"We're currently planning 6,000 rooms from about 2,500, and we're talking to airlines as well."
Parada of the Northern Mariana IslandsGambling expansion in the Isles Commonwealth continues with several projects. Macao-based Alter City Group Inc. said Friday that Eloy S. I met Governor Inostinian and offered a $1.2 million ritual check in part for permission to provide the site for the Plumsteria Golf and Casino Resort Plan, which is set to expand to the island nation.
Last year, the group secured a lease from the government on 152 hectares (375 acres) of Tinian land, which will build a $360 million casino resort. According to Alter City managing director Ken Lin, the relocation plan turned out to be expanded last Friday. "We're currently planning 6,000 rooms from about 2,500, and we're talking to airlines as well."
The project will be carried out in three stages and will include tourist-related facilities such as 18-hole golf courses, water parks and villas in addition to casino facilities and hotel rooms.
The resort is for Nasarino, better known by the name "Puntan Diablo," whose public land lease was unanimously approved at a joint session of the Senate and House of Representatives in November.
Alter City is not the first to attempt to build a mega resort in Tinian. Marinas Resort Development Corporation, which planned to build the Matua Bay Casino Resort, leased the same site but later abandoned the project.
One reason the resort took 12 years to complete is the existing use of the land. Alter City says it will not proceed with the project until Tinian's leadership decides how and where to move the dump on the site. Alter City said it would provide funds for the reclamation and discussions are underway with the U.S. military. The group is also concerned about "live-fire" operations, which could affect tourism.
Reports indicate potential locations. According to Mayor Joey Patrick San Nicholas Tinian, "The property with the dump was leased to the Alter City Group, so the leadership is working very hard to relocate the dump and we thought the right place should be in Pina."
Among the Northern Mariana Islands, only Saipan, Tinian and Rota islands reside, and Imperial Pacific (Best Sunshine) is planning a $7 billion development in Saipan. Watanabe Masahiro, a Japanese junket operator, has expressed interest in reopening his treasure island casino and hotels in Rota. The casino was only open for a few months when it closed in March 2011.
Proposals for Titanic Ocean View Casino Resort and Alter City Project, a Titanic-themed casino, and the existing San Jose Titanic Dynamics Hotel & Casino appear to be attracting the most attention of developers in February.