Talk of hotel next to Vittoriosa casino

The Casinò di Venezia, owners of the casino on the Vittoriosa Waterfront and the adjacent land, which is earmarked for a hotel, has found potential investors for the development of the site, according to sources.

The potential investors are an Anglo-Maltese consortium. Discussions to finalise the deal are at an advanced stage, the sources said, adding that nothing concrete has been concluded yet.

Together, they intend to build a hotel that should be "one of the most attractive in the Mediterranean".

Il Gazzettino online, a newspaper in north-east Italy, yesterday announced that half of the Casinò di Venezia has been sold to an Anglo-Maltese group.

The information was incorrectly attributed to The Times.

It said the deal was concluded last weekend and that the Anglo-Maltese partnership now owns 49.5 per cent of the casino.

The Casinò di Venezia has often hit the headlines, occasionally because of controversy, since it opened in style in August 2001.

Less than a year later, it registered a loss of €3 million (Lm1.2 million), which did not take into account the €1 million (Lm0.4 million) spent to launch it.

The casino lost Lm160,000 when Sicilians cashed counterfeit bank drafts.

In October 2002, Port Cottonera Ltd agreed to transfer land on the Vittoriosa waterfront to the Casinò di Venezia for the construction of a hotel adjacent to the casino.

The deal opens the doors to the possible acquisition of the entire property, Il Gazzettino said. However, this would be up to the Comune di Venezia, which owns almost 100 per cent of the gambling houses in Venice and Ca' Noghera.

It said the deal was concluded following long months of negotiations, headed by casino director-general Armando Favaretto and supported by Venice mayor Paolo Costa.

Thanks to Mr Favaretto's efforts to relaunch the casino, it should be worth €20 million considering that the new group has paid €10 million for half of it, Il Gazzettino said.