She said DPL is in communication with the management of Hyatt Regency Saipan whose land lease agreement with the CNMI government will expire in Dec. 2021.
On May 1, DPL signed a new 40-year land lease agreement with Fiesta Resort & Spa, which has partnered with International Hotel Group. Fiesta will rebrand as Crowne Plaza Resort, a global hotel brand like Hyatt.
Fiesta’s previous lease agreement with the CNMI government would have expired in July 2021.
It was the first time DPL issued a 40-year lease agreement with a hotel operator as allowed by Public Law 20-84. In the past, public land lease term was for 25 years only with an option to extend for 15 years.
As for the Hyatt, which earlier said that it was seeking a 15-year extension, Concepcion-Teregeyo said: “We are waiting for the full proposal from Hyatt.”
She added, “We are probably going to set up a meeting with them again. They submitted a two-page letter, but what we were asking was a full proposal.”
House Committee on Commerce and Tourism Chairman Joseph Leepan T. Guerrero, in a separate interview, said DPL should continue to negotiate with Hyatt, which he noted is a global hotel brand that has been keeping its commitments to the Commonwealth.
“We must still welcome Hyatt because having more than one world-class hotel can make the CNMI a more competitive tourist destination,” Guerrero said.
