URA gives MBS approval to build 587-room fourth tower
According to an expansion plan unveiled in 2019, the fourth tower of Marina Bay Sands was slated to have 1,000 hotel rooms.
An artist's impression of Marina Bay Sands' fourth tower. (Image: Marina Bay Sands)
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SINGAPORE: Marina Bay Sands (MBS) has been given the go-ahead by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) to build a fourth tower with 587 hotel rooms.
The integrated resort received approval to develop the tower on a plot bordered by Bayfront Avenue, Sheares Avenue and Sheares Link, according to URA data released last Friday (Jan 26) for uncompleted commercial projects with development approvals at the end of the fourth quarter of 2023. The plot is located next to MBS' three existing hotel towers.
The URA data showed that the new tower will have 153,100 sq m of hotel space with 587 rooms and 12,185 sq m of retail space.
According to an expansion plan unveiled in 2019, the fourth tower was slated to have 1,000 "all-suite" hotel rooms, a 15,000-seat entertainment arena and "a sky roof with a swimming pool and a signature restaurant". It was also expected to have ballrooms, exhibition halls and luxury retailers.
When queried about the reduction in the number of rooms from the previously announced 1,000 to the current 587, MBS declined to provide more information.
An expansion plan for Singapore's other integrated resort, Resorts World Sentosa, was also announced in 2019.
Expected to cost about US$3.3 billion (S$4.5 billion), MBS' expansion plan was held back by issues brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic. The project's completion date was first pushed back from 2025 to 2026, and MBS' parent company Las Vegas Sands (LVS) later said that work on the project was not likely to begin in April 2023 as planned at the time.
MBS was eventually given until April 2024 to start work on the project, with its completion deadline also extended to Apr 8, 2028 – three years after its original 2025 deadline.
In an earnings presentation for the fourth quarter of 2023 last Wednesday, LVS said that the budget and timing of the MBS expansion are "subject to revision based upon the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and other factors".
"Project costs are expected to meaningfully exceed the initial US$3.3 billion estimates, inclusive of land, that were made in 2019, due to inflation, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, higher labour and material costs, and other factors," said LVS.
Nevertheless, it added that design, development and programming work for the expansion project "(remained) ongoing, with a focus on increasing the leisure and business tourism appeal of Singapore and Marina Bay Sands".
MBS reported adjusted property earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of US$544 million in the fourth quarter of 2023, a 19 per cent increase from the US$457 million reported for the same period in 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic.
Net revenue for the last quarter of 2023 was US$1.06 billion, up from the US$853 million reported in the same quarter in 2019.
For the full year in 2023, MBS reported adjusted property EBITDA of US$1.86 billion, up from US$1.06 billion in 2022.
