SJM Holdings Limited, the gaming operator behind iconic Macao properties such as the Hotel Lisboa and Grand Lisboa, has announced that it intends to acquire 9 floors of Hengqin office space, which will be repurposed into a 3-star hotel.
In a statement published yesterday, the company stated that it will invest 546 million yuan (US$75.2 million) to purchase the 14,845-square-metre space, comprising the 21st to 29th floors of the Hengqin commercial development known in romanised Mandarin as Xin De Kou An Shang Wu Zhong Xin.
In doing so, SJM Holdings said it was taking advantage of a policy introduced by the Hengqin government in April of this year. Under this initiative, which was later expanded in July, a plethora of buildings in Hengqin, including unused offices, as well as commercial and cultural facilities, have been earmarked for conversion into hotels.
“The proposed acquisition is strategically situated at a prime location, next to the 24-hour Hengqin Port [which is 5 minutes by foot], and in close proximity to our existing hotel portfolio in Macao,” SJM Holdings chair, Daisy Ho, said.
The statement pointed out that the Grand Lisboa Palace in Cotai and the Grand Lisboa Palace on the peninsula could be reached by road in roughly 10 minutes and 30 minutes respectively.
[See more: Hengqin is allowing more kinds of empty buildings to be converted into hotels]
The development is also within walking distance of the Guangzhou-Zhuhai Intercity Railway and the newly opened Hengqin Light Rapid Transit (LRT) station, allowing for seamless travel between Macao and Hengqin, as well as other parts of the Greater Bay Area (GBA).
Ho added that the new Hengqin hotel would expand the types of customers that the gaming concessionaire serves, while also spurring the growth in the tourism industry of Macao and Hengqin.
According to the statement, the three-star hotel will have “a focus on operational efficiency and cost effectiveness, while enhancing the diversity of SJM Resorts’ [a subsidiary of SJM Holdings] hotel portfolio and broadening its reach into the mass market.”
The construction of affordable hotels in Hengqin is expected to lure more budget-conscious mainland Chinese travellers to Macao, many of whom have previously felt excluded by the high price of hotel accommodation in the SAR.
New travel permit rules, allowing eligible mainland visitors to enter and leave Macao multiple times during a 7-day period, will enable tourists to come and go between the SAR’s attractions and their hotels in Hengqin.
