Australian operator Star Entertainment is renewing its efforts to offload its Treasury Casino and Hotel property in Brisbane, as it gets ready to open its new AUD$3.6 billion Queen’s Wharf Brisbane project next April.
According to the Australian Financial Review, Star is expecting to fetch some AUD$200 million for the property, which features both the hotel and casino buildings as well as the parking structures. Selling the holdings now would give the embattled operator some much needed cash and would also allow the company to focus solely on Queen’s Wharf.
Sam McVay of listing agents McVay Real Estate told the AFR that Treasury represents “a truly exceptional opportunity” due to its “ historical significance, character aesthetic and location adjoining the Queen’s Wharf precinct.”
The report comes a few months after a separate deal involving Treasury Brisbane fell through—in October 2021, it was reported that Star had agreed to a sale-leaseback arrangement with investment firm Charter Hill in which the operator would have pocketed AUD$248 million for the real estate assets while also leasing back the hotel and parking structure for a period of 30 years with up to two 15-year extensions.
However, the deal was pronounced dead on June 20 due to Star not meeting certain conditions in time.
Even though the company had recently asserted that it was exploring “asset sale alternatives,” many believe that this primarily referred to Star Sydney, the operator’s flagship property, and not its ancillary holdings.
Star has already entered into an agreement to sell the Sheraton Grand Mirage Resort Gold Coast, another one of its real estate holdings, for AUD$192 million.
The operator has been hit with several regulatory fees and related costs, to the extent that it reported a net loss of AUD$2.44 billion for the year ending June 30.
