Australian casino operator, Crown Resorts Limited, could soon become involved in a legal wrangle with the government of New South Wales over the latter’s plan to enlarge the size of its envisioned Barangaroo Central urban renewal project by over 150%.
According to a Wednesday report from the Daily Mail newspaper citing an earlier story by The Daily Telegraph, the coming $4.4 billion scheme from the state-owned Barangaroo Delivery Authority is set to transform a disused 12.8-acre container terminal near the heart of downtown Sydney into a residential and commercial district complete with parks, event spaces and a harbor-side promenade.
However, in order to pay for a new train station at the waterfront development, the government of New South Wales has just announced a plan that would see the area of Barangaroo Central’s buildings rise from an initially envisioned 635,070 sq ft to just over 1,614,586 sq ft. This has purportedly angered Crown Resorts Limited as it is alleged to believe that such a move could threaten the views from its under-construction Crown Sydney integrated casino resort, which is to sit on an adjacent 2.4-acre plot of land.
The Daily Mail reported that Crown Resorts Limited had earlier secured a 99-year lease for the site of its coming $2 billion Crown Sydney but now believes that it could lose up to $20 million a year in sales if the northeast-facing views from the six-star property are blocked by a newly-enlarged Barangaroo Central. The Melbourne-headquartered operator had been planning to charge guests at the 75-floor property up to $800 per night for rooms featuring views of the Sydney Harbour Bridge as well as the nearby Sydney Opera House.
The newspaper reported that Crown may soon take the matter to court if a compromise cannot be reached soon while New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian recently weighed in on the matter by suggesting that she may appoint a mediator to resolve the Barangaroo issue.