Echo knocked out as James Packer wins amber light for Barangaroo South Casino

Larry SchlesingerDecember 7, 2020

James Packer's Crown group has received the amber light from the NSW state government to build its $1.2 billion 60 storey casino development at Barangaroo South knocking Echo Entertainment out of the battle for Sydney's second casino.

A review led by former Future Fund chairman David Murray recommended Crown's proposal over Echo.

NSW premier Barry O'Farrell said it was "not a licence to build but to proceed to stage three", where conditions and terms need to be negotiated.

The Hoover-shaped hotel and casino designed by British architects Wilkinson Eyre will feature 350 apartments and around 75 luxury penthouses plus restaurants, spa and swimming pools.

The hotel is due to be built by Lend Lease, employ around 2,000 people and generate around $400 million for the NSW economy.

It would break Echo Entertainment’s monopoly of the Sydney casino market.

Echo had submitted a proposal for a $1.1 billion transformation of The Star at Pyrmont into a massive integrated resort, featuring two new luxury hotels.

Kerry Packer was unsuccessful in a bid to be awarded Sydney's first casino licence  in 1994.

Larry Schlesinger

Larry Schlesinger was a property writer at Property Observer

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