The government has given the green light to gaming concessionaire Wynn’s expansion plan for its Wynn Palace casino-hotel resort in Cotai, according to an executive order published in the Official Gazette (BO) yesterday.
The order, signed by Secretary for Transport and Public Works Raymond Tam Vai Man on Thursday last week, amends the land concession for the plot where the Wynn Palace resort is located.
According to the order, the plot covers a total area of 205,797 square metres.
Currently, the plot includes a casino-hotel complex comprising a podium and a hotel tower, alongside a performance lake and open-air green spaces.
The expansion plan, according to yesterday’s order, includes the construction of a new hotel tower, a theatre, and an entertainment centre to be built on the open-air areas of the plot.
Wynn is one of the city’s six gaming concessionaires.
In addition to Wynn Palace, the operator runs another casino-hotel resort – Wynn Macau in Nape.
According to the executive order, Wynn submitted a plan to the Lands and Urban Construction Bureau (DSSCU) in 2023 for the construction of a theatre and an entertainment centre on the open-air areas of the Wynn Palace plot. Wynn subsequently submitted a follow-up proposal in 2025 for the construction of a new hotel tower.
The order noted that Wynn Palace’s expansion plan was also submitted to the Financial Services Bureau (DSF) and the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau (DICJ) for review. Neither bureau raised any objections to the expansion plan, provided that the resort’s gaming area remains unchanged.
Taking into account the opinions of the Financial Services Bureau and the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau, and considering that the expansion could contribute to the diversification of Macau’s tourism offerings, the Lands and Urban Construction Bureau concluded that the expansion plan met the necessary conditions and official requirements for approval.
According to the revised land concession agreement attached to the executive order, hotel facilities will cover a gross floor area of 534,105 square metres following the expansion – a 17 per cent increase from the current 454,800 square metres.
The new theatre will cover a gross construction area of 8,787 square metres, while the new entertainment centre will have a gross construction area of 23,738 square metres.
After the expansion, gross construction areas for carpark purposes will decrease to 69,467 square metres from the current 80,000 square metres, while open-air areas will drop to 93,904 square metres from the current 101,937 square metres.
According to the order, the amendments to the land concession require Wynn to pay a one-off contract premium of 652 million patacas to the government.
This file photo taken from Big Taipa Hill late last year shows the Wynn Palace resort (centre) in Cotai. – Photo: Tony Wong
