Genting Commands Multiple $1B Bids for Miami Land

Posted on: March 26, 2023, 06:04h. 

Last updated on: March 27, 2023, 12:43h.

Todd Shriber @etfgodfather Read More
Expertise: Financial, Gaming Business, Mergers and Acquisitions.

Genting Berhad has multiple offers of $1 billion or more in hand for some of its Miami property holdings. It could be positioned to set a US record for the price commanded on a development parcel.

Genting Miami
Biscayne Bay in Miami. Genting could command as much as $1.5 billion for land it’s selling there. (Image: NOAA Habitat Blueprint)

The Malaysian conglomerate reportedly has five offers of $1 billion or more, with one approaching $1.5 billion. Last November, the company announced it’s looking to sell 16.5 acres of prime, undeveloped real estate along Biscayne Bay if it’s able to command $1 billion or more. Genting is expected to trim the field of bidders to three in the weeks ahead.

If we get what we hope to achieve, this could be the highest price paid for any development site in the country,” Michael Fay, the broker at Avison Young in Miami, which has the listing, said in an interview with Bloomberg.

The identities of the bidders weren’t revealed. With Florida’s commercial real estate market booming, it’s possible the aforementioned record is set. Potential uses for the land could include office space and pricey condos, among other ideas.

Big Profit Potential for Genting

As is the case with other real estate transactions in destination markets, Genting has the potential to wring a staggering profit from the sale of the Miami land.

The operator of the Resorts World casinos purchased the property in 2011 for almost $236 million, meaning the seller is likely to more than quadruple its initial investment when a sale agreement is reached.

Genting acquired the land in hopes of ultimately building a casino resort in Miami. But construction of new gaming venues in Florida is difficult because of the stranglehold on the state’s gaming industry maintained by the Seminole Tribe. The tribe operates casinos under the Hard Rock brand.

The Malaysian conglomerate previously pitched local lawmakers on a gaming venue with six towers featuring mixed hotel and residential accommodations. Genting plans to keep the acres on which the Hilton Miami Downtown hotel and Omni Center currently reside.

Genting Has Uses for Proceeds

While its Florida casino ambitions are likely falling by the wayside, Genting has options for deploying proceeds from the sale of the Miami land.

For example, the operator could opt to direct some of the capital gained from the transaction to enhancing Resorts World Casino in Queens, which is positioned to capture one of the three downstate gaming licenses New York regulators could award later this year.

Genting could also opt to direct some of the proceeds to its Asia operations, potentially including taking a stake in a financially struggling Macau concessionaire. Last year, the Malaysian company was rebuffed in its attempt to procure a Macau license.

Genting also controls Resorts World Catskills in the northern part of New York, and Resorts World Las Vegas on the Strip, the latter of which could also be on the receiving end of some proceeds from the Miami land sale.