Supplier News
Australia – Crown Towers facing tough December debut
By Phil - 12 April 2016
Crown Towers, which will open as the largest hotel in Perth, will face a difficult start to its operational life due to a sluggish economy in Western Australia.
That warning came from Crown’s Chief Financial Officer Ken Barton, who said that whilst the six-star Perth hotel development would meet its December opening deadline within its $645m budget, it would face an uncertain start due to the decline of mining which has affected the estate’s economy.
Mr. Barton said: “While it looks like a fantastic property, it may be opening at the wrong time in the market. It will be a fantastic asset. It will do very well in that market but probably would have done a lot better if the market was at a different time in the cycle.”
The plans include a 25-storey six-star hotel, VIP gaming rooms, high-end shopping and convention facilities.
The renovation of Perth’s Burswood casino was completed with a name change back in September 2012 with the venue being re-launched as Crown Perth, making it the second Crown Casino complex in Australia, and the third in the world.
The casino part of the renovation has involved a substantial A$750m upgrade of the existing casino infrastructure and property developments aimed at catering to the high-end Asian tourist market. These include the Sky Room, an exclusive gaming room aimed at high rollers where the gaming tables look out over the Swan River, three private jets to bring international VIPs to Australia, and two mansion suites that have cost over AU$11m each to build.
The A$2bn Crown Sydney meanwhile has received planning consent from the New South Wales government in March.
While the $2bn facility still requires final approval from the Planning Assessment Commission (PAC), Mr Barton said construction work could start by late 2017 following remediation works.
“We hope that with all of the concessions we made with the Department of Planning, we are there,” said Mr Barton. “But we still need to get through this one last step with the PAC. On the basis we get through that middle of this year, get through remediation and finish that early next year, then we have three years of construction which takes us to late 2020.”
