Echo Entertainment Wins $2bid To Build Brisbane Casino

Posted on 21-05-2021 by admin

Echo Entertainment Wins $2 Bid To Build Brisbane Casino Online
Echo Entertainment Wins $2 Bid To Build Brisbane Casino Hotel

Oct 29, 2014 Crown Resorts and Echo Entertainment Group have put the gloves back on as both resume their long-standing rivalry with new casino bids for the right to build and develop an integrated resort in. Echo competes with Crown for Brisbane casino. Due Diligence Matt Bekier has steered casino operator Echo Entertainment Group to become one of the turnaround successes of the year.

(Redirected from ECHO Entertainment Group)

The Star Entertainment Group Limited
Divisions
Public
Traded as	ASX: SGR
Industry	Gambling, Tourism
Founded	2011; 9 years ago
Headquarters	Brisbane, Australia
Area served	Australia
John O'Neill (Chairman) Matt Bekier (CEO)
Revenue	A$2.3 billion
Number of employees	8,000
Website	StarEntertainmentGroup.com.au

The Star Entertainment Group Limited is one of Australia's largest gaming and entertainment groups (ASX: SGR). In June 2011 Tabcorp Holdings demerged its casinos operations which resulted in Tabcorp’s casinos business being separately listed as Echo Entertainment Group Limited (ASX: EGP). The existing wagering, media, gaming, and Keno businesses were retained by Tabcorp.^[1] In November 2015 The Star Entertainment Group parent company name changed from Echo Entertainment Group Limited to The Star Entertainment Group Limited following shareholder approval at the 2015 Annual General Meeting.

4Award Winning Properties and Restaurants

Holdings[edit]

The Star Entertainment is an ASX 100 listed company. It owns and operates three major Australian casinos and hotels.

Treasury Casino & Hotel in Brisbane^[2]
The Star Gold Coast on the Gold Coast
The Star, Sydney^[3]

The Star Entertainment Group also manages the Gold Coast Convention & Exhibition Centre on behalf of the Queensland Government.^[4]

Development[edit]

The Star Entertainment Group commenced an $870 million transformation and redevelopment of The Star in Sydney in 2012. In 2013 Echo Entertainment had a $345 million program of work underway to refurbish and expand Jupiters Hotel & Casino on the Gold Coast. The refurbishment of the existing hotel and casino complex is one of the biggest hotel refurbishments ever undertaken in Australia. In September 2015 Echo Entertainment announced that its Queensland property Jupiters Hotel & Casino, as the First Official Partner of the 2018 Commonwealth Games.

Queen's Wharf Brisbane[edit]

Echo entertainment wins $2 bid to build brisbane casino 2017

Demolition of government buildings in George Street, August 2017

Construction site in William Street, October 2019

The Queensland Government announced on 20 July 2015 that Echo Entertainment as 50% joint venture partner of the 'Destination Brisbane Consortium' was the preferred tenderer for Queen's Wharf, Brisbane, beating rival Crown Resorts. The development will feature 2000 apartments and 1100 new hotel rooms in the . Echo has two Hong-Kong based joint venture partners Chow Tai Fook Enterprises and Far East Consortium. The two joint venture partners will each contribute 25 per cent of the capital to develop the integrated resort and will also jointly pay for the apartment and broader Queen's Wharf developments. The development will include four, five and six-star hotels including the Ritz-Carlton and Rosewood. A feature of the development is stated to be the area along the river front equalling 12 football fields of public space. PremierAnnastacia Palaszczuk stated that the integrated resort and casino would transform Brisbane's CBD in the same way the South Bank development did after Expo88 almost 30 years ago. The project will create 3000 constructions jobs and 8,000 permanent jobs. The economic modelling indicates a $1.69 billion annual increase in Queensland tourism and 1.39 million additional tourist visitors per annum.^[5]^[6] The Courier-Mail stated that $3 billion project is the biggest and most grandiose infrastructure development ever undertaken in the state’s capital.^[7]The Australian Financial Review stated that the $2 billion Queen's Wharf is Brisbane's version of Sydney's Barangaroo stating that the available public realm is massive 'bigger than Barangaroo' quoting Urbis (consulting firm) which has estimated that at a peak capacity up to 190,000 people could fit into the site for events.^[8]

Award Winning Properties and Restaurants[edit]

The Star Entertainment Group is the recipient of a large number of awards across its three properties:

The Star, Sydney[edit]

Momofuku - Best Restaurant Bar - SMH Good Food Guide 2015
Momofuku - Three Glasses - Gourmet Traveller Australian Restaurant Guide 2015
Momofuku - Three Chef’s Hats - SMH Good Food Guide 2015, 2014, 2013
Momofuku - Restaurant of the Year - Gourmet Traveller Australian Restaurant Guide 2014
Momofuku - Gault & Millau Sydney Restaurant Guide 2014: 5 Hats
Momofuku - Best New Restaurant - SMH Good Food Guide 2013
Momofuku - Restaurant of the Year - Time Out Awards 2013
Momofuku - Best New Restaurant - Gourmet Traveller Awards 2013
Momofuku - Two Glasses - Gourmet Traveller Wine List of the Year Awards 2013
Momofuku - One Glass - Gourmet Traveller Wine List of the Year Awards 2012
Momofuku - The Hottest Restaurant in Australia - The Australian Hot 50 Awards 2012
Momofuku - The Hottest Restaurant in NSW - The Australian Hot 50 Awards 2012
Momofuku - The Australian - Hottest Restaurant of the Year 2012
BLACK by ezard - One Chefs Hat - SMH Good Food Guide 2015, 2013
BLACK by ezard - Three Stars - World's best Wine List, The World of Fine Wine 2014
BLACK by ezard - Three Chef’s Hats, Gault&Millau Sydney Restaurant Guide 2014
BLACK by ezard - Best of Award of Excellence - Wine Spectator Restaurant Wine List Awards 2014, 2012
BLACK by ezard - Hot Talent - Michael Chiem - Time Out Sydney Bar Awards 2013
BLACK by ezard - Three Glasses - Gourmet Traveller Wine List of the Year Awards 2013, 2012
BLACK by ezard - Young Waiter of the Year - Electrolux Appetite for Excellence Awards 2012
Balla - One Chefs Hat - SMH Good Food Guide 2015
Balla - Two Chef’s Hats, Gault&Millau Sydney Restaurant Guide 2014
Balla - Three Glasses - Gourmet Traveller Wine List of the Year Awards 2012, 2013, 2014
Balla - Two Glasses - Gourmet Traveller Australian Restaurant Guide 2015
Balla - One Glass - Award of Excellence Wine Spectator 2014
Balla - Award of Excellence - Wine Spectator's Restaurant Wine List Awards 2014
Balla - Best New Restaurants of 2012: Hot tables - Conde Nast Traveller
Balla - Best International Hotel Restaurant Wine List - Gourmet Traveller Wine List of the Year Awards 2012
Balla - Best of Award - Wine Spectator Restaurant Wine List Awards 2012
Sokyo - Two Glasses - Gourmet Traveller Australian Restaurant Guide 2015
Sokyo - One Chefs Hat - SMH Good Food Guide 2015, 2014
Sokyo - Two Glasses - Australian's Wine List of the Year Awards 2014
Sokyo - One Chefs Hat - The Australian Good Food and Travel Guide 2013
Sokyo - Two Glasses - Gourmet Traveller Wine List of the Year Awards 2013
Sokyo - One Goblet - Gourmet Traveller Wine List of the Year Awards 2012
The Darling - Best International New Hotel for Construction & Design - International Hotel Awards 2013, 2012
The Darling - Best New Hotel Construction & Design, Australia - International Hotel Awards 2013, 2012
The Darling - Best New Hotel Construction & Design, Asia Pacific - International Hotel Awards 2013, 2012
The Darling - Best Tech Hotel - Hotel Management Awards 2012
The Darling - Top 60 Best New Hotels in the World - Conde Nast Traveller 2012
The Darling - Luxury Design Hotel – Australasia & Oceania - World Luxury Hotel Awards 2012
Balla - Winner - Interior Fitouts $300,001 - $5,000,000 - MBA Excellence Awards - NSW 2012
BLACK by ezard - Winner - Interior Fitouts $500,001-$10,000,001 - MBA Excellence Awards - NSW 2012
Sovereign Lakes - Winner - Best Interior Fitout $5,000,000 - $10,000,000 - MBA Excellence Awards - NSW 2012
The Darling Suites - Winner - Best Interior Fitout $10,000,001 - $15,000,000 - MBA Excellence Awards - NSW 2012
Main Gaming Floor Suites - Winner - Best club/entertainment Refurbishment $20,000,000 - $120,000,000 - MBA Excellence Awards - NSW 2012
The Darling - Winner - Best Hospitality Buildings - Construction - MBA Excellence Awards - NSW 2012
The Star - Winner - Best club/Entertainment Refurbishment - MBA Excellence Awards - NSW 2012
Cherry - Winner - Construction for interior fitout - MBA Excellence Awards - NSW 2011
The Star - Winner for Commercial Large Project Category - NSW - NECA Excellence Awards 2011
The Star - Construction Excellence Award 2011 - ANCR (Australian National Construction Review)
The Star - Australasia's Leading Casino Resort - World Travel Awards 2012
Marquee - Nightclub of the Year - Best in Sydney Awards, Alternative Media Group 2013, 2012
Marquee - Nightclub of the Year - Australian Bartender Magazine Awards 2013, 2012

The Star Gold Coast[edit]

Kiyomi - 'Best Prestige Restaurant' - Queensland Hotels Association Awards for Excellence
Kiyomi - 'Chef of The Year' - Chase Kojima- Australian Hotels Association 2015 National Awards for Excellence
Kiyomi - Chef's Hat - Brisbane Good Food Guide Awards
Kiyomi - 'Best new restaurant' - 2015 Savour Australia Restaurant & Catering HOSTPLUS Awards for Excellence for Queensland
Cucina Vivo - Best Restaurant – Accommodation Division - Australian Hotels Association 2015 National Awards for Excellence
Cucina Vivo - Finalist- 'Best Restaurant in a Hotel or Resort'-2015 Savour Australia Restaurant & Catering HOSTPLUS Awards for Excellence for Queensland

References[edit]

^'Archived copy'. Archived from the original on 1 June 2012. Retrieved 8 June 2012.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
^http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/brisbane-casino-to-bring-thousands-of-new-jobs-20150123-12w9vt.html
^http://www.smh.com.au/business/echo-entertainment-groups-star-performer-set-for-makeover-20150204-135gua.html
^http://www.gccec.com.au/echo-entertainment-group.html
^'Destination Brisbane Consortium proposal selected by Queensland Government as preferred tenderer for Queen's Wharf Brisbane'(PDF). Star Entertainment Group. Sydney. 21 July 2015. Retrieved 4 August 2015.
^Williams, Perry (21 July 2015). 'Star consortium to build 2000 apartments for $2b Queen's Wharf complex'. Brisbane Times. Brisbane. Retrieved 3 August 2015.
^The Editor (26 July 2015). 'Editorial: Echo must deliver to justify the confidence the State Government has placed in the company'. The Courier-Mail. Brisbane. Retrieved 3 August 2015.
^Cranston, Matthew (24 July 2015). 'Echo Entertainment picks 'red ribbon' concept for $2b Brisbane resort'. The Financial Review. Sydney. Retrieved 3 August 2015.

External links[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Star Entertainment Group.

Retrieved from 'https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Star_Entertainment_Group&oldid=929511285'

Sat, Jul 6, 2:31am by Kevin Pitstock

After seeing proposals from Australia’s two biggest casino companies, the New South Wales government gave Crown Limited permission to build a luxury casino in Sydney. NSW officials believe the introduction of competition in the Sydney area will provide a larger revenue base than the monopoly which has existed until now.

The Crown Sydney is expected to be a $1.3 billion resort and development area in the Barangaroo area of Sydney Harbour. James Packer‘s gaming company has been in competition for the past several months with Echo Entertainment for the right to further develop the land-based casino industry of Sydney.

Echo Entertainment, which is the majority owner of the Star Sydney Casino, argued for an expansion of the existing venue. At the crux of the arguments was whether a gaming monopoly was preferable to open competition.

Competing Casinos in Sydney

New South Wales spoke about that issue while making their announcement. Barry O’Farrell, the New South Wales Premier, said, “What was clear was the need to inject competition.”

NSW officials hope their decision, which strips the gaming monopoly from Echo, should provide greater revenues than what Star Sydney could do alone. Echo argued the introduction of competition would cannibalise each other’s customer base, by forcing both sides to offer comps and junkets to incoming visitors, thus lowering the casino’s rake. In turn, this would hurt the revenue stream for New South Wales. Echo even cited a PricewaterhouseCoopers report which predicted such an eventuality.

The officials making the decisions didn’t agree with that assessment. Australia only receives about 1% of the gaming revenue from wealthy Asian high rollers. A VIP casino in Sydney may lure a larger percentage of those gamblers to New South Wales, so a whole new customer base could be accessed.

The Echo proposal offered $250 million in revenue up front, while Crown Ltd is expected to pay a $100 million fee to begin construction. The difference in the initial payoff is expected to be offset by the new influx of Asian gamblers. The government expects tax revenues from the Crown Sydney to be massive, which offsets the difference in initial revenue for NSW.

James Packer’s Empire Grows

James Packer, chairman of Crown Limited, had been publicly confident of winning approval. After buying a 10% share in Echo in order to hedge bets early on, he sold that stake in the rival company over a month ago. Industry observers interpreted the sale as confidence Crown would win in the end. This proved to be correct.

The new casino complex is expected to be impressive by any standards. A rare six-star hotel will be built to attract high dollar gamblers from the Asian mainland, mainly China. Conceptual drawings of the Crown Sydney show a curved skyscraper, which looks like an airplane fin jutting out of the landscape.

Echo Entertainment Takes a Blow

The announcement spells trouble for Echo Entertainment, which sees the 2nd most lucrative casino in Australia suddenly facing competition from a newer, bigger, and fancier resort. New South Wales announced that only one proposal would be accepted, so Echo’s plans for a $1.1 billion renovation of its casino and the surrounding area are ended.

The Star Sydney is the crown jewel in the Echo gaming empire, so this could prove to be a hard blow from which to recover. Crown Ltd now hopes to win approval from the Queensland government to build a Crown Brisbane, in order to launch a competition with the Echo’s Treasury Casino in that city. If so, the competition between the two gaming giants might become ever more one-sided.