The Star bets on a billion-dollar luxury makeover

The Sydney casino group is in talks over a $1bn upgrade, across the harbour from James Packer’s gaming project.

Artist's impression of the $500 million dollar proposed redevelopment of The Star casino in Pyrmont.

The Star Entertainment Group is starting talks with the NSW government to add a 200m hotel tower to Sydney’s harbour skyline through a $1 billion investment plan to rapidly transform its ­casino resort over the next four years.

The new tower will be located across the harbour from the 275m Crown Sydney hotel that James Packer is planning to build as part of his $2bn Barangaroo casino project.

A source close to The Star, which operates casino resorts in Sydney, Brisbane and the Gold Coast, said the company hoped to secure planning approval for its 360-room tower this year and have it built by 2020. The timing targeted would match the delayed opening of Mr Packer’s Sydney project.

The Star has previously outlined about $500 million worth of refurbishment and expansion plans to its Sydney property at Pyrmont, but The Weekend Australian understands another $500m will be committed to ­develop the hotel and its precinct as part of a “ribbon” development to lift its Sydney offering.

It is believed concept plans for the new hotel tower would see it being built in the existing footprint of The Star Sydney, on the northern end of the site.

A spokesman for The Star ­Entertainment Group yesterday confirmed the concept plans for the new tower and expanded food and beverage offerings. He also confirmed that the company had begun talking to the state government about its plans. A community consultation program is also about to begin.

Greg Hawkins, the former Crown Resorts executive who joined The Star as managing ­director of the Sydney property in 2014, will spearhead the expansion plans. Along with The Star chief executive Matt Bekier, he has been developing a “master plan” for Sydney and it is understood he has determined it needs the extra hotel capacity on top of its existing 625 rooms.

The Star’s plans are believed to have gained traction after the company was awarded the tender for Brisbane’s $3bn Queen’s Wharf casino and resort project in July.

Talks with the Queen’s Wharf joint-venture partners, Asian ­giants Chow Tai Fook and Far East Consortium, progressed to discussions around Sydney following that win.

It is understood that since September the Sydney talks with the Asian partners have escalated and the Hong Kong-based companies have visited the Australian city to look at sites and discuss the ­proposal.

Mr Hawkins has been overseeing a major refurbishment of The Star, which is tracking about 100,000 visitors a weekend, as it updates ahead of the entrance of its rival Crown Resorts in 2020, about a year behind schedule.

One of the most significant projects The Star wants to evolve in the next 12 months is said to be a doubling of the number of signature and destination restaurants across the business.

New VIP salons have been added to the five-star boutique hotel The Darling, and the company is working through a refurbishment of the rooms at Astral Hotel and Astral Residences.

Underpinning the aggressive expansion plans is the tourism boom being enjoyed across ­Australia.

Mr Bekier outlined in a recent presentation on Australia’s tourism opportunity that overnight visitor expenditure had the potential to reach $115bn-$140bn annually for Australia by 2020.

Sydney is the biggest recipient of overseas visitors, attracting more than half the 7.1 million who arrived in the year to June. NSW was also the No 1 state for domestic visitors .