The lease for land occupied by the scandal plagued Beijing Imperial Palace Hotel is to be revoked by the Macao government, according to local media reports.
Citing provisions that enable the scrapping of leases when land is not used for its stated purpose, the Land and Urban Construction Bureau (known by its Portuguese initials DSSCU) reportedly filed paperwork last month against hotel owner Empresa Hoteleira de Macau.
With more than 500 rooms, the Beijing Imperial Palace Hotel occupied a 14,918-square-metre site in Taipa before its licence was cancelled in 2017 for failing to meet fire safety regulations and what were termed “serious administrative irregularities.” The property was castigated by officials for “posing a threat to public safety” and “harming the image” of Macao’s tourism industry.
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Opening as the New Century Hotel in 1992, the building had rumoured links to criminal gangs and an unsavoury reputation. In 2005, a bankrupt Hong Kong tycoon was arrested at the hotel for selling drugs, in the same week that shots were fired at the hotel entrance as police attempted to foil an armed robbery.
In 2012, the founder of the hotel’s casino, Ng Man Sun, was hospitalised after being attacked at the property by men wielding choppers. Although the hotel was rebranded a year later, it wasn’t able to shake off its past, and the casino was closed in 2015, with the rest of the operation following suit in two years. The hotel was also dogged by a bitter ownership dispute.
There has been no indication what the plot will be used for once the government resumes control of the land.
