SJM Holdings’ Grand Lisboa Palace has been struck by fire for the fourth time since construction started on the Cotai super-resort two years ago.
Eighty-eight workers had to be evacuated, according to local media. One worker was taken to hospital for medical treatment after being rescued by firefighters. A firefighter also was hospitalized.
Macau’s Judiciary Police are investigating the blaze, which broke out at the site the Saturday before last, as a case of arson. It’s the second fire to strike the site this year. The first, in March, also may have been arson, according to local news reports, although no findings on the earlier incident have been announced.
The fire is likely to further delay construction of the US$4 billion resort casino. Construction also was halted for 44 days this summer following the death of a worker at the site.
The latest setback prompted brokerage Sanford Bernstein to issue a note to investors speculating that the project will not meet its targeted debut in the second half of 2018. “Based on our research, we estimate that the property will not open until early 2019,” analysts Vitaly Umansky and Zhen Gong said.
That was confirmed, at least conceptually, by Angela Leong, an executive director of SJM, who acknowledged the fire would impede the resort’s progress.
“We’re yet to receive a report on the conditions of the construction site, so I cannot report to you for certain,” she said, “but I believe a delay is inevitable.”
However, she declined to comment on the current opening day timetable or whether a phased opening is being considered, saying it awaits “more study”.
“We will see what kind of main facilities can be opened first, but a partial opening is not what we had hoped for,” she said. “We did wish to have all of the facilities opened at the same time”.
