Packer’s most important project
Crown Resorts’ $2 billion Barangaroo South casino in Sydney, which Crown honcho James Packer has described as his most important project, may not open its doors until 2021.
According to the World Casino Directory, the VIP-only resort, which had been scheduled to debut in November 2019, has once again been delayed in the planning stage; Crown Chief Executive Rowen Craigie said the project cannot be approved until developer Lend Lease changes its master plan for the larger development.
“Obviously the delay in the planned opening of Crown Sydney is regrettable,” Craigie said. “We can’t lodge our approval until Lend Lease lodges their approval for Barangaroo South, and all of that is complicated for a stand-alone project. Progress is being made, but it is self-evident compared to the original planning for opening it is going to be running late.”
He acknowledged that costs will probably rise, “but your revenue projections rise as well.”
The Sydney Morning Herald reports that the delay is especially frustrating for the firm, 53 percent owned by Packer, in the light of a 35 percent drop in first-half net profits, largely due to the ongoing slump in Macau. The delay will also give Star Entertainment Group a longer monopoly in Sydney.
The New South Wales Department of Planning and Environment says has yet to receive a formal response from Lend Lease and Crown. A spokesperson said the department “sent draft conditions to Lend Lease on 25 November 2015 and expects a response in the near future.”
Packer had to pay $100 million up front in 2014 to the NSW government as part of a deal to win Sydney’s second casino license.
