Las Vegas Sands to Build Resort
Near Macau in Mainland China

Further committing to investment in China, gambling operator Las Vegas Sands Corp. Friday signed a letter of intent to build a megaresort on an island across from the gambling enclave of Macau.

The 1,300-acre development on Hengqin Island is designed to complement the company's $6 billion Cotai Strip development in Macau, which will feature a long row of hotels and casinos intended to replicate the Las Vegas Strip. The new project is one of the first forays into mainland China by a U.S. gambling concern, but the proposed resort won't feature a casino.

The Las Vegas-based company estimates it will spend more than $1 billion in three phases to build the resort and hopes to break ground by next summer. The first phase is expected to cost $300 million.

William Weidner, Sands' president and chief operating officer, said the proposed project will add vacation options for tourists visiting Macau and a destination resort for Hong Kong residents and mainland Chinese.

"The primary focus of the development is to add a range of amenities that will complement what we're doing on the Cotai strip," Mr. Weidner said in an interview.

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