Billionaire Enrique Razon Jr. is expanding his casino empire to Cavite, announcing on Thursday plans to develop an integrated gaming, resort and leisure complex on a property nearly three times the size of the Entertainment City project along Manila Bay.
Razon’s Bloomberry Resorts Corp., which operates the Solaire Resort & Casino in Entertainment City, said in a stock exchange filing that it had sealed an agreement with landowners, led by businessmen Jose Panlilio, to acquire 279 hectares in Ternate, Cavite, for P7.5 billion.
The properties were in the province’s Paniman area, which is the location of the oceanfront Puerto Azul Golf & Country Club.
Bloomberry said it would turn the Paniman property “into an integrated resort and entertainment complex with a world class casino, hotel, golf course, commercial, residential and mixed use development.”
It added the new project would start after its Solaire North in Vertis, Quezon City, opened for commercial operations, which was expected in 2023.
With no major casino competitors in Cavite, Razon appeared to be replicating his “first mover” approach, similar to when Bloomberry was ahead of competitors when it opened Solaire Resort & Casino in 2013.
“Since the other players are being conservative, if [Bloomberry] makes the right call early, they’ll gain a first mover advantage,” Luis Gerardo Limlingan, managing director at Regina Capital Development, told the Inquirer on Thursday.
“There is still a lot of pent-up demand from the COVID-19 lockdowns,” he added.
Bloomberry said in the filing it acquired the land via subsidiary Solaire Entertainment Property Holdings Inc.
The sellers were Panlilio-led resort developer Boulevard Holdings Inc., Puerto Azul Land, Inc., Ternate Development Corp. and Monte Sol Development Corp., the stock exchange filing showed.
Boulevard Holdings said in a separate filing it had agreed to sell 28 hectares to the Bloomberry subsidiary at P5,050 per square meter or a total of P1.42 billion.
Bloomberry’s vision for a new entertainment city in Cavite adds to Razon’s other investments in the province, which is located south of Metro Manila.