Macau casino resort complex Ponte 16 (pictured) has had a long-anticipated expansion of its non-gaming facilities approved by the city’s government. The venue’s public land concession has also been renewed, according to an official dispatch from Macau’s Secretary for Transport and Public Works, Raimundo do Rosário, gazetted on Wednesday.
Ponte 16, on the waterfront of Macau’s Inner Harbour area, will be allowed to add a “commercial building”, a “plaza” and what the dispatch termed a “ship” named “Macau Palace”.
The latter was the name of a floating casino formerly run by the legacy business of Macau casino operator SJM Holdings Ltd, which is an investor in Ponte 16, and supplies its gaming licence. The other partner in Ponte 16 is Hong Kong-listed Success Universe Group Ltd.
In December 2022, shortly after SJM Holdings received a new 10-year gaming concession, the company mentioned the Macau Palace structure would 카지노사이트 be converted to accommodate shops, food and drink outlets and a museum-type facility, as part of the casino firm’s spending pledge on non-gaming and urban revitalisation.
In a September 2023 press conference, SJM Holdings mentioned upgrades to waterfront facilities known as Piers 14 and 16 – the latter being the source of Ponte 16′s name – as “heritage” sites.
According to Wednesday’s official announcement, the lease period for the renewed land concession – covering the existing Ponte 16 casino hotel complex and three land parcels adjacent to Pier 14 – is now valid until February 13, 2030. The dispatch added that the lease is renewable.
The gross construction area permitted for the new developments – namely the commercial building, the plaza, the “Macau Palace” and an affiliated parking lot – is 11,614 square metres (125,012 sq. feet), according to the secretary’s dispatch.
The land concessionaire – called Ponte 16 – Desenvolvimento Predial SA – has 36-months from the date of gazetting, to finish the new developments.
The land concessionaire has paid just under MOP459.9 million (US$57.4 million) in land premiums, the dispatch stated.
Under the updated land concession, the Ponte 16 backers gave up rights to several smaller land parcels granted in the earlier land concession. The latter covering 4,425 square metres, have now been returned to the government, according to the dispatch.
In February, Success Universe had mentioned a plan to create a shopping mall and an open-air “plaza” adjacent to Ponte 16, at a cost of at least HKD500 million (US$64.3 million currently).