Resorts World Miami

Genting Malaysia Bhd., a Southeast Asian casino-operator, plans to invest $3 billion to develop a bayfront resort on land currently housing the Miami Herald Media Co.’s headquarters.

The project, known as Resorts World Miami, will include four hotels, two residential towers and a 3.6 acre rooftop lagoon, on land it agreed to buy from Miami Herald publisher McClatchy Co. in May, the Kuala Lumpur-based company said in an exchange filing today. A casino will be included if Florida’s legislature and governor approve, Genting Malaysia said.

“Resorts World Miami will accelerate Florida’s evolution as a global destination,” Genting Malaysia Chairman Lim Kok Thay said in the statement.

Genting Malaysia, which has operated Malaysia’s only gaming resort on a hilltop since 1968, is already the largest casino- operator in the U.K. and has been seeking opportunities to break into the U.S. market. Its Resorts World Casino New York City development is nearing completion on the Aqueduct Racetrack.

The new Miami resort will cover 30 acres of land overlooking Biscayne Bay, comprising both the Miami Herald site and adjacent Omni Center, for which Genting Malaysia today said it had acquired all outstanding mortgages. The project will also include a convention center, nightclubs and the largest ballroom in the U.S., it said.

Genting Malaysia is 47-percent owned by Kuala Lumpur-based Genting Bhd., which is also the parent company of Genting Singapore Plc, which runs the Resorts World Singapore gaming resort.