IPI casino gets go-signal

Saying it no longer has reason to say no, the Commonwealth Casino Commission gave Imperial Pacific International (CNMI) LLC yesterday the go-signal to begin casino operations at the still-to-be completed Imperial Pacific Resort.

Commission officials directed Imperial Pacific yesterday to move its live training facility inside the T Galleria to the planned casino area of the hotel premises.

It was understood that since only one casino may be open in the CNMI at a time, the training facility inside T Galleria should shut down either before or at the time of the transfer. If it chooses to do so, Imperial Pacific has the option not to use its hotel casino premises; regardless, the lifetime of the live training facility inside T Galleria would end on Aug. 31, 2018.

According to IPI officials, they plan to hold a mini grand opening this July 15; however, they have the option to open at an earlier date.

The lottery commission also met yesterday to amend the license agreement, including allowing the casino to operate even without a finished hotel room yet. The casino license agreement initially required the hotel to have at least 250 rooms of 5-star hotel quality before being allowed to open a casino.

“Currently, there are no hotel rooms finished,” said CCC executive director Edward Deleon Guerrero.

The question became whether the current condition of Imperial Pacific Resort satisfied the definition of an initial gaming facility, or IGF, under the casino license agreement.

During discussions at the CCC meeting, they received word that the lottery commission license agreement amendment was signed by acting governor Victor B. Hocog, allowing CCC to grant IPR permission to transfer their live training facility known as Best Sunshine Live to the IGF in Garapan.

“They were in compliance with the requirements that we set as of today,” said Deleon Guerrero.

Lottery Commission amendments

The CNMI Lottery Commission met yesterday to amend Section 10 of the casino license agreement, or CLA.

The commission amended the CLA in two parts. First, allowing the IGF to be completed in phases and operations of casino. Other facilities may commence in phases given that the completion of the IGF is completed within the schedule provided in the CLA, which is Aug. 31, 2018.

The commission also amended the requirement to transfer operations of the live training facility in T Galleria to the hotel casino premises. Prior to the amendment, the requirement was that Imperial Pacific must already have at least 250 hotel rooms of 5-star hotel quality up and ready for guests.

Yesterday, the commission inserted language in the CLA to allow the transfer prior to the completion of 250 rooms.

“… Amending the CLA to allow the licensee [Imperial Pacific] to transfer the gaming operations from the T Galleria to the IGF before the complete construction of the IGF is in the best interest of the CNMI and [Imperial Pacific],” wrote CLA amendment no. 4.

Imperial Pacific officials earlier pointed out that a larger venue for gaming would create more jobs and possibly increase gaming revenue. With the increase in gaming revenue, there is also an increase in tax revenue for the CNMI.

Imperial Pacific has already paid in excess of $40.9 million in business gross revenue tax for fiscal year 2017.