First hotel tower to break ground in 2019
Australian casino group the Star is looking to grow, especially in Queensland, and hopes to make it the country’s second biggest destination for gaming after Sydney, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.
Star CEO Matt Bekier recently presided over the opening of the luxury Darling Hotel, part of the company’s growing Gold Coast casino complex. With new construction and the renovation of Star’s existing facilities, the investment to date has reached about AU$850 million (US$651 million). Some reports say the company will funnel up to AU$3 billion (US$2.3 billion) into its holdings on the Gold Coast, adding up to five towers with the first to break ground in 2019.
Four additional projects, which have passed most regulatory reviews, will add another AU$2 billion to the cost, the Herald reported. Star is working with Hong Kong partners Far East Consortium and Chow Tai Fook, its funding partners for the Queens Wharf casino project in Brisbane.
The new towers will rise along the Gold Coast over the next decade. Star is banking on the growth of international tourism, which is expected to rise 75 percent in the same period, according to government data, with an increase of 168 percent of visitors from China.
Meanwhile,Sydney is seen as the first stop for foreign high rollers. It’s already home of the Star’s major property, which will be joined in 2021 by Crown Resorts’ Barangaroo.
The exit from Crown of billionaire James Packer is seen as “marginally positive” for the company, according to a report in Reuters.
“Operationally, the tycoon’s absence is unlikely to disturb a tentative recovery due to returning VIP gamblers,” the report stated. “Crown’s AU$2.2 billion (US$1.7 billion) Sydney project is progressing steadily, and debt has come down. And strategically, Packer’s vacillations have been unhelpful, including an attempt at taking the company private in 2015. Minority shareholders would benefit from clearer strategic direction.”
Packer retains 47 percent of the company and has allies running the company in his stead, including Chairman John Alexander. The beleaguered mogul—whose company has endured seesawing fortunes in the past two years, including the arrests and detentions of 19 employees in China—is said to be seeking help for depression, possibly at a location in the United States.
