Bloomberry to shell out $450M more in Vegas-style casino Solaire

Publicly-listed Bloomberry Resorts Corp. is investing $450 million more to expand its flagship Solaire Resort and Casino Manila—to open this Saturday—as the company sees the beginnings of a robust gaming industry that could provide billions of dollars in revenues, company officials said. 

 

“We will invest a total $400 million to $450 million in Phase 1a of the integrated resort casino,” said in Bradley Stone told reporters during a press tour Wednesday. 

 

Stone is president of US-based GGAM—Bloomberry's equity partner in Solaire.

 

“We don't expect to exceed that amount the next phase,” said Solaire chief operating officer Michael French.

 

Phase 1a—showcasing a 1,800-seat theater, 300 suites, several restaurants and 60,000 square feet of shopping area—will open in the third quarter of 2014, Stone noted.

 

The $750-million Solaire Phase 1 will be unveiled on Saturday, March 16. French noted Bloomberry will spend around $1 million for Solaire's opening day.

 

The first development to open in Entertainment City features an 11-story, 500-room hotel atop a three-level casino and gaming area with 1,200 slot machines and 300 gaming tables. 

 

“This is the best you will see in the region, at par with Las Vegas if not better,” Stone said. 

 

The $1.2-billion development—encompassing Phase 1 and 1a—is one of four casino-resort establishments to rise in the state-run Bagong Nayong Pilipino Entertainment City in Parañaque City.

 

Travellers International Hotel Group Inc., SM Consortium, and Tiger Resorts Leisure and Entertainment Inc. were also given the green light by state-run Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (PAGCOR) to build their respective projects in Entertainment City.

 

Gaming gateway

 

French said Solaire ushers in the global casino-resort industry to the Philippines. “We will become the gateway of gaming to the Philippines. We're setting a new standard, that's why our slogan is 'The game changer'.”

 

The Philippine gaming market holds the potential of exceeding $6 billion in four to five years. “By that time, when all four developments are up, the area will be at par with other global gaming hubs,” he noted.  

 

Currently, the Philippines accounts for a little over a billion dollars out of the $102 billion global gaming industry. 

 

Other than revenues the government will benefit from the jobs the entertainment would generate, PAGCOR chief Cristino Naguiat has said.  

 

Naguiat is looking at 6,000 to 7,000 jobs per project.

 

Solaire now has 4,600 employees, 90 percent of which are locals and some 450 have been overseas Filipino workers repatriated from world-class casinos the world over. 

 

“We will add at least 2,000 additional employees when Phase 1a opens,” said Adrian Ort, Solaire vice president and general manager for operations.

 

We are looking at hiring another “large number of returnees,” he noted. “There is high demand for Filipinos to come back home. And we do want to hire them because they're experienced in world-class service and have worked in an international setting.”

 

Many OFWs are interested, “because they do want to come back home and we pay a competitive package,” he added. — VS, GMA News