Getting “closer to the action”
Echo Entertainment CEO Matt Bekier says the company may move its headquarters from Sydney to Brisbane if it wins a bid to build a megaresort at Queen’s Wharf in the city.
“If we’re successful at Queen’s Wharf, over 10,000 jobs will be in Queensland and the bulk of our economic activity will shift to Queensland,” Bekier said. “So it really makes sense for us to be closer to the action.”
Echo and Hong Kong real estate developers Chow Tai Fook Enterprise and Far East Consortium have partnered to build the integrated resort, which is expected to include five luxury hotels, some 50 restaurants, bars and cafés, a theater and other attractions, according to the Australian.
Echo now runs the Treasury Casino & Hotel in Brisbane. If its latest project gets the green light, that venue will be relocated to the new integrated resort. Actual construction will not start before 2017, according to the Daily Courier.
The government of Queensland is expected to announce its choice of bidders sometime in 2015. Meanwhile, Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has raised questions about the project that she says warrants investigation, reported Casino News Daily.
“My government is committed to seeing the redevelopment of that site,” she said. “However, I do have some issues that I’ve raised with the department and I want them to investigate those issues first before I make further comment.” She refused to elaborate, and her comments drew criticism from business groups who said they could undermine business confidence.
