Casino Canberra in the  Australian Capital Territory was purchased for $6 million in December 2014 by Aquis Developments which is owned by Tony Fung, the Hong Kong billionaire. Fung plans to demolish the old casino and then build an extravagant casino that will provide a gambling experience along with restaurants, shopping malls and entertainment venues that will keep the people of Canberra coming back for more.

The billionaire wants to build an exquisite casino that has a Las Vegas theme to it and has requested architecture firms in Las Vegas to submit their design proposals for shortlisting. Fung has asked his son Justin Fung who is the managing director of Aquis Developments to move to Canberra along with a special team to oversee the construction of the new casino.

Some of the firms that have applied for the project include The Friedmutter Group who were responsible for designing a 2960-room Cosmopolitan Casino and Resort on the Las Vegas Strip for $1.73 billion and Westar Architects who have designed a number of well known casinos like Caesar’s Hotel & Casino and the MGM Grand. Cox Architects who are based in Canberra have been selected to be the lead architects on this project.

In a statement, “This really is a great time to be part of the evolution of Canberra. The Constitution Avenue upgrade and the longer-term plans for the future development of the city provide us with a solid foundation from which we can start to make a real impact on the city South area”.

The project is expected to create a number of jobs and Aquis have committed to hiring locals to fill these jobs thereby giving back to the community. Aquis have also stated that they mostly use local suppliers to help with the construction to ensure that businesses in Canberra also profit from the construction of a new casino. The project is expected to be completed before the end of 2016.