Baluma was based on the fact that when it signed the contract with the State, in 1992, to build what was then the Conrad hotel, it signed an exclusivity clause that required that to grant another casino license it should be accompanied by an equal investment or greater than what it did at the time.
The Cipriani group (Fosara S.A.) was the only one that submitted an offer to build and manage the casino of the new San Rafael hotel, said the interim Minister of Tourism, Benjamin Liberoff.
The project, located at point 11 of Playa Brava in Punta del Este, will have a luxury hotel based on the architecture of the old San Rafael hotel and two towers. The public bidding was carried out based on the initiative of the company, since this type of license must be delivered through this mechanism.
In the bases of the call it was established that the amount to be invested in the construction and accommodation of the new luxury hotel must be equal to or greater than US$ 160 million, without considering the value of the land where the infrastructure is based. In addition, as consideration, the bidder must commit to pay the State - in case it is awarded - an annual fee that will consist of a percentage of the casino's gross income, with a minimum annual amount. From the first year of the concession until 2026, the fee will be equivalent to 7.2% of the gross income, and from 2027 until the end of the concession it will be 7.95%.
The minimum annual amount payable will be US$ 7.8 million the first year, with an annual increase of US$ 100,000 until 2026 inclusive. After that date the annual floor will be a fixed value that the bidder had to propose in its economic proposal and that must be equivalent to or greater than US$ 8.4 million. The concession to exploit the casino license will be granted for a period of 20 years from the end of the works and the start-up of the hotel and the casino.
The total investment announced is over US$ 450 million and the architect in charge of the project is the Uruguayan Rafael Viñoly.
Source: GMB / El Observador (Uruguay)
