Queensland Government pays failed Spit casino developer ASF Group $9.082 million
AFTER threatening legal action over its rejected bid for a casino and resort on the Spit, developer ASF has been paid off by the Queensland Government. But we may not have seen the last of these plans.
Gold Coast
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TAXPAYERS have paid a $9.08 million cash settlement to rejected casino developer ASF Group over the failed $3 billion integrated resort bid at the Gold Coast Spit.
The payout, revealed in the listed company’s public financial statements, means taxpayers have forked out more than $13 million for the failed exercise since Labor took Government in 2015.
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk announced in August that her Government had terminated the process and ruled out allowing any developments above three storeys on The Spit at Main Beach.
ASF was forced to write down $12.085 million in costs after spending more than three years developing and adjusting their plans after the former government called for expressions of interest to build an integrated resort.
However, the city may not have seen the last of ASF’s resort proposal, with the Government offering the China-backed company a shortcut in its new casino licensing process.
ASF CONSIDERING LEGAL ACTION OVER SPIT AXING
SUBSCRIBE TO THE GOLD COAST BULLETIN
A statement from the Government said the ASF settlement was commercial in confidence.
“Some reasonable costs incurred during the procurement process have been reimbursed by the Department of State Development,” it said.
The Gold Coast battering was the major contributor to ASF’s overall losses of $19.53 million last financial year and followed a $15.25 million loss the previous year.
The termination of The Spit project came a fortnight before it lost a $9 billion bid to develop a 10ha site at London’s Royal Docks.
Director David Fang could not confirm whether the company’s two other major Gold Coast developments, The Au towers at Southport and Surfers Paradise, would be going ahead at all.
“We have to carefully assess the market. At the moment it is a bit uncertain,” he said.
“The project in Southport is a (lower-priced) market and the Surfers Paradise project is a more exclusive, ultra-luxury product.
“The investor market in that lower market is very quiet at the moment, but the higher end still has opportunities. We just have to see what happens.”
The $70 million The Au Surfers Paradise is being developed by Paradise Development Holding, which is incorporated in the Virgin Islands. Mr Fang is a director.
ASF gained development approval for The Au Southport, in 2016.
According to the financial statement, the company sees the payout of The Spit project as “conclusion of the procurement process for the Gold Coast IRD”.
“Obviously, this is not our ideal outcome, it’s just a reimbursement of some of our costs — obviously it didn’t cover all of our costs, just a small portion,” Mr Fang said.
“We’re doing OK but obviously on the smaller scale — the IRD would have made a big difference.
“We’re just trying to finalise what we have in our hands.”
The State Government has changed the name of its Integrated Resort Development process to Global Tourism Hubs, and shifted it from the State Development department to Tourism.
Registrations of interest to develop a global tourism hub in Cairns, which would include a casino licence, closed on January 23.
Tourism Industry Development Minister Kate Jones said ASF would get a shortcut to the expressions of interest phase once a new Gold Coast process began later this year.
“We plan to test the market this year on a proposal for a Gold Coast integrated resort – a new casino licence for the Gold Coast is an important part of this proposal. ASF will be invited to move directly to the expressions of interest phase,” she said.
“This is about developing infrastructure that will create jobs for Gold Coasters. But it’s important we protect the natural assets that make the Gold Coast one of the most attractive tourism destinations on the globe.
“It’s quite clear there’s plenty of business confidence in Queensland for prospective investors – we’ve had 14 organisations from around the globe show interest in the Cairns Global Tourism Hub proposal.”
Timeline of ASF’s Spit quest
November 2012: Premier Campbell Newman announces process to find a developer for the project
December 2013: ASF named the frontrunner to develop the project, which then included a cruise ship terminal
February 2014: ASF unveils its plans for a cruise ship terminal on the Spit
August 2014: Newman Government demands more information from ASF
November 2014: ASF releases new plan for larger project on Wavebreak Island
January 2015: The LNP loses the election
April 2015: New Labor government scraps Wavebreak proposal
August 2015: ASF and the State Government strike a deal and announce new plans to develop on State land on the Spit near Sea World, with no cruise ship terminal
October 2015: ASF submits its revised proposal
May 2016: ASF submits another revised proposal revised after advice from the government
December 2016: Government accepts ASF proposal, then spends four months consulting the public about it, then another four months examining the results of the public consultation.
August 2017: The government releases results of the public consultation, which found 54 per cent of respondents were in favour of the proposal and 42 per cent were opposed.
The government terminates the project.
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