SINGAPORE – Marina Bay Sands (MBS) has received approval from the authorities to develop a fourth tower, paving the way for a planned expansion of the integrated resort to be carried out.
According to the Urban Redevelopment Authority’s (URA) data for commercial projects with development approvals as at the end of the fourth quarter of 2023, MBS was given the green light for a hotel and retail development next to its current three towers on an empty plot that is flanked by Bayfront Avenue, Sheares Avenue and Sheares Link.
URA’s data, released on Jan 26, indicates that the new tower will have 153,100 sq m of hotel space over 587 rooms and 12,185 sq m of retail space.
MBS previously announced in April 2019 that its fourth tower would house 1,000 all-suite rooms.
Asked about the discrepancy in room numbers, MBS declined to give more information.
Image: An artist’s impression of Marina Bay Sands’ fourth tower. PHOTO: MARINA BAY SANDS
The integrated resort, which opened in April 2010, currently has a gross floor area of 581,400 sq m, including about 1,850 rooms and suites and about 74,000 sq m of retail and dining space.
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A sky roof with a swimming pool and “other tourist attractions” will top the new tower, said LVS.
When ongoing upgrades to MBS’ three existing hotel towers are completed in 2025, the resort will have 770 suites among its 1,850 rooms, prior to the addition of the fourth tower’s planned 587 suites.
Mr Christopher Khoo, managing director of hospitality consultancy MasterConsult Services, said the increase in suite numbers will allow MBS and Singapore to “aim at the upper end of the scale for visitors”, which he noted was among the goals of building integrated resorts in the country.
“We are not just filling rooms cheaply to boost overall numbers, and MBS’ plans seem to confirm this thinking,” said Mr Khoo. “The boost in suite numbers indicates that MBS is still expected to be attractive enough to entice high-spending guests, and that is good news overall for Singapore.”
RWS has permission from URA to erect a hotel and retail development at Sentosa Gateway, comprising 66,995 sq m of hotel space over 700 rooms, and 21,243 sq m of retail space.
RWS’ parent company Genting Singapore said in November 2023 that the waterfront development’s construction will begin in 2024, and that its board had approved an investment of about $6.8 billion to expand and rejuvenate the integrated resort, up from the $4.5 billion it had originally committed in April 2019.