Sands to pay part of Cotai land premium

Las Vegas Sands Corp. agreed to make an initial payment to the Macau government of 700 million patacas or about US$90 million for the Cotai land where stalled construction of Parcels 5 and 6 is located, according to The Wall Street Journal.
The company said in a filing Monday with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that the land premium for its site would total US$233.5 million.
The land parcels, on which Las Vegas Sands began construction but halted late last year in the wake of financing difficulties, will house two casinos and the Shangri-La, Traders and Sheraton-branded hotels.
Steve Jacobs, the Chief Executive Officer of Sands China, had said Sunday that the construction of the resort could be resumed as early as January 2010, and was expected to open the first phase of the projects - including 300,000 square feet of casino space and 3,700 hotel rooms, in June 2011.
The site is adjacent to the company’s Venetian Macao Resort Hotel on the Cotai Strip. At 13.3 million square feet,it will be larger than the Venetian Macao, with which it will be joined by a glass-enclosed footbridge, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Under the terms of the land deal, the Las Vegas based company will have 48 months to finish development of the site, which Las Vegas Sands said will give it until the first quarter of 2012.
Sands China has just begun the Hong Kong initial public offering of stock Monday, which is aimed to raise HK$26 billion in order to restart the Parcels 5 & 6 projects in Cotai and also pay off some of its high debt load.