Saipan casino operator Imperial Pacific International and a new partner, American Sinopan LLC, have broken ground on a new integrated resort in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands to be called Imperial Casha Tanapag—this even though its flagship property, the Imperial Palace Saipan in Garapan, remains unfinished two years after it was to have been completed.
According to the Saipan Tribune, a scale model of the resort, planned for the northwestern coast of Saipan, was presented to the public on July 19. Among those present at the groundbreaking were Lieutenant Governor Arnold I. Palacios, representing Governor Ralph Torres, IPI Chairman and CEO Mark Brown and Imperial Casha Group CEO Liu Tao.
Brown told the Tribune that the new resort, with up to 1,700 rooms, will create “excitement and investments for Saipan.
“We’re all striving for the same goal—success for all the businesses on the island,” he said.
IPI acquired a 50 percent stake in American Sinopan in July. The company owns two tracts of land in Saipan totaling 130,000 square meters (32 acres), including the land in Tanapag.
Palacios called the development “another promising sign of economic recovery for our islands. This groundbreaking ceremony will unveil one of the core projects of IPI that will build upon quality visitor infrastructure on our island.”
Imperial Pacific’s flagship property in Garapan opened as a temporary facility in 2015 and contributed around 60 percent of government revenues through taxes and operating fees. But the company posted a record loss in 2018 due in part to uncollected VIP debts. Since then, tax revenues due to Saipan’s government have dropped by more than 70 percent.
