Slowly licensing the next wave of Cotai resorts

While a wide range of integrated resorts take shape in the Cotai Strip, some gaming operators face challenges in developing their new casinos and hotels, holding merely construction licenses to conduct earth or foundation works.
Wynn Macau seems to be one of the luckiest so far, having been granted a superstructure construction license, while Sociedade de Jogos de Macau holds a foundation construction license, the Land, Public Works and Transport Bureau (DSSOPT) told the Times via email.
The Parisian, being developed by Sands China, holds a flatwork construction license, the bureau added.
Last month, newspaper Tribuna de Macau reported that DSSOPT had called a halt to all construction work of the Parisian, as Sands China held only a license for earthworks, but a building structure had already been developed.
In an earnings call with analysts last month, the CEO of Las Vegas Sands Michael Leven confirmed that construction works had stopped, and they were waiting for approval from the government.
The anticipated opening date remains; the Parisian, with its own Eiffel Tower replica, is set to open by the end of 2015.
“The construction at the moment has stopped, depending [on] when we see certain approvals from Macau government that we hope to obtain shortly. We’re positioning ourselves right now to be able to resume full activity once those necessary approvals are received,” he said.
Michael Leven added that Sands China has “no plans to change the anticipated opening at the end of 2015 at this point.”
Newspaper Hoje Macau cites “sources with knowledge of the process” saying that construction works of MGM, Wynn and Macau Studio City in the Cotai Strip might be halted too, due to the lack of updated construction licenses.
Regarding the recent accounts indicating that construction works had already been stopped in most casino resorts under development at the Cotai Strip, Wynn and SJM denied any work suspension on their sites.
“There is no disruption of any kind in the construction of Wynn Palace. Work proceeds apace,” Wynn Macau told the Times in an email.
SJM also confirmed that “there has been no suspension of work at the Lisboa Palace site.”
The next wave of Cotai resorts includes Sands China’s Parisian; Wynn Palace; SJM’s Lisboa Palace, MGM Cotai; and Melco Crown Entertainment’s Macau Studio City, among others.