Star Entertainment Announces Four-Month Delay of Its Queen’s Wharf Casino Construction Project
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Star Entertainment announced a decision to postpone the planned opening of its new Brisbane-based Queen’s Wharf casino by four months. The company cited some construction delays as the main reason for the rescheduling.
As previously reported by Casino Guardian, Star Entertainment has joined forces with Far East Consortium and Chow Tai Fook on a number of developments estimated at a total of $5 billion, including its Queen’s Wharf casino in Brisbane. The casino, hotel and entertainment resort was initially expected to start operation in the second half of 2023.
Robbie Cooke, chief executive officer of the Australian gambling giant, shared that the company now expects to see the casino operational in April 2024. He explained that the recently revised opening date and the four-month delay follows careful consideration of the progress made by the project’s builder. Mr Cooke shared that, unfortunately, Queen’s Wharf has not been immune from the various types of pressures that have been faced by other major infrastructure projects across the country.
Star Entertainment’s boss shared that the major casino operator’s management team was disappointed, especially considering the fact that Brisbane’s transformational development has been ongoing for eight years already. According to Mr Cooke, the addition of the Queen’s Wharf casino will be a game-changer for the city that is getting increasingly attractive to people from all over the world, especially when going toward the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Queen’s Wharf Delay Announcement Follows Star Entertainment’s Guilty Plea
The CEO of the Australian gambling giant revealed that Star Entertainment has already received the keys to a number of gaming, entertainment and dining areas on levels five and six of the resort. Mr Cooke also revealed that the third and final section of the so-called “sky deck” bridge was moved into place on June 2nd. He further noted that the Sky Deck is set to be used as a connection between the four towers of the Queen’s Wharf project. It will feature a 250-metre open-air rooftop pathway of restaurants and bars, along with breathtaking panoramic views above the Brisbane River.
The Sky Deck will have a capacity for up to 1,500 people.
The announcement for the delay of the Queen’s Wharf casino’s planned opening comes after in March this year the Australian casino and gambling giant pleaded guilty to seven charges of violating the casino laws of the state of Queensland at its gaming resorts in Brisbane and the Gold Coast.
At the time, Queensland’s Justice Minister and Attorney-General, Shannon Fentiman, explained that the charges were associated with the casino allowing the use of credit cards when processing gambling chip purchases. Ms Fentiman further revealed that the competent authorities’ investigation found that the offences occurred from June 2017 to December 2018, and also as late as in March and April 2022.
