Echo Entertainment wins Brisbane casino license

Echo beat off rival Crown Resorts in the bid for the license with its USD 2B project that will put Brisbane on the international gaming map.

The casino monopoly in Brisbane will remain owned by Echo, which already holds the only casino license in the city and its lease the Queensland Treasury Building is not due to expire until 2070. The Brisbane-based operator formed the Destination Brisbane consortium for the new project with Beijing firm Chow Tai Fook and Hong Kong firm Far East Consortium.

Set to redefine the area, the project “will be transformational for Brisbane,” commented State Development Minister Anthony Lynham, whose department takes in the casino resorts. “It will do what South Bank did for Brisbane 30 years ago.” The Queen’s Wharf site, which runs alongside the river, takes up 10pc of the city.

Destination Queensland’s plans for its multi-billion dollar project will transform the open spaces and feature waterparks, outdoor public areas, and a new cross-river bridge linking Brisbane’s Botanic Gardens to South Bank. Plans also include a Sky Deck, with restaurants and bars accessible to the public, five hotels, a new River Arena and a moonlight cinema.

Echo plans to relocate its casino and 1,600 slot machines to the new facility and will transform its existing Treasury building into a Ritz Carlton hotel. Construction of the integrated resort is expected to start in 2017 after the government’s new executive building at One William Street is completed allowing necessary demolition of surrounding buildings.

“This development will transform Brisbane’s CBD,” remarked Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk after Cabinet selected the Echo project. “Construction means thousands of jobs – some 3000 during construction and 8000 ongoing. We are very excited about this proposal and what it means for Brisbane – making it a premium tourist destination.”