The opening date of Melco Resorts’ €550 million Cyprus integrated resort development, City of Dreams Mediterranean, has been postponed for almost a year as a result of construction delays from the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to local media publication the Financial Mirror, the Vice President of the Cyprus Gaming and Casino Supervision Commission, Phidias Pilides, told a house finance committee last week that Europe’s largest IR would not become a reality until the second half of 2022. Melco, which owns 75% of CoD Mediterranean developer ICR Cyprus, had previously been targeting a late 2021 launch.
When complete, CoD Mediterranean will boast a 7,500-square meter casino with 100 gaming tables and 1,000 slot machines, plus a 500-room, 5-star hotel, MICE space and restaurants.
In the meantime, Melco has opened four satellite casinos across Cyprus plus a temporary facility in Limassol near where City of Dreams will eventually open. However, all five facilities remain closed as a result of the latest wave of COVID-19 that continues to sweep through Europe,
A 30-year license held by ICR Cyprus, including a 15-year exclusivity period, was initiated in 2017.
Pilides said Melco has already submitted a detailed schedule for its revised reopening date, said to be in the northern autumn of 2022.
