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MACAU-Taubman Asia will direct the retail piece of Macau Studio City, a multibillion-dollar mixed-use development here that will combine theater, television and film production facilities with retail, gaming, entertainment and hospitality components on the Cotai Strip. As part of the agreement, which will be finalized before mid-year, Taubman will acquire a minority position in the retail component.
A 45-minute ferry ride from Hong Kong, Macao is a Special Administration Region of China with its own legislative government, similar to Hong Kong. The government opened up the area for more gaming development in 2004 and now some $20 billion of investment is transforming the former Portuguese colony into the gambling capital of Asia. Cotai is a landfill area between the islands of Taipa and Coloane that is being planned to eventually resemble the Las Vegas Strip.
Macau Studio City is currently slated to range in size from 3.6 million sf to more than six million sf, depending on government approvals. The first phase is slated for a soft opening in 2009.
The project is being developed by Cyber One Agents Ltd., a joint venture between Hong Kong-based eSun Holdings (through its subsidiary, East Asia Satellite Television Holdings), CapitaLand, and New Cotai LLC. CapitaLand is the most recent addition to the mix, this week acquiring a 20% stake in the development from eSun for US $84.4 million, according to published reports.
eSun Holdings, which still holds a 40% stake, is a media and entertainment company affiliated with Hong Kong-based Lai Sun Group, which also includes Lai Sun Development, a leading hotel and property developer. New Cotai LLC, which acquired its 40% stake in April 2006 for $169 million, is a consortium of US-based investors including David Friedman, a veteran resort and gaming developer who led Las Vegas Sands' entry into Macao, and the private US-based investment firms Silver Point Capital LP and Oaktree Capital Management LLC.
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