The operating entity of Singapore’s Marina Bay Sands revealed Friday morning (Asia time) that it has signed a supplemental agreement with the Singapore Tourism Board granting it an additional 12-month extension, until April 2024, to the deadline for commencing its SG$4.5 billion (US$3.3 billion) expansion project.
Parent company Las Vegas Sands said the latest update to its original Development Agreement, signed in April 2019, gave Marina Bay Sands Pte Ltd until 8 April 2024 to commence development of a fourth tower at MBS, with the completion deadline now pushed back to 8 April 2028.
The supplemental agreement also includes “certain changes to the construction and operation plans under the Development Agreement” although these changes have not yet been made public.
This is the second time MBS has been forced to postpone its expansion plans, primarily as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
First announced in 2019, the MBS expansion will include development of a fourth hotel tower with a “rooftop attraction” including a sky pool and signature restaurant, MICE facilities comprising meeting rooms, function rooms and exhibition halls plus a state-of-the-art live entertainment arena with a seating capacity of at least 15,000 people.
MBS will also be permitted to install an additional 1,000 gaming machines, taking its total to 3,500, and convert the entire 55th floor of Hotel Tower 1 into more casino floor space with a provision to purchase another 2,000 square meters of casino gaming area if required, according to the original deal.
Despite the pandemic interrupting those plans, MBS has wasted no time in its recovery with net revenues in the December 2022 quarter almost doubling year-on-year to US$682 million and Adjusted EBITDA rising 54.2% year-on-year to US$273 million.
