E-Land also eyeing Marpi land

Imperial Pacific International (CNMI) LLC isn’t the only company looking to lease the public land in Marpi left idle by the closure of Mariana Resort & Spa last year.

E-Land Group of Companies, which owns Kensington Hotel, Pacific Island Club Saipan, and Coral Ocean Golf Resort, is interested in leasing the 50,000-square-meter property north of Saipan.

“We still have sincere interest in Mariana Resort & Spa and we are preparing for the long-term-lease proposal for the next opportunity in the future,” said E-Land Group chief executive officer Matthew Park.

“We have been informed by the Department of Public Lands regarding the short-term operation…and the coming long-term lease contract request for proposal. We submitted our net operating income for the short-term operation which was, unfortunately, unaccepted,” he added.

The short-term lease of the Marpi land was instead awarded to Imperial Pacific last month under a management agreement. This allows the casino operator to manage and operate the entire Mariana Resort for one year.

In an earlier interview with IPI chief executive officer Mark Brown, he said that the development of the Marpi area is referred to as Phase II of the casino management agreement.

“Our goal in the end is to get that land because we cannot plan properly without the lands. …We are trying to get lands to tie together with the Garapan construction and on to the other phases and we have investors on board.”

Brown said the management agreement for the Mariana Resort property is a not a lease agreement. “We are willing to do it so we can have this land for us and the investors that are coming will know that we have it,” he added

To date, the management agreement between IPI and DPL has not been executed because of additional requirements that the former has to fulfill. “The attorney general is looking for additional information to grant the management agreement to IPI. That is what we are doing now, gathering more information so we can move forward with that,” Brown earlier said.

In 2014, two companies expressed an interest to build in Marpi. However, TanHoldings Corp. and Sunshine 100 withdrew from leasing almost 10 hectares of public lands in Marpi, freeing up public property that DPL hopes would be developed by E-Land Group.

Meanwhile, another South Korean company, Hanwha Hotels & Resorts Co., is reportedly selling the Saipan World Resort due to financial difficulties. Park said that E-land is not interested in the sale of Saipan World Resort in Susupe. “We are only observing the deal.”