Crown Resorts receives Sydney casino planning approval

n Resorts has won planning approval to construct a new casino in the inner-city suburb of Barangaroo, Sydney.

To be located on the waterfront of Australia’s most populous city, the A$2bn resort has received conditional approval from the New South Wales Planning Assessment Commission.

The new resort, expected to open its doors in 2021, will be the city’s second casino, with the development site sitting one kilometre from the Echo Entertainment Group’s Star Casino.

The planning and appeals process for the new casino has proved onerous, with several concessions made by Crown, including the provision of public access to an observation deck on the 65th floor of the casino tower, and setting the casino 30 metres back from the water to ease public access concerns.

“This is an extremely important day for Crown,” said James Packer, who controls 53% of Crown Resorts.

“It has taken us four years of constant effort to get to this point and now we can begin building our vision, to give Sydney one of the world’s great luxury hotels.

“We will work tirelessly to ensure Crown Sydney meets the very high expectations of the government and the people of this city.”

Robert Rankin, Chairman of Crown Resorts, said: “While it has been a long and detailed process, we are pleased with the overall outcome and we’re committed to building a six-star hotel resort that Sydneysiders and all Australians can be proud of.

“For too long Sydney has suffered from a lack of luxury tourism accommodation and Crown Sydney will help turn that around."

The Sydney casino will mark Crown Resorts’ third wholly owned resort in Australia, alongside the Crown Melbourne Entertainment Complex and the Crown Perth Entertainment Complex.