Las Vegas Sands has announced it will spend $8 billion on its new integrated resort tower in Singapore. The project will be a fresh change from the core expansion of its Marina Bay Sands portfolio.
The project, dubbed “Marina Bay Sands IR2” is set to feature on-site casino amenities, including a main podium casino area and a “sky gaming floor” in the new tower, as well as 570 luxury rooms, a 15,000-seat arena, 110,000 square feet of MICE, its own SkyPark, and upscale restaurants and bars.
The new estimate, which is two and a half times the initial $3.3 billion investment announced in 2019, includes $4.7 million in design and construction, $2 billion in land premiums and $1.3 billion in preliminary and financing costs, LVS said in its third-quarter earnings presentation on 24. Construction is set to begin next June, with an expected opening date of Jan. 1, 2031. The company added that it expects the project to cost 25% to 35% directly and 65% to 75% through project financing.
In a bit of clarity during the company’s quarterly earnings call on Thursday morning (Asia time), LVS President and COO Patrick Dumont noted that while the original concept was an expansion of the state-owned Marina Bay Sands, “our new program is creating a full-scale integrated resort development with a full suite of amenities, including gaming capabilities.
“Our goal with this tower is to make it something very different,” he said. “This is going to be the most important gaming and hospitality building in the world. It’s going to be the best hotel in the world, and that’s our goal: the best service, the best experience, the best F&B.
“Our goal is to create something that is extraordinary and helps address the Singapore market that we know quite well now and has been consuming some of our highest end products over the past 14 years. We’re very aware of the market segments that we’re addressing and we feel like this is a project that will be very accretive to our overall portfolio and create substantial value to us in the long term.
“It’s going to be a very important, globally significant asset for tourism but it’s going to be very specific to a very high-end segment that we’re dealing with today, hence the investment.”
LVS President and CEO Robert Goldstein added that he expects Singapore’s GGR to reach $6.5 billion in 2024, but said that figure could grow to $11 billion in the long term. Marina Bay Sands IR2, he explained, should add another $1 billion in annual EBITDA to the company’s bottom line.
“[The new project] has a laser focus on the premium mass segment,” Goldstein said. “This project reflects a lot of capital being directed at a very, very strong customer segment. It’s a unique asset for a unique market that is stellar. There are barriers to entry but it’s a proven market and we know who the customer is. We’ve been there for 14 years so we feel very, very confident that these results are going to be terrific.”
LVS said the ongoing $750 million investment in upgrading MBS Tower 3 is expected to be completed by the second quarter of 2025. Spa and wellness treatments.
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