Philippines real estate investor Belle Corporation has submitted a proposal to its partner, Melco Resorts (Philippines), to expand City of Dreams Manila onto one hectare of vacant lands it holds adjacent to the Entertainment City precinct property.
Belle Corp President Manuel Gana revealed his company’s request while talking with local media on Tuesday, stating that City of Dreams Manila was now running near full capacity and needed to build more room inventory in order to grow.
According to the Philippines Inquirer, the vacant land would be used primarily for non-gaming facilities including at least one new hotel.
“The ball is in Melco’s court. They have a lot of things on their plate,” Gana said, adding that Belle Corp would be willing to develop the land alone should Melco decline the opportunity.
Belle would be “free to do something else,” he said. “We can build our own hotel and capitalize on City of Dreams clientele but we prefer Melco to get involved so it can be consolidated into City of Dreams.”
Gana also expressed an interest in acquiring some of PAGCOR’s casinos via the gaming regulator’s sell-off, pointing to locations in Davao and Laoag as particularly attractive.
Belle Corp announce this week a 10% growth in net income in the three months to 31 March 2018 to Php857 million (US$16.3 million), including an 8% year-on-year increase in income from its revenue share deal with Melco Resorts to Php474 million.