Jupiters’ $345m redevelopment gets underway
Gold Coast’s Jupiters Casino is starting work on a $345 million refurbishment and expansion that will include a new six-star hotel tower, a boulevard of restaurants and bars, and the transformation of the existing Broadbeach base.
The project is expected to be finished by late 2017 in time for the 2018 Commonwealth Games.
Jupiters faces competition on the Gold Coast as ASF, a Chinese-backed consortium seeks to enter the market, while parent company Echo is also locked in a battle with James Packer’s Crown Resorts for a casino licence in Brisbane.
ASF is planning a massive resort, cruise ship terminal and casino in the Southport Broadwater.
Echo’s Queensland managing director Geoff Hogg said, “We’re confident that this project will be a major tourism drawcard for the Gold Coast and that should have positive flow-on effects for any other businesses. This is an extremely exciting project for Jupiters and for the Gold Coast.”
The first phase of the Jupiters redevelopment will include a new resort pool, bar and outdoor dining terrace, and should be finished by the end of the year while the gradual, but complete refurbishment of the building’s 592 existing hotel rooms is expected to take most of next year. Preliminary works on the new luxury tower hotel should start before Christmas this year.
“We’re now at the point that these (plans) are finalised and being implemented and developed,” Mr Hogg said. “We’ve been focused on completing in time for the Commonwealth Games. Our timelines and schedules have been based around that and that’s why we’re very, very comfortable that we’ve still got a buffer of time from completion to the Commonwealth Games.”
“The property has been involved on the Gold Coast for almost 30 years and we have been an employer for that period of time. We have 1600 employees and 300 at the Convention Centre. On completion of this, that 1600 is going to become more than 2000.”
Mr Hogg said care had been taken to ensure the work caused minimum disruption.
“With all developments, there comes some short-term disruption but we promise the end result will be well worth it,” he said.
Mr Hogg said work on the resort pool and outdoor bar, two new restaurants to replace Osteria Vivo and Entwine and external painting works by local company Usher & Son would be finished before Christmas. “Parallel with that, we’re also completing some of the initial hotel rooms. They start in about four weeks,” he said.
