GGRAsia – Genting Bhd, units pass suitability for Vegas project

Genting Bhd, units pass suitability for Vegas project

May 20, 2016 Newsdesk Latest News, Top of the deck, World

Key executives and units of Malaysian conglomerate Genting Bhd were on Thursday unanimously declared by the Nevada Gaming Commission as suitable to lead the Resorts World Las Vegas casino project (pictured in a rendering), reported local media.

It followed a two-hour presentation and hearing at a scheduled meeting that day of the Commission.

Genting Bhd plans a 3,100-room Chinese-themed property at the north end of the Las Vegas Strip where the Stardust Resort and Casino once stood. It is currently slated to include a 150,000-square-foot (13,900-sq-metre) casino.

Genting Bhd has said the budget for the project is US$4 billion. A number of investment analysts have queried that number, given the recent decline globally in the mainland Chinese high roller segment.

Investment bank Morgan Stanley said in a note earlier this month that VIP gambling volume at Resorts World Sentosa – a casino resort in Singapore run by Genting unit Genting Singapore Plc – fell by 29 percent year-on-year in the first quarter this year.

Genting Bhd said earlier this month that the Las Vegas resort was likely to open in 2019. An opening in 2018 had been mentioned previously.

On Thursday, online news portal Vegasinc.com, quoting Gerald Gardner, the project’s general counsel, said Genting officials had been focused on improving and refining their plans.

Mr Gardner, a former chief of staff to Nevada’s Governor Brian Sandoval, has said the resort will directly create approximately 5,000 construction jobs and will have circa 3,000 employees when it opens.

Another senior aide to Gov. Sandoval was hired in August for the Genting Las Vegas project.