The Vice Mayor of Manila’s Quezon City, Joy Belmonte, has revealed that her government will pass a gambling regulatory ordinance ahead of construction work getting underway on Bloomberry Resorts Corporation’s second Solaire-branded casino.
Speaking with the Philippines Inquirer late last week, Belmonte, who is opposed to gambling, offered some positives about the development, stating, “I understand the benefits. It was presented to me by Solaire that there will be these many jobs. There will be a hotel. The casino will be very small. I understand the benefits economically.
“We talked with some councilors, and we came up with gambling regulatory ordinance in Quezon City.
Sureste Properties – the operating entity of Solaire Resort and Casino in Manila’s Entertainment City precinct – purchased the 1.57-hectare parcel of land for its Quezon City IR in 2015 for Php1.98 billion (US$38 million), with Bloomberry Chairman and CEO Enrique Razon Jr stating last year that construction was scheduled to begin in mid-2019.
He also revealed at the time that the Quezon City resort could boast the same total floor space for casino operations as Solaire despite the smaller land size, with the building expected to be more vertical.
Last month Bloomberry also secured a Php40 billion (US$767 million) loan to fund the design, construction and development of its Quezon City resort, scheduled to open in 2022.
