Champions of the multi-billion-dollar hotel and casino venue, which is expected to open doors in Cairns, Australia in 2019, said that they hope Curtis Pitt, the new Treasurer of the state of Queensland, will help the project to be granted the necessary permission for the construction to commence as soon as possible.
It seems that Mr. Pitt, too, is among the proponents of the expensive complex, which is to be developed and operated by Aquis, a real estate developer owned by Hong Kong-born business magnate Tony Fung.
The construction of the so-called Aquis Great Barrier Reef Resort, which will be located at Yorkeys Knob in Far North Queensland, cannot begin, due to the fact that the State Government needs to complete the necessary probity investigations and to issue a casino license.
As previously reported, the finalization of the Cairns project deal was delayed, due to the Queensland Election, which took place on January 31, 2015. Now, when the state has its new representatives, proponents of the hotel and casino venue expect that everything will be settled as soon as possible.
Pat Flanagan, a project director of the resort, shared that he would like to meet the new officials and to discuss the matters with them. He pointed out that there were no keen supporters of the Cairns project among the members of the previous government and this further contributed to its delay.
Mr. Flanagan shared that having Treasurer Curtis Pitt as a proponent of the resort was a really good thing. And the fact that Mr. Pitt is from the area means that he will certainly do his best to ensure its well-being.
Mr. Flanagan also said that before the election was held, company representatives met Mr. Pitt as well as Annastacia Palaszczuk, the new Premier of the state of Queensland, who was then the leader of the opposition party. He pointed out that both officials stated they would like to support the project, mainly because of the great number of jobs that will be created for residents of the area.
The Aquis Great Barrier Reef Resort is planned to spread over a 340.6-hectare site. It will feature as many as 7,500 hotel rooms in a total of eight luxurious hotels. The project is to be carried out in two phases and is estimated at AUD8.15 billion. Owners promised that about 3,750 construction jobs will be created towards 2017. The total operational workforce is expected to reach 20,000.
The first phase of the project is planned to be completed sometime in 2019 and the completion of the second one is scheduled for 2024.
