Dennis Uy eyes dev’t of another Cebu resort

Davao-based businessman Dennis Uy is developing another integrated resort in Cebu, which may also have a gaming component.

Uy will lease a four-hectare property near the Mactan Cebu International Airport from Megawide, which he plans to develop as a world class hotel with a casino.

Uy, a known supporter of President Duterte, has been on an aggressive expansion mode with his acquisition of several companies in different sectors.

The two parties are expected to sign the long-term lease agreement this week, industry sources said.

It is expected to compete with Waterfront Hotel & Casino, the hotel and casino near the Cebu airport.

Uy’s latest plan is on top of his $341-million Emerald Resort and Casino, which Uy’s Udenna will build on a prime beachfront property in Mactan Island in Lapu-Lapu City, also in Cebu.

But Emerald Resort will be bigger in scale as it will rise on a 12.5-hectare property. Emerald is designed by American designer and architect Paul Steelman, whose works include The Mirage Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas and The Sands in Macau. Here at home, Steelman designed Solaire Resort & Casino

Furthermore, Emerald Resort will be bigger because it will have grand suites, fivestory aquariums, retail malls that will rival the best in Asia, among others. It will have gaming areas designed to be family-friendly.

It will also have iconic modern buildings and infinity pools. It will have a skydiving center on a pier; a retail complex; a convention center; luxury hotels and villas; specialty dining options; private residences, and condominium-hotels.

The Emerald Casino is targeting both foreign and local players including Singaporeans, Koreans and Chinese.

The one near the Mactan airport, meanwhile, will be part of the overall redevelopment of the Mactan airport which Megawide has been planning.

Megawide took over the Mactan Cebu airport in 2014 and is on track to opening a new terminal by June.

The new terminal will have a capacity of eight million passengers to support terminal one’s 4.5 million capacity. This would bring the airport’s total capacity to 12. 5 million passengers by June.

In all, the company submitted a P208-billion, 50-year unsolicited proposal for a more comprehensive expansion of the airport which also includes developing adjacent areas into retail components.