Melco Crown Entertainment Ltd has been working on the City of Dreams casino resort of Macau for some time now, with several aspects in the works. According to chief executive of Melco Crown Entertainment and co-chairman, Lawrence Ho Yau Lung, the retail arcade should be open by mid-year.

According to GGRAsia, Mr. Ho spoke with Now TV, a Chinese-language subscription service, and discussed the project, stating he was satisfied with the progress that the company has made in regards to leasing shops of the new retail development.

Melco Crown will be enhancing the proportion of retail business when compared to non-gaming offerings, according to Mr. Ho. In Macau, many operators have shifted towards non-gaming options as the government is seeking to diversify the local economy, shifting the traditional dependence of the city from gaming, in most cases high stakes gaming.

The amount of shopping space was increased with the Macau operations of Melco Crown as Studio City opened last fall. This casino resort is focused on the mass market and is located on the Cotai Strip, on the opposite end of the City of Dreams casino resort. Studio City offers a shopping space called The Boulevard of Studio City that encompasses 35,000 square meters of space. There are also non-gaming attractions on site including a Ferris wheel, shaped like the number eight and boasted to be the highest in Asia.

Studio City has opened the door for Melco Crown to enter the mass market industry, with the venue offering 200 gaming tables but no junket options. 1,233 gaming machines are also located on the premises.

According to analysists Simon Zhang and Vitaly Umansky, of Sanford Bernstein, the City of Dreams resort is able to provide outsized success in premium mass mainly based on their expertise in strategic marketing and initiatives. The resort offers superior service and product offering, with a strong premium mass host staff.

The new mall of City of Dreams is expected to open before Wynn Palace resort opens, a soon to be rival of the venue. The Wynn Palace is set to open on June 25th. Another area of construction for City of Dreams, Tower D, is set to open in 2018. This tower will have 40 floors, containing 780 guest rooms, suites and villas.