Honolulu-based Outrigger Enterprises Group has signed an agreement to manage the new $40 million Outrigger Palau Resort, Spa and Hotel, tentatively scheduled to open in late 2009. The hotel, to be built on the island of Koror, will comprise 100 luxury hotel rooms, 10 over-water bungalows and 50 villas/condominiums, as well as a spa, several restaurants, retail shops and function space. The new project brings Outrigger back to the Republic of Palau about a decade after its involvement with the former Outrigger Palasia Hotel Palau. The new project is in line with the government's work to attract higher-spending, special-interest visitors to Palau, says Alan Seid, chairman of Micronesia Investment and Development Corp., which is partnering with Agora Development Group on the project.