Echo Entertainment Group, together with a consortium of developers it heads, has announced that it has inked agreements with the Queensland government to advance the construction of a new casino and residential project in Brisbane. The new deal is said to be worth $3 billion.
The consortium, Destination Brisbane Consortium, will form two joint ventures. The first will be develop the casino resort in Brisbane, which will include 1,100 hotel rooms, while the other will develop a residential project, for the construction of 2,000 apartments. It is estimated that the casino will cost $2 million to build, while the residential project will cost $900 million.
Other costs include payment to the Queensland government, including $272 million when the casino starts operating, and another $880 million after a decade of operations.
2017 Casino Construction Date
According to Echo and the Consortium, which includes Chai Tai Fook Enterprises and Far East Consortium, construction on the casino resort will begin by 2017, and should take five years to complete.
Echo Entertainment Group will act as the casino's gaming operator and contribute half of its capital costs. Chai Tai Fook and Far East Consortium will each contribute a quarter of the capital costs for the casino, and split the residential project's costs evenly between them.
The chief executive officer of Echo, Matt Bekier said: "We are excited to have finalized and signed the development agreements with the Queensland government to progress our vision to develop Queen's Wharf Brisbane into a globally recognized integrated resort that competes with the best in Macau, Singapore and any other destinations worldwide."
Navigating Casino Licensing Issues
Under the terms of the new agreement signed with the Queensland government, a new casino license will be issued to Echo Entertainment Group for Queen's Wharf Brisbane. The casino license will be awarded for 99 years and will entitle the resort to operate 2,500 electronic gaming machines.
Gaming operations will be halted at the Treasury Hotel and Casino as soon as the new Brisbane Casino opens. Echo said that there were plans to turn the Treasury into a complex containing shops and hotels.