Partners get 99-year gaming license
A joint venture that includes the Far East Consortium, Star Entertainment and Chow Tai Fook Enterprises has signed a deal to create International Queen’s Wharf Brisbane, Queensland’s biggest-ever casino resort project, reports the World Casino Directory. The development, to be run by the Destination Brisbane Consortium, with generate projected earnings of HK$2 billion (US$258 million) per year and guarantee $1 billion for the local government.
The contract was signed November 16 by Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk; Star Entertainment Chairman John O’Neill; Chris Hoong of the Far Eastern Consortium; and Conrad Cheng of Chow Tai Fook Enterprises, WCD reported.
The partners will enjoy a 99-year gaming license, favorable tax rates, and for the first 25 years, exclusivity within a 60-kilometer range. It will have up to 2,500 slot machines and unlimited live and electronic gaming tables. The resort is expected to open in 2022.
Hoong told the Standard he expects the casino to exceed HK$1.5 billion and HK$2 billion in revenues within the first five years, much of which will come from VIP players. “Mainlanders don’t want to go to Macau now, they are afraid personal information will be held by the government for use against them,” he said.
Groundbreaking is expected to take place in 2017.
