In Australia, casino operator The Star Entertainment Group Limited has announced that its ongoing renovation of The Star Sydney is now set to include the construction of a new $375 million six-star hotel featuring apartments and an updated strip of restaurants.

Also the firm behind The Treasury Casino And Hotel in Brisbane and the nearby Jupiters Hotel And Casino Gold Coast, The Star Entertainment Group Limited revealed that the development for the inner-city Sydney suburb of Pyrmont is scheduled to open in mid to late-2020 offering a 220-room hotel managed by The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company alongside up to 150 residences.

“Our development concept will take The Star Sydney’s room inventory to more than 1,000, bring The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company brand back to Sydney and add a further 20 food and beverage venues,” Matt Bekier, Managing Director for The Star Entertainment Group Limited, told The Sydney Morning Herald newspaper.

Bekier stated that the new hotel property will be built alongside his firm’s in-progress $375 million refurbishment of The Star Sydney, which will see a complete revamp of rooms at its Astral Tower And Residences alongside the opening of the Harvest Buffet restaurant and upgrades to the venue’s arrivals area and internal spaces including its VIP facilities.

Perhaps wary of the criticism that greeted rival Crown Resorts Limited when it released proposals for its planned $750 million Crown Sydney development in the neighboring suburb Barangaroo, The Star Entertainment Group Limited has decided to involve the local community in the initial design phase before seeking approvals or starting construction. As such, the company explained that it has set up a design panel tasked with reviewing options from three architects due to be named next week while public comments are to be sought and considered before the winning plan is eventually unveiled.

The Sydney Morning Herald reported that this panel is to include Greg Hawkins, Managing Director for The Star Sydney, alongside New South Wales government architect Peter Poulet and Group GSA architect Lisa-Maree Carrigan. Craig Allchin, a director for Six Degrees Architects and James Doolan, Asia-Pacific Hotel Development Regional Vice-President for The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company parent Marriott International Incorporated, are to round out the body.

“Our approach, featuring the design competition and community engagement, will enable us to develop an integrated resort on our site that truly reflects the unique character of our city and provides an attraction that all of Sydney can enjoy and be proud of,” Bekier told The Australian newspaper.

Patricia Forsythe, Executive Director for the Sydney Business Chamber, welcomed the hotel proposal as a way to further develop the western end of Sydney Harbour especially as the numbers of visiting Chinese tourists wanting to stay in a luxury hotel continue to grow.

“This will be outstanding for Sydney and will be a much-needed second six-star hotel for the city,” Forsythe told The Sydney Morning Herald. “We are a service city and tourists make a choice on quality and The Star Sydney is meeting this market with the proposed development.”