More investment in the wings
Hong Kong-listed gaming operator NagaCorp has restarted construction of its planned US$350 million Mayak resort in the Russian Far East.
According to the Asia Times, site work on the project originally began in 2015, but stopped when historic structures were discovered buried at the location. Archeologists have now cleared the area—discovering, among other things, an ancient pair of dice—and NagaCorp is back in business, developing a resort that’s expected to open early in 2019.
Phase I will include a 279-room, 11-story hotel and a casino with 300 slot machines and 30 gaming tables. The resort will also feature a 2,000-seat concert hall, open-air pool and aqua-park. Mayak’s arrival in the Primorye economic zone will create new competition for Tigre de Cristal, the casino complex opened in October 2015 by Lawrence Ho’s Summit Ascent Holdings.
Tigre de Cristal is the largest casino in six zones in Russia where gambling has been legalized since the government banned all betting in 2009 in response to a plague of gaming dens and slot machines – and an associated boom in organized crime groups. The US$172 million first phase of the project hosts 35 VIP tables, 33 mass market tables, and 321 slot machines, as well as casual and fine dining restaurants, bars, a gym and spa, and a 121 room hotel.
Since opening, more than 350,000 tourists have visited the Tigre complex, with more than one-fifth arriving from overseas, primarily China. Rolling chip turnover from high-rollers rose to US$1.32 billion in the second half of 2016 from US$450 million in the first half.
Tigre is upping its game. Its Phase II development, estimated at US$500 million, will begin in the second half of 2019, adding 100 VIP gaming tables, 70 mass market tables, 500 slot machines, a shopping mall, food and beverage outlets, a spa and nightclub, conference facilities and 500 hotel rooms.
At least one other investor is coming to the Primorye zone. Diamond Fortune Holdings’ Selena complex, set to open in 2019, will include a four-star hotel, casino, spa, restaurants and retail space, the Times reported. But a fourth investor, Royal Time, is in the midst of restructuring and may bow out. In April, the Development Corporation of the Primorsky Territory filed an arbitration claim to terminate its contract with Royal Time, according to CalvinAyre.com.
Primorsky Territory Vice Governor Evgeny Polyansky has warned companies to comply with their original deadlines or face “termination of the investment agreement with the subsequent payment of fines for failure to work.” In total, the four investors agreed to plow US$2.68 billion in the zone, with all construction to be completed by 2022.
“By that time, we expect to see eight large entertainment complexes and we’ve given out 263 hectares (650 acres) for the purpose of construction,” said Konstantin Shestakov, director of tourism for Primorsky Krai. “The total space reserved for the zone is 619 hectares, as we will be offering tourists a wide range of entertainment options.”
