Marina Bay Sands Expansion Commencement Date Extended To Apr 2024
The Marina Bay Sands (MBS) expansion plan will kick off in April 2024 after Singapore Tourism Board (STB) granted it a new extension.
Las Vegas Sands (LVS), which owns the integrated resort (IR), now has until 8 Apr 2024 to commence construction on the S$4.5 billion expansion.
Source: Partha Narasimhan on Unsplash
The plan includes a 1,000-room hotel tower and a live entertainment area with a seating capacity of 15,000.
This is the second extension granted since the agreement was signed in 2019. The first was announced last year when LVS said construction would be delayed by a year.
Marina Bay Sands expansion was expected to commence by next month
The Straits Times (ST) reported the extension of the plan following a filing made to the United States Security and Exchange Commission on Wednesday (22 Mar).
A delay had been speculated since February this year when LVS said it does not “expect to be able to timely commence” the expansion.
Prior to that, all eyes were on LVS to commence work by 8 Apr, as per the Second Development Agreement with the government.
This marks the expansion plan’s second delay so far. LVS had initially extended the completion deadline to 2026 from 2025.
At the time, they cited disruptions to the construction industry stemming from the Covid-19 pandemic.
MBS given four years to complete expansion
In line with the new commencement deadline, MBS will now have until 8 Apr 2028 to complete the expansion.
The extension falls under an agreement with the Government, which include MBS and Resorts World Sentosa (RWS) pledging S$9 billion for non-gaming attractions.
In exchange, the government will safeguard the resort’s business interests by preventing casinos from opening in Singapore until after 2030.
Back in 2019, Genting Singapore pledged S$4.5 billion to expand RWS.
Source: Resorts World Singapore on Facebook
The expansion, slated to complete in 2025, is expected to include new attractions at Universal Studios Singapore, such as a Minion Land and Super Nintendo World.
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Featured image adapted from Partha Narasimhan on Unsplash.
