Philippines farming products distributor Calata Corporation has announced plans to team up with American firm Sino-America Gaming Investment Group and British Virgin Islands-registered Macau Resources Group Limited to build a $1.4 billion integrated casino resort in Cebu Province.
According to a report from the Philippine Daily Inquirer newspaper, the new 34.5-acre Mactan Leisure City development is to be constructed on the 25-square mile Mactan Island and include a casino and three hotels alongside an entertainment complex while generating tens of thousands jobs and gross annual revenues of around $1.2 million.
In a Tuesday filing with the Philippine Stock Exchange, Calata Corporation additionally revealed that the integrated casino resort, which is expected to open sometime in 2020, will offer commercial, retail and conference facilities as well as a yacht club and serve as a “world class development” hosting the first seven-star hotel in Southeast Asia.
Calata Corporation declared that Mactan Leisure City would be home to celebrity-branded themes from international stars such as Sir Elton John and Shaquille O’Neal while incorporating a variety of state-of-the-art entertainment and family leisure concepts.
“[Mactan Leisure City will] become a game-changer in the region’s family leisure tourism and gaming offering where tourists from all parts of the world will converge to experience luxurious resort life in a tropical paradise while enjoying a variety of family entertainment experiences,” read the filing from Calata Corporation.
To realize the project, Calata Corporation explained that it has established a real estate investment trust in which Sino-American Gaming Investment Group, which is controlled by Denver-based consultant RiskWise Group, and Macau Resources Group Limited intend to initially invest just over $18 million. Of this, $5.04 million will go directly to Calata Corporation with the remainder devoted directly into the Manila-based firm’s majority-owned Mactan Leisure City corporate vehicle.
Calata Corporation stated that the structure of its new real estate investment trust gives investors the option of investing directly in the coming resort’s finished products such as residential and office units to hotels and shopping malls or into infrastructure ventures like toll roads and electrical generation plants.
“The Mactan Leisure City shall only be one of the numerous projects which Calata Corporation and its partners shall be handling,” read the filing while adding that it could potentially make future investments into the agriculture sector.