No bid entered yet
When it comes to casinos, Saipan—the largest island in the commonwealth of the Marianas—is planning to give its sister island of Tinian a run for its money.
Best Sunshine, a subsidiary of Hong Kong-listed Imperial Pacific International and an investor in Macau junket promoter Heng Sheng, has confirmed plans it announced earlier in the year to acquire the Mariana Resort & Spa and build a multibillion-dollar casino resort.
According to the World Casino Directory, the $7.1 billion project in Marpi would include the largest water park in the world, thousands of hotel rooms and a high-end retail district.
Voters on the island have twice rejected casinos at the ballot box, but in March the legislature OK’d a casino bill in order to provide much-needed revenues, said Governor Eloy Inos.
Best Sunshine has not yet released a financing plan for the resort, or even made a bid on the property, Chief Executive Officer Mark Brown told the Saipan Tribune.
Brown said Phase I of the Grand Mariana Resort of Garapan is now under construction. Phase II would include the Marpi site, he said.
