After winning the right in July to develop an integrated casino resort for the Queen’s Wharf area of Brisbane, Australian casino operator The Star Entertainment Group has now announced plans that could see its nearby Gold Coast property add up to four new towers offering some 3,000 hotel rooms.
The Star Entertainment Group previously announced that the Queensland site some 52 miles south of Brisbane is set to undergo a $251.8 million refurbishment of its 600 hotel rooms and Jupiters Hotel And Casino Gold Coast alongside the addition of a new six-star and 17-storey hotel tower featuring more than 50 luxury suites. This renewal will also see the operator and partners Chow Tai Fook and Far East Consortium start construction next year on a $365.3 million and 4.5-star second tower offering 700 rooms.
According to a report from the Brisbane Times, The Star Entertainment Group, which also owns the Treasury Casino And Hotel and The Star Casino, has now revealed that it could spend upwards of $1.46 billion in order to add a further four towers at two-year intervals from 2022.
However, Matt Bekier, Managing Director for Brisbane-based The Star Entertainment Group, told the newspaper that the envisioned full development for the Gold Coast site would only be fully realized if market conditions were right and his company secured the appropriate planning approvals.
“The masterplan is setting out the full potential of the site,” Bekier told the newspaper. “What is currently fully committed is the existing development, the tower in front and the additional tower, subject to planning approvals. We haven’t got that yet but if it makes economic sense to build this, then there is no reason why we should be advancing all the other developments as quickly as we possibly can.”
Bekier declared that one of the envisaged new towers would likely contain residential apartments with a second hosting a hotel while the remaining developments would feature a mix of serviced apartments and hotel rooms.
“We will only develop the additional towers when we get the demand proven up through pre-sales,” said Bekier. “Once you have the pre-sales, you can pre-fund it and build it and it will give you the confidence that you can go again.
“For subsequent towers we will look at the mix of customers we are getting and where we see demand by 2018 to determine the brands but there will be nothing under 4.5 stars.”
Bekier stated that The Star Entertainment Group would hold a one-third stake in any new Gold Coast developments with the remainder equally split between Hong Kong-based investors Chow Tai Fook and Far East Consortium. He additionally proclaimed that his firm was in talks with Chinese tourism operators including the likes of China Travel Service to help define the best mix of hotel brands in order to target Asian visitors.