Most of the new hotel projects either under construction or in the planning stage in Macau are located on the city’s peninsula and small in scale according to the third quarter construction statistics released by Land, Public Works and Transport Bureau. The overall number of the hotel rooms being built and planned – totalling 12,446 rooms – remained the same as the previous quarter.
The under-construction projects with the highest room inventory are all located in Cotai district, the government statistics show.
As of the third quarter this year, there were three ongoing large-scale hotel projects in Cotai – the same as in the previous quarter – due to provide an aggregate 5,479 new hotel rooms. A further 2,476 rooms were due to be provided by four hotel projects being planned for that district but not yet under construction.
On Macau peninsula, there were 15 hotel projects being built currently and 23 hotel projects being planned, which would bring in aggregate 3,897 hotel rooms.
The public works department’s data did not give estimated completion dates for the under-construction hotel projects.
As of September, Macau had a total of 38,800 guest rooms, a majority of them in the city’s five-star hotels, the official data showed.
Macau casino operator SJM Holdings Ltd is currently developing the HKD36-billion (US$4.6-billion) Grand Lisboa Palace in Cotai. The firm stated in its third quarter results filing that the project was scheduled to open in 2019. Once completed, the hotel towers in the Cotai project, bearing respectively the marks “Grand Lisboa Palace”, “Palazzo Versace” and “Karl Lagerfeld” will bring in total approximately 2,000 rooms, according to previous statements by the firm.
The under-construction resort Lisboeta Macau, adjacent to Grand Lisboa Palace, is due to have 820 rooms and suites housed in a 12-storey tower with a Y-shaped floor plan. The scheme is flagged as having a possible 2020 opening date.
Rival Macau-based casino operator Galaxy Entertainment Group Ltd is developing Phase 3 of its Galaxy Macau casino resort in Cotai, which analysts expected to enter the market only in 2020. According to previous company commentary, Phase 3 would feature 1,500 hotel rooms, a casino, and an arena that could seat 16,000 people. Phase 4 of the Galaxy Macau resort, which is in planning stage, is designed to supply approximately 3,000 rooms according to the firm.
Melco Resorts and Entertainment Ltd is also due to have a second phase for its Studio City casino resort property at Cotai. The new phase – which needs to be finished by July 2021, according to the terms of an amended land concession from the Macau government, would include a “12,000-square-metre [129,167 sq foot] water park” as well as two extra hotel towers with an aggregate extra 940 rooms, the company’s chairman and chief executive Lawrence Ho Yau Lung mentioned in the third quarter results earnings call.
Wynn Macau Ltd’s U.S.-based parent Wynn Resorts Ltd is also planning to add two new hotel towers to its Wynn Palace casino resort in Cotai, which would add 1,300 rooms to the property, said Matt Maddox, Wynn Resorts chief executive, during the third-quarter earnings call on November 7.
