Major expansion planned for Sydney integrated resort
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Plans have been unveiled for a major expansion of Sydney’s integrated resort complex, The Star.
A new development plan put forward by the Echo Entertainment Group features two new luxury hotels, 20 new restaurants and bars and the development of new transport links, including light rail upgrades. Echo, which submitted its plans to the New South Wales government late last week, called the expanded Star complex the “world’s first connected, integrated resort”.
“The proposal we are unveiling… is visionary, transformational and we believe would create the world’s best integrated resort right here in downtown Sydney,” said Echo’s chairman, John O’Neill. “If approved, our plans will complete Sydney’s new feature precinct, integrating Barangaroo, Darling Harbour and Pyrmont and contribute greatly towards the ambitious goals set by the NSW government which aim to double overnight visitor expenditure to NSW by 2020.”
According to the project blueprints, two new international hotels – one five-star and one six-star – will add more than 500 new rooms to The Star’s existing inventory, while 20 new F&B outlets will take the complex’s total number of restaurants and bars to more than 50. The company has also committed AU$130 million (US$120m) to “community infrastructure” projects, including a new pedestrian and cycle bridge and an upgraded light rail station.
“The Star is already one of the leading tourist destinations in Sydney and NSW but our plans are expected to attract an additional 330,000 international and interstate visitors per year,” O’Neill said. “I have been in this business all my life and there is not an integrated resort anywhere in the world with a better location than The Star, and the opportunity to build a complex of this scale and on such a site should be a huge magnet to overseas visitors wanting to visit Sydney.
“This project will make The Star a AU$3bn ‘downtown’ resort, in the heart of Australia’s global city, on the shores of the world’s greatest harbour,” he added.
The Star resort complex currently features two hotels, serviced apartments, F&B and retail outlets, a spa, casino and conference space.
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