Bahamas’ Prime Minister Perry Christie says the unfinished $3.5b Baha Mar resort casino will begin opening to the public in the second quarter of 2017.

On Friday, Christie spoke at a Bahamas Hotel Association event, at which he revealed that Baha Mar’s prospective buyer, Hong Kong-based conglomerate Chow Tai Fook Enterprises (CTFE), would begin “a phased opening” of Baha Mar in April, with at least 700 of the property’s 1,800 hotel rooms ready to go.

Perry said CTFE would invest $200m in “pre-opening festivities” and final revisions to the unfinished property, construction of which was reportedly 97% complete before things ground to a halt in June 2015 after original developers Baha Mar Ltd. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

Christie said CTFE planned to hire 1,500 employees “imminently” in the new year, while 4,300 workers would be on the payroll by the time all of the property’s amenities are open to the public by December 2017.