When it comes to waterfront gambling, it s hard to finder a bigger bet than the one Genting Malaysia made Friday in downtown Miami.
In paying $236 million for the 14 acres that house The Miami Herald , the Asian gaming giant envisions a luxury casino resort on Biscayne Bay even though Florida law forbids it. But people close to the deal say the Asian conglomerate has the patience to wait out the politics of casino gambling, and the deep pockets to stick with the venture if the slot machines and blackjack tables don t materialize.
They re going to hope that four or five years from now, they can print money, Victor Lopez, a former senior Hyatt executive, said of the lush profits a casino can generate. If the gambling legislation doesn t come through, then they ve made a real estate investment. If they take a little bit of a beating, so what? They can afford to.
Valued at $45 billion, Genting and its affiliated companies cast a long shadow on two continents casino industries, with designs on a third. The largest casino operator in both Southeast Asia and the United Kingdom, the company based in Kuala Lumpur also is a major producer of palm oil and a residential developer. The publicly traded company, which employs about 50,000 people worldwide, used its deep pockets in 1999 to purchase the Miami-based Norwegian Cruise Line, then sold a 50 percent stake in 2008 to private investors.
Eager for a U.S. foothold, it outbid rivals in New York last year for the rights to bring a casino to the Queens Aqueduct racetrack. In Miami, the company sees a flagship property in a city with international appeal.
We view Miami as a very important gateway between the United States, Europe and Latin America, Resorts World President Mike Speller said. We are very, very excited to be here.
At a morning press conference, Speller outlined a massive transformation for an industrial site occupied by parking lots and a blocky 1960s building housing waterfront printing presses. In its place would rise hotels, entertainment venues, residential towers, commercial space and other amenities to make the area a destination resort. Santiago Calatrava, one of the world s leading architects, appears to be the top pick to design the complex, said Miami Commissioner Marc Sarnoff, who was briefed Friday by developers.
The estimated cost: between $2 billion and $2.5 billion.
Speller said the project will go ahead whether or not Florida allows casinos to expand beyond Indian lands and selected race tracks and jai alai frontons. But a casino would allow a quicker return, and Genting would dramatically speed up its development timetable if Florida changes its gambling laws, Speller said in a statement. The company is one of several casino operators that has been lobbying to loosen the laws, part of a larger push by the industry to allow a limited number of destination resorts with casinos.
We will begin building a mixed-use development that will be realized in stages as market demands over the next 20 years, Speller s statement said. This timeline may be significantly accelerated if destination resort legislation passes in Florida.
In closing the deal Friday, the company that got its start with a resort in the hills near Kuala Lumpur 40 years ago snagged what many consider the last large swath of developable waterfront in downtown Miami. A study that Genting commissioned for the deal valued the Herald property at between $203 million and $249 million, according to a Genting regulatory filing. The study, conducted by Holliday Fenoglio Fowler, a real estate investment banking firm with an office in Coral Gables, did not include potential casino profits, but it did consider revenue from a marina on the bayfront site.
No comments:
Post a Comment