A recent trip to visit the Genting Group sealed the deal for the casino developer to choose Arquitectonica as the architect for Resorts World Miami, a planned $3 billion project on the site of The Miami Herald’s current headquarters.
Tan Sri Lim Kok Thay, chairman and CEO of Genting, made the announcement Thursday at an evening reception at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts, which is next to the site of the planned resort. The reception’s 200 attendees included Miami Mayor Tomas Regalado and three commissioners.
Tan Sri Lim, who first visited Miami 40 years ago as a student, was presented with a key to the city.
He said he feels at home in Miami because its tropical climate is similar to Malaysia, and likes its gateway status. He held out the possibility of direct flights from Miami to Malaysia, saying it would help usher in a new relationship between the Far East and the Americas.
Tan Sri Lim said Arquitectonica’s global experience and modern Miami architecture made it a natural fit to do the project, which will include hotel, convention, restaurant, retail, residential and commercial space, and possibly a casino.
Mike Speller, president of Resorts World Miami, made a point of highlighting that Genting was the only company chosen to operate a casino in New York.
In the fourth quarter of this year, Genting expects to open the Genting New York Casino with 2,500 slot machines at the Aqueduct Racetrack in Queens, N.Y.
The elite status in New York may be a harbinger of things to coming locally, as Genting and others seek to open up gambling through legislation.
The Resorts World Miami design will include sustainable and LEED-certified solutions and conform with the Miami 21 development vision, a news release said.
Arquitectonica co-founder and principal Bernardo Fort-Brescia sat at a table near the podium and signed documents with Tan Sri Lim to make the deal official. Arquitectonica has an array of international experience from China to France, with resorts, arena, condos and master plans.
Fort-Brescia said he had visited Resorts World Sentosa and was impressed by its design and quality of landscaping. He promised that Resorts World Miami would make a great contribution to tourism, entertainment and real estate in South Florida. He noted that the timing of Genting’s arrival was particularly important, considering its proximity to the Arsht Center and other locales, including Bicentennial Park, the future home of the Miami Art Museum and Miami Science Museum.
Genting announced it paid $236 million for 14 acres, including The Miami Herald’s waterfront parcel, on May 27.
Tan Sri Lim told the group he has made more than 100 trips to the city. One reason is his company’s half stake in NCL Corp., the parent company of Norwegian Cruise Line. The nearby Port of Miami would be easily visible from high-rises on the Herald site.
Genting was also involved in development of the Our Lucaya resort in the Bahamas, he noted.
In February 2010, Genting opened Resorts World Sentosa in Singapore, a $5.5 billion project with Universal Studios.
Tan Sri Lim called it “the most successful destination resort in the world.
The Miami site has 800 feet of waterfront along Biscayne Bay. Guests leaving the Arsht Center could look a block east and see the Herald building, which will ultimately be demolished.
Tan Sri Lim talked about the city’s ongoing development.
“I believe Miami is destined to be one of the most prominent cities in the world,” he said.
That’s a contrast to how the city has been portrayed as a poster child for overdevelopment in recent years, but condos in the downtown area are rapidly filling up. The Herald site was previously under contract, but the deal fell through before Genting stepped in.
Neisen Kasdin, vice chairman of the Miami Downtown Development Authority, said he could not have envisioned this announcement six month ago. But, he noted, there has been a flurry of foreign investment in Miami, including Swire Properties’ plans for the six-tower Brickell CitiCentre project, which is also being designed by Arquitectonica.
Both are stabled companies with deep pockets, said Kasdin, the former mayor of Miami Beach and current chairman of the land use and entitlements practice for Miami law firm Akerman Senterfitt.
Genting Malaysia Berhad, the company named in the purchase of the 14-acre Herald site, is part of the Genting Group, which has five public companies based in Asia, with $45 billion in stock market capitalization and more than 50,000 employees.
A bill that would have paved the way for one casino in Miami failed in the last legislative session. Kasdin was asked whether he thought there might be a move to push for multiple casino sites now, which could help provide construction jobs in a county where unemployment has hit 13 percent.
He replied that he didn’t think that was under discussion among downtown leaders at this point.
Walter L. Revell, the chairman and CEO of Coral Gables-based Revell Group, played a key role in helping Genting put together the transaction.
Standing in the audience after the Arquitectonica announcement, Revell said he became the first American director of NCL in 1993 and has led the audit committee for the cruise company.
He was familiar with many members of Knight-Ridder, the newspaper company that once owned the Herald. Knight-Ridder used to be based in the Herald building, but was acquired by the McClatchy Co. (NYSE: MNI) after its headquarters relocated to San Jose, Calif.
Revell said Tan Sri Lim asked him to help with the Resorts World Concept, and he arranged a meeting with Gary B. Pruitt, the CEO of McClatchy, which is based in Sacramento, Calif.
The $236 million deal took two months to put together, Revell said. The biggest challenge? Figuring out how to deal with contracts that involve advertising banners that hang on the outside of the building.
email@example.com | (954) 949-7520 On Twitter: @kevingale firstname.lastname@example.org | (954) 949-7567 On Twitter: @SFBJ_OMusibay