American Sinopan willing to donate $700K to CUC for installation of bigger water pipe

Lin

A company that wants to invest $31 million more on Saipan by building 12 villas and one clubhouse on Capital Hill is reportedly willing to donate $700,000 so that the Commonwealth Utilities Corp. can build a bigger water pipe—and thereby improve the water supply—in the area.

In an interview with Saipan Tribune, American Sinopan LLC chief executive officer Ken Lin said this public contribution will not only solve their project’s need for a reliable water supply, but also help residents as well as fire trucks during wildfires.

At their last public hearing about one of their projects on Capital Hill, Lin said that neighbors had expressed a concern about the limited CUC water supply.

Lin said that what CUC is currently giving them in that area is only 7,200 gallons per day—not enough for their need.

“When our project is complete, our engineers’ calculation is we need 11,900 gallons a day,” said Lin.

To increase the water supply, the company came up with four possible solutions: bring in a water truck, build a deep well, connect to their reverse osmosis system at their Tanapag hotel project, or increase the current size and length of the CUC water pipe.

Because the first three options are not possible, Lin said they intend to pursue the idea of working with CUC to increase the size of the water pipe.

Once the bigger pipe is in place, the water supply in the area will be 23,000 gallons a day, Lin said.

“Minus our 11,900-gallon-a-day requirement, we will leave 11,140 gallons for our surrounding neighbors,” he said, noting it’s a great improvement compared to the current supply of 7,200 gallons a day.

He said installing a bigger pipe will cost their company $700,000, but that’s part of their public contribution and their 2 percent developer’s tax.

Lin also noted that the area usually has forest fires and often fire trucks have limited water supply.

He said the increased water supply would allow them to store 22,000 gallons of water that they can use in case of forest fires or structures fires in the area.

With respect to the villas and clubhouse project, Lin earlier said the project, called Capitol Hill Residences, would be located across their Capitol Hill Resort, which is the renovated former Magellan Hotel. He said the renovated Magellan Hotel was then called Heaven II Hotel and now it is called Capitol Hill Resort.

Lin said they expect to expend $31 million for the Capitol Hill Residences project, which would be separate from the $350,000 renovation project of the former Magellan Hotel.

The CEO said the Capitol Hill Residences or villas are for their very high-end customers.

Lin said the clubhouse will serve both the Capitol Hill Resort and the Capitol Hill Residences.

He said Capitol Hill Resort is ready for opening, but not complete yet.

American Sinopan submitted a proposal before the CNMI Zoning Board to amend its conditional use permit to include the construction of the 12 villas and a clubhouse.

Last June, American Sinopan LLC held a small groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of its project on Saipan, the Saipan Garden Resort in Tanapag.

Saipan Garden Resort will have 1,184 guestrooms, 170 apartments, and 108 staff apartments. The structure will be compound-like, with 14 six-story buildings, three swimming pools, and six restaurants.

American Sinopan owns a golf course and hotels in China. It’s mother company, SinoPan, is based in Shanghai.