The hotel license of ill-feted Macau hotel THE 13 expired on New Year’s Eve, according to information from the Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO), raising yet more questions as to its long-term prospects.
It is not clear whether the hotel’s operating entity, The 13 Hotel Management Ltd, has submitted any application for renewal.
According to relevant laws governing the operation of hotels in Macau, all hotels must be issued a license by the MGTO with the holder required to apply for renewal at the end of each license term. If no application for renewal has been submitted, the licence will be cancelled.
IAG has contacted the MGTO for more information on the situation and is awaiting a reply. However, it is well-known that the property’s owners have been looking to sell for some time, with Macau’s Court of First Instance having declared THE 13 bankrupt in February 2023.
Parent company South Shore Holdings previously applied to the Macau court for voluntary liquidation of its wholly-owned subsidiary New Concordia Hotel Limited, the sole beneficial owner of THE 13 Hotel, amid pressure from its lenders. South Shore was also delisted from the Hong Kong Exchange in February.
The brainchild of long-departed Chairman Stephen Hung, THE 13 had been envisioned as an uber-luxury hotel with space for 66 VIP gaming tables aimed at capitalizing on Macau’s booming VIP segment of the early 2010s. Instead, a series of funding and construction delays saw the property open in September 2018 with no gaming and with a number of rooms unfinished – all at a cost of US$1.6 billion.
South Shore revealed in October 2021 that it had ceased all operations and was insolvent following a statutory demand issued by one lender demanding payment of HK$3.28 billion (US$423 million) in outstanding loans and interest or face a winding up petition against the company.
Long-time Chairman Peter Coker Jr, who stepped down from the company in October 2022, was arrested in Thailand in January 2023 after being charged by the US Department of Justice with stock market manipulation.