Crown casino precinct redevelopment plan to include dining, luxury shops

A masterplan to revitalise the 30-year-old Crown casino precinct is almost finished, with alfresco European-style riverfront dining, luxury brands, and “incredible experiences”.

An artist's impression of the new two storey mall to be built at Crown.

A two-storey shopping mall, better connections to the Yarra River and new restaurants, shops and entertainment form part of plans to breathe new life into the Crown casino precinct.

Crown chiefs are finalising a masterplan to modernise the 30-year-old Melbourne drawcard, with state-of-the-art new buildings, hospitality and attractions.

A key part of the makeover would see Crown Towers refurbished, alfresco European-style eateries opened along the river and Crown’s popular night time fire shows given a futuristic twist.

The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas will provide a source of inspiration for the new-look Crown, with executives scouring the globe to find world-best experiences to bring to Melbourne.

A “Disneyland effect’’ also forms part of the plans, with a desire to constantly change and improve attractions like the world’s most famous theme park.

Revitalisation plans for Crown include making it vibrant and fun. Picture: David Crosling

Crown Melbourne chief executive Mike Volkert said the plan was “to really revitalise Crown’’, make the precinct “vibrant and fun’’ and give people “incredible experiences with shops, food and drink offerings and entertainment.’’

“We really want to revitalise this area, to bring Crown to a new level and put us back on the map as an international destination,’’ he said.

The new mall would provide a “really incredible shopping experience’’ on the Clarendon St side of Crown.

While no brands were yet signed, Mr Volkert said Crown was in talks with “some of the most high-end fashion houses from around the world”, as well as bespoke Melbourne and Australian designers.

“We want to redevelop our retail offering and how we deliver that and do it in a different way than we have,’’ he said.

Plans to open Crown to the Yarra riverfront would see European-style but Melbourne-focused dining on the promenade, fine dining venues moved up a level and Crown opening a new restaurant for the first time in years.

The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas is a hotel, retail, casino, and condo complex. Picture: Jacob Kepler

Mr Volkert said the riverfront was now “really under utilised’’ and “represents a great opportunity for us to change the dining experience.’’

“Right now, as you walk down the riverfront most of those restaurants you can’t access — you have to go into the building and they are all blocked off,’’ he said.

“So we want to open that whole perimeter up on that river walk, really creating a more vibrant atmosphere.

“Right now it is closed windows, five-star restaurants, and it’s great to have those restaurants. But they also have a quiet, controlled feel to them.

“The way we are seeing it, we really want to make that riverfront come alive and think about the restaurants having a much greater variety as well.’’

He said Crown wanted to also wanted to “make more of a show of’’ its gas brigades – the eight towers that shoot fireballs above Southbank – by integrating music, vision and animation.

“We have some plans to make that a much more entertaining experience, to make it more interesting and more fun,’’ he said.

“It’s something we want people to come back and see over and again.’’

Crown hoped to add LED panels to the fire show, animating the experience with vision and theming it with events staged in the it, such as the AFL Grand Final, Australian Open tennis or Formula One Grand Prix.

Crown Casino’s 'Pillars of Fire & Water' show. Picture: Supplied

“It is great for the city and one of the central attractions, for people to come and see the fire brigades,’’ he said.

“But we want to do it in a little more energetic way … we really want to animate that whole show and make it come to life.’’

No dollar figure had yet been assigned to the master plan that will see the entire Crown property undergo a major redevelopment. But it expected to cost hundreds of millions of dollars and create hundreds of jobs.

Mr Volkert said the plans – backed by Crown owner, US investment fund Blackstone – would “rejuvenate the precinct and reorientate the new entertainment complex”.

“Crown is an amazing asset but it’s also a 30-year-old asset,’’ he said.

“We want to modernise Crown for today’s guest.

“They have different tastes, they want to consume things differently and entertainment has changed in 30 years.

“And so everything from our food and beverage offering, the kind of entertainment we deliver to also have a more sophisticated retail environment.

“One of the things we want to bring to the city is a bit of a luxury and high-street brands for retail.

“Do it a little differently to the way we do it today.’’

Mr Volkert said any approved development would take place on Crown’s existing Southbank footprint.

“We’re not anticipating right now any new towers or anything like that,’’ he said.