Cyprus City of Dreams Resort Construction to Start

The eagerly awaited construction of the new City of Dreams Mediterranean casino resort is due to start this month, just outside Limassol in Cyprus.

Developer Melco International has now chosen the main contractors for the City of Dreams Mediterranean (CODM), which will reportedly break ground on the project this month.

In a press release Melco stated that the contractors will be Avax – Terna JV, a joint venture project that is owned by Avax SA and Terna SA. The former owns 60 per cent, while the latter owns 40 per cent. Melco added that the construction should ‘begin in early April 2019 and is scheduled to be completed within 2021.’

City of Dreams Mediterranean is going to be a massive resort sitting on real estate that spans 91.4 acres near Limassol. The property reportedly will cost around $617 million to build and, when it’s done, will offer more than 1,000 slot machines and 100 gaming tables, a 16-story ‘pyramid-style’ hotel tower with 500 rooms and a number of amenities. The venue is expected to create around 4,000 construction jobs and 2,400 permanent positions once it’s open.

A consortium, of which Melco is a part, was given a 30-year casino license by the Cyprus government in July 2017. That consortium, Integrated Casino Resorts Cyprus Ltd., has plans to build up to four satellite casinos on the island, as well as one main venue. Two satellites – one in Nicosia and the other at the Lamaca International Airport – have already been open and the other two, in Paphos and Ayia Napa, should launch before the end of this year.

The main City of Dreams resort in Limassol is the one overseas property investors have been waiting for however, with the opportunity to piggy-back on the success of the resort, which is expected to bring a surge of tourism to the area.

Following the second operational year, Melco predicts the City of Dreams Mediterranean facility will generate over $750 million annually for the Cypriot economy. This would be around 4 per cent of annual gross domestic product of the nation.