The 110 acres (44 hectar) casino and hotel resort in Entertainment City, Manila, the Okada Manila, will delay its November soft opening, according to local news reports. The $2.4 billion investment was supposed to quietly open its doors to the public in the upcoming month, but according to a statement issued by the company, customers will not be able to catch a first glimpse of the property before December.
The Okada Manila hotel, casino, and entertainment resort will be operated by Tiger Resorts Leisure, a subsidiary of Japanese casino game producer Universal Entertainment Corporation (UEC). Universal is owned by the Japanese billionaire entrepreneur Kazuo Okada whose name was used to rebrand what was originally to be called Manila Bay Resorts.
According to an official statement by UEC, the reason for delaying the launch of Phase-1 of the resort was due to bad weather conditions. However, as the statement reads, the inclement weather has not affected the construction schedule, but only caused minor diversions from the original plan.
Okada Manila was to see the launch of the first 22 hectares of the 44 hectare property by the end of 2016, which according to a press release by Tiger Resorts will now take place a month later than the initial projection, or in December to be more precise.
When launched, the property will officially become the third resort in Entertainment City – a $ 15 billion government project initiated for the purpose of building a Las Vegas-styled entertainment complex in Bay City, Metro Manila. Once finished, Entertainment City will be the home of five integrated entertainment resorts.
The Okada Manila and the Entertainment City complex in general were planned with the hopes of stimulating the gambling and entertainment industry in the Philippines and attracting the interest of Chinese high-grossing players following the crackdown on gambling activities by the governments of China and Macau.