Another hurdle has emerged to foil Australian gambling operator Crown Resorts’ plan to build a multibillion-dollar casino resort in Sydney’s Barangaroo precinct, local media reported. The New South Wales Land and Environment Court is set to hear on Tuesday a case filed by residents of the nearby Millers Point suburb.
If the case succeeds, this may delay the ambitious project and, according to many, even derail it. Millers Point residents argue that if built, the Crown Sydney complex, which is planned to feature a 271-meter hotel tower, will occupy too much public space and that they will literally have to live in its shadow.
The property’s location and design has been the bone of contention between developers and Sydney residents and officials since it was first introduced several years ago. Crown Sydney’s building had originally been planned to protrude over Barangaroo’s shore but that idea had been ditched.
Crown Resorts and its development partner Lendlease later on unveiled a new location, with the hotel tower being set 30 meters back from the shore in favor of more public space. Under the plan, the hotel tower will be placed on a six-story podium that will be housing the gambling venue.
Opponents of the project have been arguing that the said six-story structure will be taking up too much public space. Sydney’s architectural community has also not been hiding its discontent with the proposed plan.
After multiple delays and discussions, the New South Wales Planning Assessment Commission gave its nod to the project this summer, with Crown Resorts promising to build its property in a manner that would provide more public space and a bigger foreshore walk.
Crown Sydney is projected to be completed and launched in 2021. However, if the Millers Point case succeeds, the property’s opening may be put off to a later date.
Under Crown Resorts’ casino license, granted by the New South Wales government in 2013, the operator will have to build a casino intended mainly for VIP players. The gambling venue will not feature slot machines, or poker machines as called Down Under.
However, the recent detention of Crown Resorts employees in China as part of a crackdown on gambling-related crimes has cast a gloomy shadow over the future of the company’s VIP operations (and those of other operators with gambling venues in the region). Chinese high rollers constitute a significant part of the operator’s clientele and according to many, the arrests may lead to further withdrawal of that particular gambling group from casinos.
