A casino operator in Seoul, the capital of South Korea, is moving one of its venues to another location to facilitate the disposal of its previous site that was sold to a third party earlier this month, GGRAsia reported.

New Site Lease Secured

Grand Korea Leisure (GKL), a subsidiary run through the Korea Tourism Organization and affiliated to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, announced in a filing to the Korea Exchange one of its three casinos operated under the Seven Luck brand, the one at the Millennium Hilton Seoul hotel in Gangbuk, would be relocating to Seoul Dragon City Hotelplex.

The relocation to the new site which is also in Seoul should complete by January 1, 2023, GKL said in the filing following a meeting of its board. The casino operator also noted it would be entering into a long-term lease agreement on December 30, 2021 with the owner of Seoul Dragon City, Korean-listed Seobu T&D, setting the lease period from August 16, 2022 to August 15, 2032.

Both companies have been in lease negotiations since December 3, 2021, following GKL’s successful outcome of the public bidding process for the Seoul Dragon City site, which started at the end of September.

Seoul Dragon City, located just 2.5 miles south of the Millennium Hilton Seoul site, is operational since October 2017 and currently houses hotels from 4 brands, Grand Mercure, Ibis Styles, Novotel and Novotel Suites, featuring a total of 1,700 rooms.

Millennium Hilton Seoul Site Sold

First indications that the Millennium Hilton Seoul site would be sold and demolished for redevelopment appeared in May when the same media reported GKL engaged in contingency planning for a scenario operating without its Millennium Hilton Seoul casino, in case the site is sold. Either way, GKL’s lease on the venue expires on December 31, 2022.

According to an agreement signed on December 10 between Millennium Hilton Seoul’s current owner, City Developments, a company listed on the Singapore exchange, and IGIS Asset Management (IGIS), another listed on the Korea Exchange company, the Millennium Hilton Seoul site was sold for a total consideration of KRW1.1 trillion ($926.5 million).

The information confirmed by a spokesperson of IGIS also claimed the deal would settle in the first quarter of 2022, while the Millennium Hilton Seoul will continue operation until December 31, 2022. After that, the site would be demolished for redevelopment.

Besides the casino at the Millennium Hilton Seoul hotel, GKL also runs another gaming venue in the capital, Gangnam COEX, as well as the Busan Lotte casino located in the port of Busan.