GGRAsia – Opening of Macau’s The 13 pushed to fourth quarter

Opening of Macau’s The 13 pushed to fourth quarter

Jun 16, 2016 Newsdesk Latest News, Macau, Top of the deck

The opening of The 13 hotel, located in Macau’s Cotai district, has been pushed back to the fourth quarter of 2016, the project’s promoter announced.

Hong Kong-listed The 13 Holdings Ltd stated in its annual results for the year ended March 31 – released on Wednesday – that the project (pictured in an artist’s rendering) was now “expected to be opened in the fourth quarter of 2016”.

In earlier announcements, the firm – previously known as Louis XIII Holdings Ltd – had said the project was scheduled to open in late summer 2016.

The company has in the past mentioned plans for a casino at the property. But The 13 Holdings has made no mention in its more recent releases of gaming facilities at the venue. Its Wednesday release only mentioned “ancillary retail and entertainment facilities”.

The firm would need to utilise the casino rights of one of Macau’s six gaming concession holders in order to operate gambling at the property. It has not publicly named a gaming partner so far.

Asked about the matter last month, the head of Macau’s gaming regulator said the bureau had not received any request for a casino at The 13 hotel. Paulo Martins Chan added at the time that if an application were filed, approval would “depend on the particulars of the request”.

The 13 hotel property aims to position itself in the ultra-luxury segment. In a recent release, the firm stated the average construction cost per room was more than US$7 million – an aggregate construction spend of more than US$1.4 billion for all the rooms in the property. It is described as an all-villa hotel with 200 accommodation units.

In its Wednesday results announcement, The 13 Holdings stated that “virtually all work at the moment is devoted to completing the interior finishes of the hotel.”

The firm added that Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Ltd has completed most of the The 13 Holdings’ signature red Phantom limousines and is starting to ship them to Macau. In September 2014, The 13 Holdings had announced an order for what was dubbed at the time as “the largest Rolls-Royce Phantom fleet in the world”, featuring 30 extended-wheelbase Phantoms.

The 13 Holdings also stated in Wednesday’s release that it had “substantially completed the hiring of its senior management team including the second layer of managers supporting departmental head[s]”.

As of March 31, the firm’s hotel team included already more than 200 employees.