In Macau, the long rumored prospect that the coming The 13 luxury hotel could one day feature a casino has been given some credence after the local developer behind the 200-room property reportedly announced that it indeed hopes to premiere such an offering early next year.
According to a report from GGRAsia, Hong Kong-listed The 13 Holdings Limited used a Sunday filing to declare that it would like to inaugurate a casino inside The 13 by the end of March of 2019 complete with around 50 slots featuring minimum wagers of ‘a comparatively high level’.
The 13 Holdings Limited reportedly stated that it envisages the planned casino inside the luxurious hotel located on the border between the Cotai and Coloane districts of the former Portuguese enclave moreover offering approximately 50 ‘high-stakes’ mass-market gambling tables as well as about 16 units for VIP players.
“There may be substantial changes to these plans to accommodate the requirements of the Macau government,” reportedly read the filing from The 13 Holdings Limited.
GGRAsia reported that The 13 Holdings Limited further explained that it intends to operate its proposed casino under a license held by an unnamed ‘affiliate’ after inking an associated memorandum of understanding in 2013. The weekend filing purportedly detailed that it had received confirmation as recently as January 17 that this arrangement was still in place and that it had yet to receive ‘any negative feedback from the licensed operator in respect of the memorandum of understanding’.
The 13 Holdings Limited, which was previously known as Louis XIII Holdings Limited until a 2016 name-change, had originally hoped to open the hotel portion of the $1.6 billion The 13 in July of last year. However, cash shortages led to numerous delays with the developer recently clarifying that it now intends to begin welcoming guests by the end of April.
GGRAsia reported that The 13 Holdings Limited additionally used the recent filing to assert that it would hope to spend at least $45 million on any casino for The 13 although it had ‘not yet formulated further fundraising plans to accommodate such costs’. It purportedly proclaimed that it would ‘explore further funding options’ once the hotel portion of the venue is open and that these avenues may possibly include ‘bank borrowing’.