MARIANAS E-Land Corp. topped the Department of Public Lands’ evaluation of proposals to lease the property in Marpi that was formerly used by Mariana Resort & Spa.
Aside from E-Land, the other investors that responded to DPL’s request for proposals or RFP were Ocean Bee LLC, Marianas Global Inc., AMCON LLC, Hanmaek Saipan and IH Group.
DPL Secretary Marianne Concepcion-Teregeyo said her department and E-Land are now finalizing the documents to be submitted to the Public Lands Advisory Board, which will then submit a recommendation to the Legislature.
The lease of more than five hectares of public land for commercial purposes requires the approval of three-fourths of the members of the Legislature in a joint session, according to Public Law 15-2.
DPL financial management advisor Richard S. Villagomez said the department formed an evaluation committee after receiving six proposals.
He said each member of the committee was provided a copy of all six proposals, which they then evaluated independently based on the criteria set out in the RFP.
Villagomez said based on the tally of scores of each evaluation committee member, Marianas E-Land Corporation received the highest points and was therefore selected as the winning proposer.
E-Land runs Kensington Hotel Saipan, the Pacific Islands Club, and Coral Ocean Golf Resort.
Mariana Resort & Spa leased the property and operated the hotel resort for 40 years before it shut down on Sept. 30, 2018 when its lease agreement with the CNMI government ended.
Since then, DPL has maintained the property.
The entrance to the former Mariana Resort & Spa in Marpi.
Photo by Emmanuel T. Erediano
