In 2014, Hong Kong-based Imperial Pacific International (IPI) announced it would invest up to $7 billion in a 4,000-room luxury casino resort on the western Pacific island of Saipan. The island is part of the Northern Mariana Islands, a US commonwealth.
At a bankruptcy auction last week, Team King Investment (CNMI) LLC paid just $13 million for the property.
Imperial Pacific Palace opened in 2016 and at first generated stratospheric revenues. For a time, its high-roller casino was one of the highest-grossing in the world, turning over more per-table bets than the most profitable casinos in Macau and Las Vegas. In 2017 alone, it reported VIP volume of $49.5 billion on an average of 18 tables.
IPI: A reputation for shady dealings
But throughout its brief tenure, the property was dogged by allegations of money laundering, nonpayment of bills and forced labour. In 2020, the US Department of Labor awarded $5.4 million to workers who claimed they sometimes worked 24-hour shifts for little to no pay.
IPI also failed to pay its contractors and fell behind in the payment of licensing and other fees to the Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands. US gaming veteran Joshua Gray also sued IPI for discriminatory hiring and retaliatory practices, winning a $5 million judgment.
At the start of the Covid-19 pandemic in March 2020, the still-unfinished resort closed. In April 2024, saddled with $165.8 million in liabilities, IPI filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. It still held out hope that it could reorganise and reopen the once-lavish casino hotel. But at the time, IPI attorney Chuck Choi said the beachfront resort, “open to the elements”, was slowly deteriorating.
What’s next for property in decline?
According to Marianas Variety, the Team King bid was first approved in February, over objections by creditors that some company execs were formerly associated with IPI. Resolution of the case was further delayed due to a dispute between IPI and the Department of Public Lands over a ground lease spanning 19,204 square metres.
There is no word yet on the ultimate fate of Imperial Pacific Palace, where VIPs once walked on marble floors beneath a 60-metre, 40-tonne gold and crystal dragon sculpture. Restoration and completion of the Garapan resort would take an estimated $150 million.
Imperial Pacific Palace, a long-shuttered casino on the Pacific island of Saipan, has a new owner: Team King Investment (CNMI) LLC.