Cotai Strip

Buildings in Cotai (2009/07).

Estrada do Istmo

The Cotai Strip is a term coined by Las Vegas Sands Corporation with regard to its building of a strip of hotel-casinos in the Cotai section of Macau, a special administrative region of the People's Republic of China. Cotai was the result of a major land reclamation project which joined the two islands of Coloane and Taipa, and is part of the Macau government's continuous efforts to expand the region's territory. The reclaimed land in Cotai is to be mainly used for casino developments and Las Vegas Sands Corporation envisioned that their development of several adjacent properties would comprise an area that would resemble the Las Vegas Strip.

Naming

The United States Patent and Trademark Office has granted Las Vegas Sands Corporation a trademark on the term "Cotai Strip" (Serial #78588080, Registration #4396486), however some members of the press use the term to refer to all of the hotel-casinos in Cotai.

Properties in Cotai

Future properties in Cotai

Las Vegas Sands

On 24 March 2011, Las Vegas Sands announced it has terminated a hotel-management agreement with Shangri-La International Hotel Management for its new casino resort development being built on plots 5 and 6 in Cotai. Las Vegas Sands is now allegedly in talks with InterContinental Hotels Group PLC to manage the two hotel towers at its USD 4.1 billion expansion project, the Dow Jones Newswires reported quoting a person familiar with the matter.^[1]

The first phase of Sands China’s new Cotai sites 5 and 6 resort could open in the first quarter of 2012, Las Vegas Sands (LVS) president and chief operating officer, Michael Leven, told Macau Daily Times. "I think in the next few weeks we will be able to determine exactly when and what will open, by the middle of June we will make that decision. We are talking about opening a portion of site 5 by the end of 2011 and right now it looks like we can open it as planned," he added. However, the executive revealed Sands China is considering "perhaps opening the entire site 5 at one time and that would be in the middle of the first quarter of 2012. We feel pretty confident that we can open all of site 5 by the end of the first quarter of 2012."

Sands China also decided to manage the hotel tower on site 5 that was supposed to be operated by Shangri-La. “We will be licensing names from two major international brands but we will manage those facilities ourselves,” he said.^[2] Sands China signed a franchise deal with Hilton Worldwide and InterContinental Hotels to brand over 1,800 rooms at Cotai site 5 and 6. The resort will officially be named Sands Cotai Central, the company announced on 5 August 2011. The site will include more than 300,000 square feet (28,000 m²) of meeting space, 11 food and beverage establishments and 106,000-square-foot (9,800 m²) of gaming area but also 13,700,000-square-foot (1,270,000 m²) of non-gaming facilities.^[3]

Architecture firm Aedas were the lead architect for all Las Vegas Sands projects on the Cotai Strip and were responsible for employing all local consultants and for developing, coordinating and implementing the design.^[4]

Theme Park and Resort

The Macau Theme Park and Resort Ltd, controlled by Angela Leong On Kei, has said that it intends to build a MOP 10.4 billion family-oriented amusement resort and hotels in Cotai. According to a press statement, the integrated resort project will be developed in three phases and each of them will take about two and a half to three years to complete. The company revealed that the entire family resort will consist of one 5-star, four 4-star and one 3-star hotels with over 6,000 guest rooms, shopping malls, convention facilities, an indoor beach and wave pool, amusement rides, a 4D theatre, an equestrian centre, a horse carriage trail as well as a water sports performance centre.^[5] SJM Holdings is in talks with Macau Theme Park and Resort Ltd to try to find a way for both companies to cooperate on Cotai, chief executive officer, Ambrose So Shu Fai, revealed on 16 December 2010. Stanley Ho’s SJM is still waiting for the Government to approve the application for a plot in Cotai, which sits just beside the Macau Dome and the land where the company, headed by businesswoman and lawmaker Angela Leong On Kei – who is also Stanley Ho’s fourth wife and SJM’s director –, is set to build the theme park. “We are not a shareholder in the theme park development, but we did talk with Angela Leong, who is developing that theme park, to see if there is a synergy between the two plots of land,” So told reporters.^[6]

Wynn Macau

Wynn Macau's land reserve on Cotai.

The new Casino resort is called Wynn Palace with a second phase entitled Wynn Diamond.

Wynn announced in mid August 2010 that he will be building a new casino resort on a 52-acre (210,000 m²) plot behind the City of Dreams and Las Vegas Sands ' St Regis, plot 5 and Sheraton Resorts. Steve Wynn said the Cotai project could break ground in March or April 2011, as the building’s design is complete. The casino magnate said it could open in late 2014 or early 2015. But Citi believes that Steve Wynn may have to wait until at least 2016 to open its Cotai resort, noting that the company gave no timeframe in its latest report.^[7] Wynn’s new project in Macau is expected to cost over MOP 20 billion. Asked when the construction will begin on 16 May 2011, Steve Wynn replied, "Right away, after we get the approval from the government". He said the new hotel casino would open within four or five years, which means the end of 2014 or early 2015. The new resort would more than double the operator's hotel rooms in the SAR. "I believe the Cotai project is the best work we have done. It's a departure in many aspects. It has many new things and new approaches to the way the property is presented. I think the public is going to be very excited. It's very comfortable and user-friendly. Now that we have nine years of experience in Macau, as you saw with Encore we are learning how to really address the emotional and physical needs of our guests. That kind of insight comes with time and experience. Thankfully we have the experience."^[8]

Wynn Macau Ltd. said on 12 September 2011 it accepted the terms and conditions of a land concession contract from the Macau government to develop 51 acres (210,000 m²) of land in Macau's Cotai area. It said the contract permits its Palo Estate Co. Ltd. unit and Wynn Resorts (Macau) S.A. to develop a resort containing a five-star hotel, gaming areas, retail, entertainment, food and beverage, spa and convention offerings.

Under the contract, Palo will lease the Cotai land from the Macau government for an initial term of 25 years and have the right to renew the contract for additional periods. On top of a US$193.43 million land premium payment, Palo is also required to pay the Macau government US$771,738 per year in rent during development phase of the resort and US$1.08 million per year in rent once development is completed, the company said, adding the rent may be reviewed by the Macau government every five year.^[9]

On 5 June 2012, Wynn Macau announced the construction of its first integrated resort in Cotai at a tag of USD 4 billion, which will take around 4 years to construct and will have 500 gaming tables.^[10]

MGM China

MGM China is waiting for government approval for the concession of a site in Cotai. "We have identified a site of approximately" 17.8 acres (72,000 m²) "in Cotai and have submitted an application to the Macau Government to obtain the right to lease this parcel of land. We are awaiting approval of this application," the company wrote in a stock exchange filing released earlier in the week of 12 May 2011. MGM did not disclose the location of the site. The site that MGM is eyeing is almost three times smaller than the plot targeted by rival operator Wynn Macau, a 52 acres (210,000 m²) (0.2 square kilometres) area next to City of Dreams and Macau University of Science and Technology.^[11] CEO Grant Bowie said construction on MGM China's Cotai property would likely start in 2012, taking 27–36 months to complete. "It will be about" 3,000,000 square feet (280,000 m²) "of built space, that is 50 percent bigger than this one." The $7 billion operator is still waiting for approval to start construction on Macau's Cotai strip.^[12]

Shun Tak Group

Shun Tak Group announced on 2 December 2008 that the Jumeirah Group, based in Dubai, will manage and operate a new hotel that Shun Tak invests in Macau. The Jumeirah Macau Hotel is to be located at Cotai across from the Macau Dome. It will be the fourth 5‐star hotel along a line of hotels that Shun Tak owns in Macau.^[13] It is scheduled for completion in 2013.^[14]

Economic crisis

Due to the 2008 financial crisis, up to 11,000 construction workers are to lose their jobs as US gaming giant Las Vegas Sands cuts back its development in Macau.^[15] Stephen Weaver, Sands' president for Asia, said up to 11,000 workers will lose their jobs in Macau after the company halted building projects in the city. Developments of site no. 5 and no. 6 on the strip will be halted.^[16] Las Vegas Sands has focused its construction work on the Marina Bay Sands Resort in Singapore.

On 30 November 2009 the Las Vegas Sands corp announced it had secured $1.75 billion to complete its Shangri-La, Traders and Sheraton Hotels, which were abandoned 65% complete in mid-2008. The 636 room Shangri-La Hotel, 1,200 room Traders Hotel and an over 2,000 room Sheraton hotel will open in June 2011. In December 2011 the Sheraton will open a further 2,000 rooms in another tower. The Sheraton will have 4,067 rooms. The St Regis Hotel might be completed in a further stage. Sheldon Adelson revealed it would take “a year and a half or so” to complete the new Cotai resort at plots 5 and 6 on 9 January 2011, meaning the sites will be completed by about mid-2012.^[17]

No information was released about Cotai plots 3, 7 and 8. These are very likely to be cancelled. Macao's director of the Lands, Public Works and Transport Bureau (DSSOPT), Jaime Carion, said on 5 December 2010, that the Government is now looking at developing non-gaming projects in Cotai. He stressed that the Sands China application procedure for plots 7 and 8 was not fully complete and the Government would announce the result at the most convenient time.^[18]

Galaxy Entertainment who is building Galaxy Macau has also stated that after having very slow construction in 2009, it will try to get its Cotai first phase development open for Q1 2011. Galaxy Macau was eventually opened on 15 May 2011.

Plots 7 and 8

Sands China’s application for Cotai plots 7 and 8 was submitted after a freeze on gaming land concession was announced back in 2008, secretary for Economy and Finance, Francis Tam Pak Yuen, explained on 15 December 2010 on the sidelines of a meeting at the Legislative Assembly. On the other hand, the three gaming operators Wynn Macau, MGM Macau and SJM Holdings who are yet to be granted plots in Cotai have filed applications before that policy was stated. As such it’s likely the land concession requests of will be approved, the secretary said.^[19] But the Land, Public Works and Transport Bureau (DSSOPT) director Jaime Carion told local media on Thursday 16 December 2010 that the plots 7 and 8 in Cotai will not be granted to either gaming operators SJM Holdings or Sands China.^[20] After the Government snub, Las Vegas Sands (LVS) has dropped its interest in developing plots 7 and 8 in Cotai. “If somebody else builds on [parcels] 7 and 8, I will be happy. Happier than if I were going to build on it,” LVS chairman Sheldon Adelson said at the Bank of America Merrill Lynch Global Gaming Conference in Las Vegas, on 9 January 2011.^[17]

List of casinos and hotels in Cotai by Macau concessionaires

Gallery

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  Sands Cotai Central

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  Galaxy Macau

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  City of Dreams

References

Coordinates: 22°8′26″N 113°33′47″E / 22.14056°N 113.56306°E / 22.14056; 113.56306