Gaming magnate Stanley Ho Hung-sun's Sociedade de Jogos de Macau (SJM) last night threw open the doors to Ponte 16 casino hotel, a HK$3.1 billion project located in the city's older inner harbour district.
Guests including Macau Chief Executive Edmund Ho Hau-wah showed up to mark the opening of the city's 29th casino and SJM's 19th. Ponte 16 includes a 400-room Sofitel hotel managed by France's Accor Group and seeks to rejuvenate a neighbourhood that was once the economic centre of Macau but is now mainly characterised by abandoned factories and empty dockyards.
The project - one of only two new casinos set to launch in Macau this year - was subject to an eight-month construction delay and an ongoing legal battle has raised uncertainty over plans for an adjacent 500,000 sq ft retail plaza.
Ponte 16 employs 2,000 staff and is 51 per cent owned by SJM, 44 per cent by VIP gaming hall operator Sonny Yeung Hoi-sing's Macau Success, and 5 per cent by major Japanese pachinko firm Maruhan.
SJM executive director Ambrose So Shu-fai said the company expected to recoup its investment within three to four years. He dismissed concerns about rising costs in Macau, where median salaries in the gaming industry soared 22 per cent in the year to September.
'In Macau these days all costs are going up, especially labour costs and construction costs,' Mr So said. 'But we are confident that because of the geographic location of Ponte 16 and the special characteristics attached to this project we will be able to have a very good return on our investment.'