 65 seats, six computers with internet access, a self-check in machine, self-service book return system and a book sterilizer. It also provides library card application services, a loan and returns service, opportunities for the reading of newspapers and periodicals, 24-hour self-service book return, photocopying, free broadband internet access and electronic database search.


----------



## hkskyline

*MACAU’S FIRST-EVER ESPORTS VENUE LAUNCHED*
August 2, 2018
Macau Daily Times _Excerpt_










Macau’s first-ever esports venue was officially opened Tuesday at an inauguration event at the Studio City integrated resort.

Dubbed the “Macau EStadium”, the venue is located inside Melco Resorts’ Studio City and is described by company representatives as a “high performance event space […] equipped with cutting-edge advanced technology.”

The gaming operator wants the “stadium”, which, at a maximum of capacity of 274 guests, more closely resembles a repurposed theater, to cater to top-tier e-sport tournaments and virtual gaming leagues.

The venue features high-performance virtual gaming facilities which are expected to attract multiplayer tournaments from around the region. According to the resort operator, the venue is already booked to host an array of top competitions in the coming year.

The electronic tournaments may then be broadcast to local audiences with both Mandarin and Cantonese narration, as well as streamed internationally.

Melco also sees the venue as a way of attracting a new generation of customers to its resorts and of elevating Macau into a multifaceted tourist destination in Asia.

“Esports is a fast-growing market segment that is constantly innovating and evolving, and Melco is confident that this venue will allow us to further cater to younger patrons while continuing to bring fresh and novel experiences to all our guests,” said Geoff Andres, property president of Studio City.

“The Macau EStadium is the first of its kind here in Macau and we are honored […] to launch such an exciting new event space that will stage some of the most electrifying e-sport events around the world,” he added.

Esports comprise multiplayer video game tournaments played by professional gamers and spectated by fans who may follow the competition as a live audience or via internet or television broadcasting.


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## hkskyline

*LRT TAIPA SECTION TO OPEN IN SECOND HALF OF THIS YEAR*
Jan 10, 2019
Macau Daily Times _Excerpt_

The Transportation Infrastructure Office (GIT) issued a statement on Tuesday announcing that the Light Rapid Transit (LRT) will open in the second half of 2019.

The GIT also clarified that the government has not yet made a final decision regarding the LRT fare, as it is currently conducting studies.

Moreover, the GIT announced that the LRT Barra section and its affiliated transportation hub is expected to be completed in 2024, and thus the Taipa and Barra sections will be connected.

In the first quarter of 2019, the government expects to launch a public tender for the LRT Seac Pai Van line, as reported by the GIT.

On Tuesday, GIT representatives had a meeting with the island advisory council. During the meeting, according to the council members, a GIT representative revealed that LRT operation hours are planned to be between 6 a.m. and 1 a.m.

In total, there will be 11 stations and 55 cars, with each car able to transport a maximum of 100 people.

Furthermore, as reported by the council members, the company responsible for the operations, run by Hong Kong’s MTR corporation, has more than 300 employees, more than 200 of whom are Macau locals.


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## hkskyline

*Cultural Heritage Site Owner has Legal Duty of Conservation, Says IC*
June 27, 2019
Macau Daily Times _Excerpt_










The Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC) said yesterday that it is required by law that the owner of a cultural heritage site conserves their protected property at their own expense.

Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture Alexis Tam told the media yesterday that he agrees with the Commission Against Corruption’s (CCAC) report about Ilha Verde Hill and its neighborhood. He also said he has already ordered the IC to take the CCAC’s comments seriously.

Hours later, the IC held a press conference to brief the media about its work since the publication of the CCAC report earlier this week.

In his opening note, acting director Chan Kai Chon stressed that the bureau will take the report seriously. It will study the suggestions set forth in the report with vigilance. It will also conduct and supervise its work according to the law.

The head of the Cultural Heritage Department Choi Kin Long listed the work the IC had conducted for the Ilha Verde Hill site, including pinpointing construction, surveying and mapping, as well as making records of aged trees on the hill.

The owner of the site, especially that of the monastery on the hill, had not conserved the area properly. Choi said that the bureau sent a letter two years ago to the buildings’ owners regarding the necessary conservation. Survey diagrams were even provided to the owners following their requests.

The 2017 request made by the IC was mainly related to the restoration of the landscape of the hill.

There has not been much progress in the conservation. The owners have, in the previous two years, cited several reasons for deferring their duty to conserve the site.

More : https://macaudailytimes.com.mo/cult...r-has-legal-duty-of-conservation-says-ic.html


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## hkskyline

*Authorities Scouting Border Gate Area for Typhoon Tourist Shelter*
Macau Daily Times _Excerpt_
Aug 9, 2019

The Public Security Police Force (PSP) and the Social Affairs Bureau (IAS) are looking for a place near the Border Gate to build an emergency shelter for tourists.

According to the Commissioner General of the Unitary Police Service, this emergency shelter is expected to start providing services when the next typhoon hits.

As for other ports of Macau, the local government has reserved spaces to provide emergency shelter for tourists.

In addition to offering a shelter for tourists during extreme weather events, the PSP and mainland police authority reached an agreement to actively release information at all borders to inform a wider range of tourists about Macau’s arrangements for typhoons.

Currently, the Border Gate area has one emergency shelter, which is located at the Macao Federation of Trade Unions Workers’ Stadium.

Together with the Border Gate shelter, the city will have a total of 18 emergency shelters.

In addition to the shelters, the IAS also provides four meeting places or places for people to stay during emergency evacuations.

Besides opening one more shelter, this year, the security authority also plans to add a play point at Coloane’s security college, as well as to add more speakers across town in order to be more effective at broadcasting evacuation alarms during typhoons. In total, the number of speakers will be increased to 140 units this year.

More : https://macaudailytimes.com.mo/auth...er-gate-area-for-typhoon-tourist-shelter.html


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## hkskyline

* Police to Test Surveillance Cameras, Facial Recognition in 2020 *
Macau Daily Times _Excerpt_
Nov 8, 2019

In 2020, the Unitary Police (SPU) will start testing the facial recognition functionality of some of the city’s CCTV surveillance cameras, according to a statement released by SPU yesterday.

Since the setup of the cameras has to comply with strict requirements and restrictions in terms of installation height, angle and lens pixels, the security authority plans to first select 50 cameras installed during the first and the third phases of the process in order to test the facial recognition feature in the first quarter of next year.

In the second half of next year, an additional 50 cameras will be selected to test the facial recognition function to assess the effectiveness of the city’s CCTV surveillance cameras, according to SPU.

According to Macau law, the camera image-retention period is up to 60 days, with images automatically deleted from the system after 60 days.

When the video footage constitutes evidence and the images are needed by the police, the authority claims that it will strictly adhere to application procedures to obtain the images and will destroy them within 30 days after the relevant judicial proceedings are completed. To ease public concerns, the police authority claims that it has already established a series of rules for use to ensure that the authority safeguards the privacy of members of the public.

More : https://macaudailytimes.com.mo/police-to-test-surveillance-cameras-facial-recognition-in-2020.html


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## hkskyline

*Residents Remind Govt of Harmonious Urban Planning and Renewal*
Nov 14, 2019
Macau Daily Times _Excerpt_

Will the project of urban renewal follow the overall plan of the city’s urban planning?” some participants questioned the government at the last public consultation session held for the Urban Renewal Law.

Some participants raised the question to the presiding government officials, including the Secretary for Administration and Justice, Sonia Chan and head of the Legal Affairs Bureau, Liu Dexue.

Liu responded that the city would be divided into parcels of land in the process toward urban renewal. Each parcel of land will have the spatial design, surrounding transportation factors and supporting infrastructure taken into account in a holistic manner.

Some participants were interested to know how the government would utilize vacant buildings that are of heritage value.

They even cited Singapore as an example to illustrate the work that can be done, such as revamping the interior and conserving the exterior of such buildings, while turning them into commercial establishments.

Worries were further expressed that the urban renewal project might become a commercial development project.

The current proposal of the law set forth descending thresholds for reconstruction. In order for properties less than 40 years, but more than 30 years, to be reconstructed, agreement must be obtained from a minimum of 90% of the unit owners. The threshold will be lowered to as little as 60% for properties that have been deemed dangerous to the public by the government bureau and that have already been demolished.

The legal bureau head allayed fears by expressing his opposition to projects becoming property development schemes. He stressed that urban renewal was being proposed to improve the quality of life of local residents. It will only be done once protection of private ownership rights has been secured.

As for compensation, some were curious if shop tenants would be compensated. Liu said compensation concerning shops and other commercial spaces would be evaluated appropriately, in a timely and reasonable fashion. However, it will be at the discretion of the owners and tenants to determine if and how the compensation will be divided.

More : https://macaudailytimes.com.mo/residents-remind-govt-of-harmonious-urban-planning-and-renewal.html


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## hkskyline

* No Price Tag Yet for Zone A Public Housing Units *
Macau Daily Times _Excerpt_
Nov 29, 2019

The Housing Bureau (IH) has built a total of 3,011 housing units in Zone A – nearly 1,000 fewer than what Chief Executive Chui Sai On had promised in his 2019 policy address.

Originally, 4,000 home-ownership scheme (HOS) units were planned to be built on the four plots of Zone A, however, one of the bidders had previously filed an appeal against the outcome of the public tender for the HOS construction project.

The subsidized HOS units comprise of 760 one-bedroom units, 998 two-bedroom units and 1,253 three-bedroom units.

This round of applications – the first since 2013 – requires that applicants’ minimum income for a one-person household be over 11,640 patacas per month, and 17,680 patacas for a two-person household. A household with seven members or more should have a monthly income of at least 34,390 patacas.

The maximum limit of net assets for one-person household HOS applicants is 1.27 million patacas, while the limit for two-person household HOS applicants is 2.54 million patacas.

More : https://macaudailytimes.com.mo/no-price-tag-yet-for-zone-a-public-housing-units.html


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## hkskyline

* New Macau Stresses Equity in Urban Regeneration *
Macau Daily Times _Excerpt_
Dec 6, 2019

Pro-democracy group New Macau Association (ANM) has said that individual owners should be better protected by the urban renewal legislation framework currently under public consultation.

Suggestions from the group regarding the legislation framework were submitted to the Legal Affairs Bureau (DSAJ) yesterday afternoon.

According to the Basic Law, land resources in Macau are national property. The ANM stressed that urban renewal should not equate to real estate projects and recommended that the project be conducted to improve residents’ quality of life.

The group thought that that consideration of several aspects was required to achieve this. These include ensuring transparency and the participation of individual owners, regulating the terms and conditions of the letter of consent, allowing a cool-down period for the enactment of the letter, and prioritizing the “one-for-one” option, with monetary compensation as an auxiliary measure only.

The group also recommended having an objective selection process for the developer, surveyor and valuator. Measures such as lot drawing from a pool of accredited professionals should be considered.

New Macau is concerned that if the future law does not specify measures to protect the interests of owners, the proposed mechanism of descending consent quorum will likely result in forced evictions, which the group considers detrimental to the stability of the city.

More : https://macaudailytimes.com.mo/new-macau-stresses-equity-in-urban-regeneration.html


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## hkskyline

* LRT opens with much excitement, just one minor glitch *
Macau News _Excerpt_
Dec 11, 2019









_on.cc_

Residents, many of them senior citizens, were keen to try out their free-of-charge LRT rides on the Taipa section of the long-delayed Light Rail Transit (LRT) when it finally started operating Tuesday afternoon – there was a lot of excitement in the air and just a minor glitch.

Passengers can take free LRT rides until December 31.

Macau’s first-ever railway was inaugurated yesterday morning at the LRT depot – which is located opposite Wynn Palace, before the first ride departed from the Taipa Ferry Terminal station – the eastern terminus of the Taipa section – on time at 3:33 p.m.

Residents’ enthusiasm to try out the city’s first-ever railway was visible by the long queues at the Taipa Ferry Terminal station from which the first ride departed. The first in the queue, a young man, got there at around 1 p.m. He told reporters that he is a railway enthusiast and that the opening of the LRT Taipa section is a historic moment for the city.

More : https://macaunews.mo/lrt-opens-with-much-excitement-just-one-minor-glitch/


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## hkskyline

* New border port to Macao will decrease crossing time *
China Daily_Excerpt_ 
14 December 2019

The construction of the new border port between Macao and Zhuhai on Hengqin Island is expected to be finished by Dec 20 - the 20th anniversary of Macao's return to motherland, local authorities said.

After it starts operation, the new Hengqin port is expected to handle 222,000 daily passenger crossings, up from 25,300 currently, and the daily vehicle crossings will increase from about 2,700 to more than 7,000, said Wang Yan, deputy director of Hengqin New Area Free Trade Office.

More than 5,000 workers are contributing to the construction, he added.

Currently, although Lotus port in Macao is very close to Zhuhai's Hengqin port, the separate customs clearance takes around half an hour and passengers have to take shuttle buses over Lotus Bridge, he said.

In order to cut customs clearance time, Lotus port will be moved to the new Hengqin port and they will adopt joint inspection so that passengers and vehicles only need to be checked once, he said.

"It will only take around three to five minutes for customs clearance through the e-channels."

More : https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/201912/14/WS5df41bafa310cf3e3557e17b.html


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## hkskyline

* Light Rapid Transit Trial Period Extended Until Jan 31 *
Macau Daily Times _Excerpt_
Dec 31, 2019


Macau LRT | Ocean Cruiser | 002 by Ngan Ken, on Flickr

The government has decided to extend the trial period of operation of the newly opened Macau Light Rapid Transit (LRT) until January after it encountered operation failures on three occasions since its opening to the public on December 10.

The Secretary for Administration and Justice André Cheong Weng Chon told the press yesterday that the government requires the LRT company to conduct in-depth investigations of the failures, analyze the causes of the failures, and propose solutions.

He emphasized that if the failure involves management or equipment errors or defects, the company’s responsibilities need to be clarified in accordance with the provisions of the contract and handled in accordance with the laws and applicable contractual provisions.

Cheong also claimed that it is normal for a new public transport system to encounter difficulties.

He added that the experimental operation of the Taipa line serves to detect problems and find solutions in order to improve the system.

“The LRT is new to Macau,” said Cheong. “We all know that it is a new integrated transportation system. It needs some time to adjust during the experimental period.”

More : https://macaudailytimes.com.mo/light-rapid-transit-trial-period-extended-until-jan-31.html


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## hkskyline

* Long-Delayed Ka Ho Prison Construction Still Years Away *
Macau Daily Times _Excerpt_
Jan 8, 2020

The director of the Correctional Services Bureau (DSC), Cheng Fong Meng, reported on the progress of the construction of Ká Hó Prison yesterday on the sidelines of a celebration for the upcoming Chinese Lunar New Year.

Currently, the construction company is in the third phase of building the new prison, which is expected to be completed in another 693 working days, or nearly two years.

The construction of Ká Hó Prison started in 2010 and was scheduled to complete in 2014. In 2016, two years after it was initially scheduled to finish, the first phase, which consisted of the watch tower, walls and other facilities, was completed. The second phase of construction started in 2016 and was completed in 2018. 

The first, second and the third phases costed 140 million, 1.05 billion, and 739 million patacas respectively.

The fourth phase has not yet gone to public tender and so its budget remains unknown. The fourth phase will consist of the installation of a security system, an internet system and a telecommunications system.

Despite having been under construction for nearly a decade, the prison’s completion date is still unclear.

The DSC director explained that construction delays were caused by changes to the design as the result of the unstated geographical features of the land plot where the new prison would be located. These changes, in turn, meant another round of approval procedures was required from the land and public affairs authority.

Secretary for Security Wong Sio Chak remarked yesterday that due to the prison’s capacity issues, the security authority has faced added pressure and concerns whenever criminals are arrested.

More : https://macaudailytimes.com.mo/long-delayed-ka-ho-prison-construction-still-years-away.html


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## hkskyline

* Wanzai Port Opening Marred by Imported Coronavirus Cases *
Macau Daily Times _Excerpt_
Jan 24, 2020

The resumption of ferry services at the Wanzai Port yesterday after a nearly four-year break was marred by the developing Wuhan coronavirus situation in Macau.

Yesterday, Macau’s Chief Executive and Guangdong’s vice-provincial governor, together with other government officials from both Macau and Guangdong Province, presided over the reopening of Wanzai Port.

The Zhuhai side expects to record between 8,000 and 10,000 daily crossings on average at the new port.

Zhuhai authorities will open the port from 7 a.m. until 10 p.m. daily, as opposed to the previous arrangement when the port was only open for seven hours per day.

In total, there will be 110 ferries traveling between Inner Harbour Ferry Terminal and Wanzai Ferry Terminal.

The arrival hall on the Macau side will consist of six e-crossing channels and two manual channels. Another three back-up manual channels will be available inside a visa office.

In total, these channels are expected to register 1,710 crossings per hour. At the departure hall, there will be seven e-channels and two manual channels, and another three back-up manual channels. These channels can cope with 2,130 crossings per hour. Departure and arrival halls combined, the immigration checkpoints are capable of handling 3,840 crossings every hour.

More : https://macaudailytimes.com.mo/wanzai-port-opening-marred-by-imported-coronavirus-cases.html


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## hkskyline

* IAM Announces Public Toilet Overhaul Project to Complete This Year *
Mar 11, 2020
Macau Daily Times _Excerpt_










The Municipal Affairs Bureau (IAM) is planning to improve public toilets across the special administrative region by transforming them into “high quality facilities,” the government announced yesterday.

The project, which will begin this year, will involve the IAM renovating all public toilets in Macau in stages.

The bureau will study the interior design and layout of toilet space and adjust the proportion of male and female compartments, as well as the ratio for child-friendly compartments. Handrails will be added where needed in order to meet the needs of the elderly.

The IAM will also seek to introduce environmentally-friendly elements to the facilities, increase the amount of indoor foliage and review ventilation to improve the problem of bad odors.

New equipment designed to reduce physical contact within public toilets will be introduced, including automatic sensors for toilet flushing and the dispensing of toilet paper and soap.

These measures are hoped to raise the level of community hygiene and contribute toward the development of a healthy city, according to the IAM.

In total, some 60 public toilets will be reorganized under the project, while 23 facilities will be renovated. The IAM plans to draw on the assistance of the Macau Architects Association, with local architects designing the new facilities.

More : https://macaudailytimes.com.mo/iam-...t-overhaul-project-to-complete-this-year.html


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## hkskyline

*Government Grants Melco Until 2022 to Fully Develop Studio City Land*
Macau Daily Times _Excerpt_
Apr 29, 2020

The Macau SAR government has granted Melco International Development Ltd until May 31, 2022 to completely develop the land plot on which Studio City is situated.

However, the gaming operator noted in a statement that it could not guarantee that they could complete the development of the remaining project in time, and would request an additional extension if needed.

“Prior to the Covid-19 outbreak, we estimated a construction period of approximately 32 months for the remaining project. With the disruptions from the Covid-19 outbreak, the construction period may be delayed and extend beyond the estimated approximately 32 months,” Melco said in its annual report.

“In the event that additional time is required to complete the development of the remaining land of Studio City, we will have to apply for an extension of the relevant development period which shall be subject to Macau government review and approval at its discretion,” it added.

In the same report, the gaming operator announced that works for phase two of Studio City have already started.

More : Gov’t grants Melco until 2022 to fully develop Studio City land


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## hkskyline

* Govt to study ‘suitability’ of Central Library, Estoril projects: Ao Ieong *
Macau Post _Excerpt_
May 5, 2020









_Old Courthouse in Nam Van_

Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture Elsie Ao Ieong U said yesterday that the government will study the suitability of turning the Old Courthouse in Nam Van into the city’s new Central Library and converting the old Hotel Estoril and its adjacent swimming pool into a youth recreation and activities centre, as well as building several schools on the former greyhound racetrack in Fai Chi Kei.

Ao Ieong made the remarks during a one-day Q&A session in the legislature’s hemicycle about her portfolio’s policy guidelines for this year.

Ao Ieong’s predecessor, Alexis Tam Chon Weng, was strongly pushing ahead with the three projects during his five-year term which lasted from December 2014 to December last year. The three planned projects, particularly the first two projects, have been controversial in civil society. Some lawmakers and civil leaders said it was not suitable for the new Central Library to be built in the busy city centre. Some activists said that the Estoril youth centre project would fail to protect the “cultural value” of the dilapidated hotel.

More : Govt to study ‘suitability’ of Central Library, Estoril projects: Ao Ieong


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## hkskyline

*Govt aims for LRT Hengqin section project to start this year: Rosário *
Macau Post _Excerpt_
May 7, 2020

Secretary for Transport and Public Works Raimundo do Rosário said yesterday that the local government aims for a Light Rail Transit (LRT) section connecting Macau’s Cotai and Zhuhai’s Hengqin Island to get off the ground this year.

The policy secretary also said that as the LRT Cotai-Hengqin section is a cross-border project, it will be constructed by a mainland construction company.

Rosário also pledged that the government will invite bids this year for the construction of the LRT Seac Pai Van section, which will connect the still under-construction Cotai hospital complex – officially known as Cotai Healthcare Complex – and the sprawling Seac Pai Van public housing estate in Coloane. The policy secretary said that although the Seac Pai Van section will only have two stations, it will still be a large-scale project as it will be 1.6 kilometres long.

The government has said that the station outside the Cotai hospital complex of the Seac Pai Van section will have a footbridge connected to the Lotus Checkpoint station of the Taipa section for LRT passengers to walk between the two stations – to transfer between the Taipa section and the Seac Pai Van section.

Macau’s first LRT – the Taipa section – came into service on December 10 last year. The LRT Taipa section cost between 10.1 billion and 10.2 billion patacas.

The 9.3-kilometre-long Taipa section, which also covers Cotai, has 11 stations.

More : Govt aims for LRT Hengqin section project to start this year: Rosário


----------



## hkskyline

*CTM to invest 2 billion patacas to optimise 5G network*
Macau Post _Excerpt_
May 18, 2020

Telecom operator CTM has completed the construction of the core network for its 5G service, vowing to invest another 2 billion patacas in the network for five years to continuously optimise the network.

The announcement was made by CTM Network Services Vice President Declan Leong Pui Hong, Commercial Affairs Vice President Ebel Cham Pou I and Corporate Communications Director Eliza Chan during a press briefing about the 5G network.

According to Leong, the first stage of the core network construction was completed last month. He said that the first phase of the construction for the 5G non-standalone (NSA) network that began in March would be completed by the end of next month, while the second phase would be finished next year.

5G NSA is a solution for 5G networks where the network is supported by the existing 4G infrastructure.

Leong also pointed out that one of the biggest challenges of building the 5G network is locating a large number of base stations that requires space, which Macau lacks. He said that CTM had asked the government open up its buildings and other facilities to give the industry space for the installation of base stations, which was favourable for network coverage and capacity expansion.

More : CTM to invest 2 billion patacas to optimise 5G network


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## hkskyline

*The State of Our Heritage 15 Years After UNESCO Listing *
Macau Daily Times _Excerpt_
July 9, 2020

Macau is currently celebrating the 15th anniversary of the inscription of its Historic Centre on UNESCO’s World Heritage List.

The listing includes a collection of over twenty locations representing mostly the architectural legacy of the city’s cultural heritage, including buildings, monuments, squares, churches, and temples.

The Historic Centre of Macau comprises two distinct areas: Zone 1, with sites between Mount Hill and Barra Hill, and Zone 2, which refers to the heritage venues located on Guia Hill.

According to UNESCO’s description, “with its historic street, residential, religious and public Portuguese and Chinese buildings, the Historic Centre of Macau provides a unique testimony to the meeting of aesthetic, cultural, architectural and technological influences from East and West.”

“It bears witness to one of the earliest and longest-lasting encounters between China and the West, based on the vibrancy of international trade.”

Over the 15 years that followed, Macau registered tremendous development driven by the expansion of the gaming industry, which undeniably added wealth to the region, but also urban pressure to areas of the old city, where most heritage sites are located.

Not long after, in 2007, a group of residents wrote a letter to UNESCO to complain about several construction projects planned for the area in the surroundings of the Guia Lighthouse, included in Zone 2 of the Historic Centre of Macau.

More : The state of our heritage 15 years after UNESCO listing


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## hkskyline

* Lai Chi Vun Shipyard Museum Opens to Public *
Macau Daily Times _Excerpt_
Nov 23, 2020 

Macau’s first museum featuring shipbuilding craft techniques and shipyard history is now open in Coloane village, at the Estrada de Lai Chi Vun.

On Friday, the Shipbuilding Craft Culture Association held a ceremony to inaugurate the opening of the Lai Chi Vun Shipyard Museum.

Located at the office of Macau-Taipa Coloane Shipbuilders Association, the small museum occupies an area of approximately six square meters.

This will be the first time these shipyards are presented to members of the public since late 2018, when the local government officially listed them as immovable property.

“It is the opening of a new page for Macau shipbuilding culture,” the Shipbuilding Craft Culture Association said.

At the museum, visitors will be able to see shipbuilding tools which were used by Macau’s shipbuilders, as well as depictions of fishing vessels from different times.

More : Lai Chi Vun Shipyard Museum opens to public


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## hkskyline

* Activist Group Calls for Classification of Rainha Dona Leonor *
Macau Daily Times _Excerpt_
Nov 25, 2020










The non-profit activist group Docomomo Macau has once again called for support from the public and government for the conservation of one of Macau’s oldest housing blocks — the Rainha Dona Leonor (RDL) — which has been under threat of demolition.

Docomomo, an organization that supports the preservation and recognition of architecture in Macau, released the results of its assessment regarding the RDL housing block in a seminar yesterday.
The group drew on the background of the architect, José Lei, to reiterate the high heritage value of this architecture.

“Knowing the [architect] is so important,” said Rui Leão, president of Docomomo Macau, at the seminar, adding that “because the classification of a building is not just about the object itself, […] it’s also an issue of understanding the significance of the [architect], his contribution as a whole, and understanding how this work was at the time recognized.”

The RDL was the first high-rise residential building in downtown Macau with an elevator and was created by architect José Lei in the late 1950s.

More : Activist group calls for classification of Rainha Dona Leonor


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## hkskyline

* The Londoner Macao to Hold Opening Ceremony in February 2021 *
Macau Daily Times _Excerpt_
Dec 16, 2020

Macau will see a new integrated resort opening with the Londoner Macao to help broaden its tourism appeal in 2021.

The Londoner Macao, a British-themed integrated resort of Sands China Ltd., is set to open early next year, according to a statement published by the resort yesterday.

In the announcement, several new facilities will open in the first quarter of next year as part of the first phase of the integrated resort’s opening, including the all-suite Londoner Hotel, the Crystal Palace atrium, new eateries and interactive London-themed attractions.

The official ceremony will be held in early February 2021.

“London is an iconic city and we anticipate this addition will further raise the profile of Macau while increasing the number of visitors, as our other flagship properties have done,” said President of Sands China Ltd. Wilfred Wong as cited in the statement.

Sands China has invested around MOP16 billion into the resort so far, which the conglomerate said will open in phases throughout 2021.

More : The Londoner Macao to hold opening ceremony in February 2021


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## el palmesano

hkskyline said:


> * The Londoner Macao to Hold Opening Ceremony in February 2021 *
> Macau Daily Times _Excerpt_
> Dec 16, 2020
> 
> Macau will see a new integrated resort opening with the Londoner Macao to help broaden its tourism appeal in 2021.
> 
> The Londoner Macao, a British-themed integrated resort of Sands China Ltd., is set to open early next year, according to a statement published by the resort yesterday.
> 
> In the announcement, several new facilities will open in the first quarter of next year as part of the first phase of the integrated resort’s opening, including the all-suite Londoner Hotel, the Crystal Palace atrium, new eateries and interactive London-themed attractions.
> 
> The official ceremony will be held in early February 2021.
> 
> “London is an iconic city and we anticipate this addition will further raise the profile of Macau while increasing the number of visitors, as our other flagship properties have done,” said President of Sands China Ltd. Wilfred Wong as cited in the statement.
> 
> Sands China has invested around MOP16 billion into the resort so far, which the conglomerate said will open in phases throughout 2021.
> 
> More : The Londoner Macao to hold opening ceremony in February 2021


now they are building that:








The next one should be one inspired on Seville here:









Macao







www.google.com





hahha. 

I imagine a copy if Giralda there:


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## hkskyline

* Nüwa Hotel to Reopen on Feb 8 *
Macau Daily Times _Excerpt_ 
Jan 13, 2021

Nüwa hotel at City of Dreams Macau is slated to reopen on February 8, following refurbishment works.

The renovation of the hotel kicked off in early 2020 and is again ready to accommodate guests by February 8, just in time for the upcoming Chinese New Year.

According to the website of City of Dreams Macau, the hotel “presents Eastern aesthetics and modern bespoke hospitality.”

Nüwa offers around 300 accommodations, including 33 luxurious villas.

The hotel also features a Michelin three-starred Cantonese restaurant Jade Dragon, as well as spa treatments.

More : Nüwa hotel to reopen on Feb 8


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## hkskyline

* Team Members Prepare for the Londoner's Opening * 
Macau Daily Times _Excerpt_
Jan 22, 2021

More than 2,000 Sands China team members joined rallies at the Londoner Theatre Tuesday, as they gathered to prepare for the upcoming February 8 first-phase unveiling of The Londoner Macao.

The Londoner Macao’s opening team consists of more than 5,700 team members, according to the gaming operator. Among them, 25% have served the company for at least 10 years.

“The entire company is eagerly anticipating the launch of our newest themed destination – The Londoner Macao,” said Sands China president Wilfred Wong.

More : Team members prepare for The Londoner’s opening


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## hkskyline

* Galaxy Phase 4 Moves Forward, Investment Surpasses MOP13B *
Macau Daily Times _Excerpt_ 
Feb 24, 2021










Galaxy Entertainment Group Ltd (GEG) announced on Monday that Phase 4 of its Galaxy Macau project is progressing towards construction.

The next phase of the development of GEG in Taipa will represent an investment of over MOP13 billion and will be built by the China State Construction International Holdings Ltd (China Construction).

The construction is expected to take about three years to complete.

Further details on the letter of intent include a MOP245 million performance promise in favor of GEG, aiming to ensure that all contracted services by China Construction are fulfilled within the agreed timeline.

The company previously announced that Phase 3, which is currently moving towards completion, and Phase 4 would almost exclusively include facilities related to the group’s non-gaming activities.

More : Galaxy phase 4 moves forward, investment surpasses MOP13b


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## hkskyline

* Galaxy's New Event Facility to Open in H2 2021, Stimulating "Tourism + MICE" Incentives * 
Macau Daily Times _Excerpt_ 
Feb 25, 2021

With its construction progress hamstrung by the pandemic, the Galaxy International Convention Center (GICC) is slated to launch in the second half of 2021. It is believed the project will accelerate the government’s “Tourism+MICE” incentive, Joey Pather, senior vice president of MICE operations and sales for the group’s new resort, told the Times following an event for the new project.

“We are talking about how MICE can be a big focus area [for Macau’s tourism] this year. We are not just seeing MICE as MICE, but what MICE does for the whole business [world],” Pather said.

In November 2020, Secretary for Economy and Finance Lei Wai Nong first announced that the government would pursue the “Tourism+” concept in 2021. Tourism+ is a strategic focus of merging the tourism industry with other sectors, including MICE, culture, e-commerce and sports, to drive the city’s tourism and economy forward.

Director of the Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO) Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes also reiterated the agenda at an annual briefing on February 10, confirming that Tourism+ cross-sector integration would be one of MGTO’s five key work goals this year.

Earlier, Galaxy Entertainment Group announced that the GICC was originally meant to open in the first half of 2021, but that it has been delayed for another half-year due to the pandemic.

More : Galaxy’s new event facility to open in H2 2021, stimulating ‘Tourism+MICE’ incentives


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## hkskyline

* Revamped GP Museum Reopens Doors Next Week * 
Macau Daily Times _Excerpt_ 
Mar 12, 2021

After a long period of closure for a complete renovation, the Macau Grand Prix (GP) Museum is finally ready to open its doors to the public, the Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO) announced in a media invitation to preview the museum yesterday.

According to the information from the MGTO, the museum should open its doors to the public from next week for a trial period, inviting specific groups to experience and try some of the new facilities and equipment.

As the Times reported in late January this year, the director of the MGTO, Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes, announced that the museum would finally open its doors within the first quarter of 2021.

More : Revamped GP Museum reopens doors next week


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## hkskyline

* Further Delay on Qingmao Border Checkpoint *
Apr 23, 2021
Macau Daily Times _Excerpt_ 

There has been a further delay on the completion of the Qingmao Border Checkpoint Building, Secretary for Transport and Public Works, Raimundo do Rosário, admitted yesterday.

The completion had originally been set for April. The senior official admitted that the work “has fallen behind slightly,” but stressed that it is “mostly finished.” He hopes that it can be completed in May.

When questioned about the peripheral facility at the border control building, Rosário disclosed that the footbridge connecting the building and the bus terminus at Ilha Verde/Toi San has been accepted by the government.

He stressed that the necessary facilities has been built around the building, such as the bus terminus and taxi stand. He believes in the future it would be convenient for users because they “can either take a bus or walk” after disembarking the footbridge.

Regarding security, Secretary for Security Wong Sio Chak has previously expressed his confidence that the border checkpoint will come into service in the second half of this year.

More : Further delay on Qingmao Border Checkpoint


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## hkskyline

* Grand Lisboa Palace to Focus on Macau VIP, $5B Resort SJM’s Biggest Bet to Date *
May 5, 2021
Casino.org _Excerpt_ 

The $5 billion Grand Lisboa Palace, SJM Holdings’ first integrated casino resort on the Cotai Strip in Macau, hopes to open before the end of June. 

During the company’s first-quarter 2021 earnings call this week, executives said they are still waiting on their table games allocation from the Macau Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau (DICJ). SJM said it wishes to have approximately 300 table games and more than 1,000 slot machines when it welcomes its first guests. 

“Premium mass operations and marketing are ready to go, and the success of Grand Lisboa Palace largely hinges on the ability to execute on that very competitive segment,” a note from financial Credit Suisse explained. 

More : Grand Lisboa Palace to Focus on Macau VIP, $5B Resort SJM's Biggest


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## hkskyline

* Urban Renewal Methods in Big Cities May Not Suit Macau *
June 3, 2021
Macau Daily Times _Excerpt_ 










Urban planner and representative of the Urban Renewal Investigation Project, Lam Iek Chit, said that it may not be realistic to replicate external urban renewal methods in Macau, considering the small area of the city.

At a recent radio program, Lam was asked by a member of the audience whether urban renewal in Macau will refer to precedents in mainland China or Hong Kong.

In response, Lam gave a partially negative answer. He pointed out that in mainland China, urban renewal projects mainly take place in large cities. In these places, the land prices of different districts or communities can vary significantly.

Meanwhile, older districts are usually located in the city center, such as the Puxi District of Shanghai. In order to conduct urban renewal, the government or developers have the option to compensate property owners with larger properties in the outskirts, suburbs or developing districts of the city.

He stressed that this policy can only be implemented in large cities.

More : Urban renewal methods in big cities may not suit Macau


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## hkskyline

* CPU Members Hold Varied Opinions on Urban Master Plan *
June 10, 2021
Macau Daily Times_Excerpt_ 

A total of 19 members of the Urban Planning Committee (CPU) submitted to the CPU yesterday their opinions on the draft of the Urban Master Plan.

In the sixth plenary meeting this year – a meeting dedicated to hearing the views of members and to questions for the government on the scheme – nine members presented their opinions on the plan.

The focus of discussion was upon the quantity and classification of some of the green areas of Macau, with several members presenting questions and suggestions on the matter.

Architects Omar Yeung and André Lui were two of the members most concerned about the issue.

Yeung called for more green areas and especially for the establishment in Macau of an emblematic city park comparable to Central Park in New York or Hyde Park in London, while Lui expressed concerns over the reclassification of locations such as Ka Hó as well as several other parts of Coloane as tourism development areas, redesigning ecological reserve areas as residential.

More : CPU members hold varied opinions on Urban Master Plan


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## hkskyline

*New Border Crossing Ready to Open; No Foreigners Permitted *
Sept 3, 2021
Macau Daily Times _Excerpt_

The newest border-crossing post between Macau and the mainland will open to the public next week.

The Qingmao Port, located just a few hundred meters from the Border Gate Port, will finally open to the public on September 8 as construction concludes after about three years.

The new border post will not allow crossings by any foreign nationals, being exclusively for residents of Macau and Hong Kong who also possess a “home-going card.” It will also allow Chinese visitors registered to use automated border-crossing channels under the integrated border-crossing inspection system, which allows people to perform immigration procedures in an automated and streamlined way.

More : Qingmao Port | New border crossing ready to open; no foreigners permitted


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## hkskyline

* Secretaries Shed More Light on 'New Neighborhood' in Hengqin *
Sep 14, 2021
Macau Daily Times _Excerpt_

The new initiative aiming for both sides of the border to jointly develop Hengqin was the centerpiece of a session presented by the Secretary for Administration and Justice, André Cheong, and the Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture, Elsie Ao Ieong, to clarify some practical aspects of what has been dubbed “Macau’s new neighborhood” in Hengqin.

At the media briefing, the Secretaries said the construction of this “new home” for Macau people will facilitate both residential living and employment for local residents, one of the project’s main pillars.

Public services and social security are other matters addressed by the project, which is establishing a connection between the two sides’ systems, aiming to be completely effective by 2035.

The “Macau’s new neighborhood” project addresses matters such as housing, education, health, and social services, the Secretaries remarked, noting that it is expected to provide comfortable living space for around 10,000 residents.

To pursue integration of services with the Macau system, a healthcare center will be built to operate with the same model of external consultation services provided by clinical centers in Macau that are financed by the Health Bureau.

Education facilities are also included in the project, with the building of a school which will give priority admission to students who are residents of Macau. Family and community centers, as well as services catering for the elderly, will also be created.

More : Secretaries shed more light on ‘new neighborhood’ in Hengqin


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## hkskyline

*Foreigners Require Visa to Enter Hengqin Cooperation Zone *
Sep 16, 2021
Macau Daily Times _Excerpt_ 

Yesterday, Secretary for Security Wong Sio Chak confirmed that foreigners will need a valid Chinese visa to enter the Guangdong-Macau Intensive Cooperation Zone in Hengqin.

The comment came after Tuesday’s confirmation on the mainland jurisprudence over commercial disputes in the Cooperation Zone by Secretary for Economy and Finance, Lei Wai Nong.

Wong stressed that immigration policies and thus visa requirements are national policies. He added that for the time being, no change had been announced so the policies in effect are prevalent, although mainland China was still barring foreign entrants.

The security official’s comment was made in response to journalists’ questions during the last session of the media briefing series on the Cooperation Zone.

In contrast to other land border checkpoints, the Hengqin Border Checkpoint has a visa application room for foreigners to apply for a visa on site, a practice similar to visa-on-arrival applications at airports.

More : https://macaudailytimes.com.mo/foreigners-require-visa-to-enter-hengqin-cooperation-zone.html


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## hkskyline




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## hkskyline

hkskyline said:


> *New Border Crossing Ready to Open; No Foreigners Permitted *
> Sept 3, 2021
> Macau Daily Times _Excerpt_
> 
> The newest border-crossing post between Macau and the mainland will open to the public next week.
> 
> The Qingmao Port, located just a few hundred meters from the Border Gate Port, will finally open to the public on September 8 as construction concludes after about three years.
> 
> The new border post will not allow crossings by any foreign nationals, being exclusively for residents of Macau and Hong Kong who also possess a “home-going card.” It will also allow Chinese visitors registered to use automated border-crossing channels under the integrated border-crossing inspection system, which allows people to perform immigration procedures in an automated and streamlined way.
> 
> More : Qingmao Port | New border crossing ready to open; no foreigners permitted


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## hkskyline

Macau's "expansion" into Hengqin has many practical and legal challenges.

* Government Assures Hengqin Civil, Commercial Laws to Align with Macau and World *
Macau Daily Times _Excerpt_
Sep 21, 2021

Although mainland China’s civil and commercial laws will prevail in the Guangdong-Macau Intensive Cooperation Zone in Hengqin (Cooperation Zone), they will gradually “converge” with Macau and global standards, the local government emphasized in a statement.

The Macau government has announced that mainland laws will be prevalent in the Cooperation Zone. Immigration, border control and even commercial matters will be bound by mainland jurisdictions and jurisprudence.

Questions were raised as to which legal system commercial disputes will be bound.
Secretary for Economy and Finance Lei Wai Nong stated that the territorial principle will be upheld, so such disputes will be resolved pursuant to mainland laws.

More : Cooperation Zone | Gov’t assures Hengqin civil, commercial laws to align with Macau and world


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## hkskyline

* Government Describes Hengqin as 'New Heights for the GBA' *
Macau Daily Times _Excerpt_
Sep 27, 2021

The Master Plan for the development of the Guangdong-Macau Intensive Cooperation Zone in Hengqin will make the land a testing ground for China’s new system of higher-level and an open economy, the SAR government described in a statement.

In addition, the Cooperation Zone will fully tap on the potential for institutional innovation in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA), make full use of the favorable factors of Macau and Zhuhai, create a new highland for the construction of the GBA, and lead the development of the surrounding areas.

The Master Plan “covers a wealth of innovative policies and measures, which will enable the Cooperation Zone to reach new heights for the construction of the GBA and lead the development of surrounding areas,” the Macau government stated.

More : Gov’t describes Hengqin as ‘new heights for the GBA’


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## hkskyline

*The New 'Taipau' Area : Developments, Doubts, and Constraints * 
Macau Daily Times _Excerpt_
June 15, 2022 

Named officially in the Macau Urban Master Plan (UMP) as “Taipa’s Northern Area 1,” the project of the new landfills comprising Zone C and D had its construction approved by the Central government in November 2009, together with three other areas (Zones A, B, and E) comprising a total development area of 350 hectares.

While Zone C (33 hectares) started to undergo construction in 2018, very few developments or projects have been worked on for Zone D, which is almost double in size (59 hectares) and to be built in front of the land plot known as the former “Ocean World” land plot.

More recently, and since the government has reclaimed the land, in November 2020, when the debated Taipa land plot was originally slated for the “Ocean World” theme park, local Public Works authorities expressed their intention of potentially abandoning the idea of building Zone D, in exchange for authorization from Central government to extend Zone A, filling in the existing water corridor between the Peninsula and the Zone A landfill.

More : The new ‘Taipau’ area: Developments, doubts, and constraints


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## mileymc1

Henry New York 2020 said:


> Can’t we just get some pictures of each construction updates?


It would be interesting to see how the pandemic has affected the hotel boom and tourism in Macao.


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## hkskyline

mileymc1 said:


> It would be interesting to see how the pandemic has affected the hotel boom and tourism in Macao.


Not good, especially when China has been experiencing outbreaks this year ... MGTO expects no tourist influx amidst ‘10+7’ quarantine shift


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## hkskyline

* Developer Suggests 'More Practical' Transportation System Amid Cable Car Proposal *
Macau Daily Times _Excerpt_
Jun 29, 2022 

The proposed cable car between New Urban Zone A and ZAPE District will not be a feasible means of diverting traffic, according to a Macau architect who is currently in the U.S.

A month or so ago, the government announced that the prototype plan for the next 10 years of land transport in Macau was open for public consultation. In the document, it proposes that a cable car system be built to connect the southernmost end of Zone A with the tip of ZAPE District, where the Macao Science Center now sits.

The public consultation period will end on July 22. Opinions can be submitted online at 澳門陸路整體交通運輸規劃（2021-2030）公開諮詢 or by email to [email protected].

More : Developer suggests ‘more practical’ transportation system amid cable car proposal


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## hkskyline

* Macau-Hengqin LRT Extension Begins Construction *
Macau Daily Times _Excerpt_
July 15, 2022

The extension of the Hengqin Line, a cross-border light railway transport (LRT) route which connects Macau and the neighboring Guangdong-Macao cooperation zone on Hengqin Island in South China’s Guangdong Province, started its construction Wednesday at the Hengqin Island site.

Namkwong Real Estate Co, China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC) and China Railway16th Bureau Group Corporation are engaged in the project, and the Aoqin No.1, the largest shield tunneling machine used in Macau with diameters of 7.98 meters and 87 meters in length, was used in the construction, CCECC told the Global Times on Wednesday. 

The line has an overall length of 2.2 kilometers, starting from the elevated station HE1, located nearby the Lotus Bridge in Macau, which is connected to the Lotus Checkpoint Station, part of the Taipa Line. It runs along the Lotus Bridge and crosses the Shizimen Waterway before entering Zhuhai’s Hengqin Island through an underwater tunnel, and then arrives at the underground HE2 station located in front of Hengqin Port.

More : Macau-Hengqin LRT extension begins construction


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## hkskyline

_Wondering if it is the dotted bridge on the right? _










* Fourth Bridge to be Completed Q1 2024 *
Macau Daily Times _Excerpt_
Aug 30, 2022

The fourth bridge linking Macau and Taipa is projected to be completed in the first quarter of 2024, the Public Works Bureau (DSOP) announced yesterday.

The bridge includes seven engineering nodes, six of which have been completed. 

With a budget of MOP5.2 billion, construction work on the bridge started in March 2020, with around 40% completed to date, and it is projected to be fully completed in the first quarter of 2024. 

More : Fourth bridge to be completed Q1 2024


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## hkskyline

* No Gov't Plan for Collapsed Guia Hill City Wall *
Macau Daily Times _Excerpt_
Sept 14, 2022

Although pointing out mistakes at two construction projects near the collapsed Guia Hill city wall, the government has develop no mechanisms to avoid similar occurrences in the future.

The city wall is about 400 years old and has been listed as a local historic site.

On the evening of June 9, part of the city wall fell without warning. The incident did not cause any injury or casualty.

Before this, on both sides of the wall, two construction projects were underway. To the southeast of the wall was a private residential development, while in the northwest was the construction site for the public hospital’s specialist medical building.

Three months after the incident, the government, represented by the Public Works Bureau (DSOP), issued part of an investigation report on the incident. The Civil Engineering Laboratory of Macau (LECM). handled the investigation.










More : No gov’t plan for collapsed Guia Hill city wall


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## hkskyline

*Macau New Neighborhood Project to Reach Topping-Out Stage Before Year-End*
Macau Daily Times _Excerpt_
Oct 7, 2022

The Macau New Neighborhood (MNN) project on Hengqin island will reach the topping-out stage before the end of this year, Macau Urban Renewal Limited (MUR) has said in a statement.

According to MUR, which oversees development of the whole project, the topping-out of the first tower (out of 27) occurred at the end of September. The topping-out of the remaining 26 residential towers and school buildings is expected to occur at the end of this year.

The residential units will be put on sale next year, with the whole project planned for completion in the second half of 2023.

More : Macau New Neighborhood project to reach topping-out stage before year-end


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## hkskyline

* Urban Renewal Bill Discussion Almost Concluded, Likely to Come into Force on Jan. 1 *
Macau Daily Times _Excerpt_
Oct 21, 2022

The Second Standing Committee of the Legislative Assembly (AL) has generally concluded the discussion over the bill that aims to establish the legal regime for urban renewal in Macau, the president of the committee, lawmaker Chan Chak Mo said yesterday in a media briefing after the committee meeting.

According to Chan, the discussion yesterday went “swifter than initially expected.” As such, the committee has already concluded the review of all the bill Articles. The only remaining matters are “a few details to be settled between the two juridical advisories [of the government and the AL].”

The president said that the committee has reviewed the new text delivered by the government at the end of the last legislative year and that the members were pleased with the changes made to the original bill.

More : Urban renewal bill discussion almost concluded, likely to come into force on Jan. 1


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## hkskyline

* Lawmaker Questions Green Light for Highrise Residences Near Nova Grand *
Macau Daily Times _Excerpt_
Nov 15, 2022

In his latest written inquiry, lawmaker Ron Lam questioned the criteria used by the Urban Planning Committee (CPU) in passing the controversial planning draft for the development at the former cotton mills in Taipa.

Last week, amid debates from both members of the public and within the committee itself, the government – represented by CPU president and director of the Land and Urban Construction Bureau (DSSCU) Lai Weng Leong – decided to issue a green light to the project.

The project will feature a set of buildings reaching a maximum height of 90 meters off from the southwestern tip of the Nova Grand residential estate. The DSSCU also permitted 100% use of the land.

More : Lawmaker questions green light for high rise residences near Nova Grand


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## hkskyline

* Iao Hon Estate Old Neighborhood Renewal Project Underway *
Macau Daily Times _Excerpt_
Nov 22, 2022

The Macau Urban Renewal Limited (MUR) is pushing forward the Iao Hon Estate old neighborhood renewal project, the company announced yesterday.

Currently, condominium owners are being assisted to set up management committees and reach an agreement on the redevelopment plan.

In 2020, MUR carried out a research study on Iao Hon Estate, including face-to-face household interviews with property owners, to serve as a database for the promotion of urban renewal. Over the last year, the company has been meeting with property owners to discuss redevelopment.










More : Iao Hon Estate old neighborhood renewal project underway


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## hkskyline

* Barra Transport Hub to Open Partially Tomorrow *
Macau Daily Times _Excerpt_
Dec 2, 2022 

The ground floor and the underground floors of the Barra Transport Hub will open for public use tomorrow, the government announced yesterday.

Public facilities will include the leisure concourse on the ground floor, as well as the bus terminus on the first underground floor and the public parking lot on the third underground floor.

With the opening of the new bus terminus, stops for 10 bus routes will be relocated underground. At the terminus, buses will alight and board passengers on different lanes.










More : Barra Transport Hub to open partially tomorrow


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## hkskyline

* CPU Collects Opinions on Draft Planning for New Central Library *
Macau Daily Times _Excerpt_
Dec 8, 2022 

The new Central Library is at stage 10 of its draft planning process, in which the Urban Planning Committee (CPU) invites opinions on the project.

The draft planning of the new Central Library, which is located opposite the Tap Seac Square on Avenida de Sidónio Pais, proposes to restrict the building’s height to 14 meters on the side facing the Square, and to 8.5 meters on the side facing Estrada da Vitória.

However, the highest point of the future building should not exceed 29.37 meters above sea level on Sidónio Pais and 41.71 meters above sea level on Estrada da Vitória. Another restriction is that the visual skyline between the Guia Fortress as well as the Chapel of Our Lady of the Snows and Lighthouse, and the Tap Seac Square should be fully protected.

More : CPU collects opinions on draft planning for new Central Library


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## hkskyline

* Future of Taipa's Former Tire Park Land Subject to Public Consultation *
Macau Daily Times _Excerpt_
Jan 5, 2023

The public will be consulted about the land plot on which the government has previously announced it would build a public leisure facility known as the “tire park”, the director of the Land and Urban Construction Bureau (DSSCU), Lai Weng Leong, has said in a written response to a question from lawmaker Ron Lam.

According to Lai, the final plan for the area will be in the detailed planning of Taipa’s Central District-2, a plan yet to be finalized and still to pass public consultation.

According to the Urban Master Plan 2020-2040, the Taipa Central District-2 is residential with most of the land already occupied.

More : Future of Taipa’s former tire park land subject to public consultation


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## hkskyline

* New Barra Transport Hub Showing Construction Flaws *
Macau Daily Times _Excerpt_
Jan 9, 2023

The new Barra transport hub, which commenced operation approximately one month ago, is showing signs of construction flaws, namely in its pavement, several media reports have noted.

According to the reports, the flaws are mostly found on the pavement of the first underground floor level, which is used by several public bus routes to pick up and drop off passengers.

The pavement started crumbling just a few days after it started being used and is currently in a state that requires urgent intervention, the Secretary for Transport and Public Works, Raimundo do Rosário admitted.

More : New Barra transport hub showing construction flaws


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## el palmesano

hkskyline said:


> * Iao Hon Estate Old Neighborhood Renewal Project Underway *
> Macau Daily Times _Excerpt_
> Nov 22, 2022
> 
> The Macau Urban Renewal Limited (MUR) is pushing forward the Iao Hon Estate old neighborhood renewal project, the company announced yesterday.
> 
> Currently, condominium owners are being assisted to set up management committees and reach an agreement on the redevelopment plan.
> 
> In 2020, MUR carried out a research study on Iao Hon Estate, including face-to-face household interviews with property owners, to serve as a database for the promotion of urban renewal. Over the last year, the company has been meeting with property owners to discuss redevelopment.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> More : Iao Hon Estate old neighborhood renewal project underway


here: Google Maps

right?


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## hkskyline

el palmesano said:


> here: Google Maps
> 
> right?
> 
> 
> View attachment 4424134


Seems the photo in the news article is not the actual redevelopment site. Here's more information from the government including map coordinates.






Iao Hon Estate｜Macau Urban Renewal Limited


澳門都市更新股份有限公司




www.mur.com.mo


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## mileymc1

Why hasn't google maps updated Macau in 15 years? I imagine the difference will be immense.


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