Sydney’s casino-hotel may be 60 storeys
Crown Ltd wants to double the height of its $1 billion hotel and casino complex at Barangaroo from the allowable 40 storeys to 60.
As the hotel is now to be built at Barangaroo South rather than a pier jutting into the harbour, Crown is in discussions with Lend Lease and the state government’s Barangaroo Delivery Authority to have the allowable height increased to as many as 60 storeys or up to 250m. It would make it among the top 10 tallest buildings in Sydney.
The company believes that if Barangaroo is to have a landmark building to attract tourists from around the world as envisaged by the architect of Barangaroo, Lord Richard Rogers, it needs to be visible among the commercial towers.
All of this is subject to the state government granting a second casino licence to Crown Ltd. As it stands now Echo Entertainment, holds Sydney’s monopoly casino licence until 2019.
Residential apartments would be a major part of Crown’s proposal for a hotel and casino, according to Todd Nisbet, the VP of strategy and development. As much as a third of the complex could be for apartment living. At present, only 100,000 m² of residential space is approved for the south precinct. Any changes would require a planning amendment.
Australia’s largest hotel group, Accor, says that projects like the James Packer casino-hotel development at Barangaroo were vital if Sydney is to compete in the highly competitive Asia Pacific tourism market.
Accor, which operates over 200 hotels in Australia, and over 30 in the greater Sydney area, believes that the Barangaroo project and the re-development of the Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre will finally give Sydney the tourism infrastructure it needs to counter the advances of major cities in Asia, as well as other State capitals in Australia.
“There is no doubt that Sydney failed to make the most of the Sydney Olympics and let its tourism infrastructure run-down, just at a time when cities such as Singapore, Hong Kong, Shanghai and Melbourne were ramping it up,” says Accor chief operating officer, Simon McGrath. “Sydney has so many natural advantages, but without investment in infrastructure it is easy for a city to fall behind its competitors in attracting major events, high-yielding tourists and large-scale conferences. These produce tens of millions of dollars for the local economy and in the end benefit the whole Australian economy.
“The development promises to be an outstanding architectural project with quality meeting and exhibition facilities, retail outlets and restaurants that will open up a previously neglected area of the waterfront. The six-star hotel promise will add a level of accommodation that Sydney doesn’t currently have, and it will help to put the spotlight firmly on the city’s attractiveness as a tourism destination.
Meanwhile Echo Entertainment chairman John O’Neill wants to develop a super-casino in Brisbane.
Mr O’Neill said several sites were being considered in Brisbane for the new casino, including the Executive Building in George St and the former site of the State Library in William St. Echo may use the existing Treasury Casino site as a boutique hotel if the development goes ahead since it holds the rights to the building until 2070.
“We would not be looking to compete with Treasury,” Mr O’Neill said. “We would be enhancing our hotel casino offering in Brisbane.”
Crown is also keen to build a new casino in Brisbane and is in talks with the state government.
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