CDA board to act on World Resort’s QC draft

The Commonwealth Development Authority’s board of directors will vote Wednesday on a draft recommendation that would possibly grant tax incentives to Saipan World Resort, which is investing fresh capital of $20 million to expand and improve the hotel.

CDA executive director Mary Lou S. Ada said the agency wants to beat the July 19 deadline for it to act on World Resort’s qualifying certificate application. The CDA has scheduled a board meeting on Wednesday.

Ada said board members convened last Saturday and presented to World Resort’s representatives the proposed tax incentive package. It was not clear as of press time if the hotel was satisfied with the tax incentive package.

Ada refused to divulge details of the draft recommendation before the CDA board officially adopts it. “It has to be ratified by the CDA board.”

Once the CDA submits an approved recommendation to the governor, the CNMI’s chief executive has 45 days within which to act on it. If the governor fails to act on the recommendation within the prescribed period, it would be deemed rejected.

Although details of the hotel’s QC application and the draft recommendation have yet to be released to the media, Ada earlier said CDA board members have taken a “pro-investor” stance on World Resort’s project. She had said that CDA has been working with the Babauta administration to ensure that the application is processed smoothly.

Apparently, the board members presented the draft recommendation to hotel representatives Saturday to ensure that World Resort would support it.

World Corp., the company operating the hotel, filed its QC application with the CDA amid a major renovation plan that includes the construction of a modern waterpark, which would have water slides, a lazy pool, a separate children’s pool, a poolside bar, and an outdoor barbecue area.

The Investment Incentive Act of 2000 encourages economic development in the CNMI by offering tax breaks to businesses that engage in or implement a desirable project or business activity.

Eligible businesses under the law may apply and receive a QC executed by the governor as recommended by CDA that will allow for certain tax rebates or abatements.

World Resort also plans to refurbish all of the main building’s 265 guest rooms, which will be redefined with new amenities. It also plans to construct a bigger, more spacious ballroom that can seat between 300 to 500 people. An adjoining new banquet room will also be built, along with a specialty restaurant and another buffet restaurant. A new coffee shop and sports bar will rise at the hotel’s lobby.

World Resort earlier projected that the major renovation and expansion project could be completed by Feb. 2005. The hotel already demolished within its premises the old Royal Taga Hotel, considered as the first modern tourist facility in the Northern Marianas after World War II, to give way to the expansion project.

The hotel earlier sought from the Marianas Public Lands Authority a 25-year extension from the 2015 conclusion of its land lease.