Casino operator Imperial Pacific International (IPI) is seeking more time to finish its permanent Saipan casino as well as an extension on how long it can operate its temporary gaming venue in a local shopping mall.

Last week, IPI chairman Mark Brown sent a letter to Saipan’s governor seeking to amend the company’s casino license agreement with the government, which requires IPI to finish work on and open its Imperial Pacific Resort Hotel Saipan by August 11, 2017. IPI’s temporary casino Best Sunshine Live operates out of the T-Galleria high-end shopping mall.

IPI claims that 2015’s Typhoon Soudelor caused extensive delays at its permanent casino site, as did shortages of cement and “readily available skilled laborers.” IPI now seeks to extend the August deadline for opening the new venue to February 11, 2018.

IPI is also seeking to extend the deadline for commencing operations on the project’s Phase One – which includes the casino’s adjoining hotel – from February 11, 2018 to May 1, 2023, and pushing back Phase Two’s deadline from August 11, 2022 to May 1, 2030.