Plans for a $75m Disneyland-style accommodation complex at Dreamworld have run aground
Theme park owner Ardent Leisure Group said talks with a developer to build a $75m resort hotel, tourist park and amenities at Dreamworld have collapsed.
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Plans for a $75m Disneyland-style accommodation complex at Dreamworld have run aground in a blow to the Gold Coast’s pandemic recovery efforts just days after the border reopened.
Theme park owner Ardent Leisure Group announced Tuesday that negotiations with developer Evolution Group to build a resort hotel, tourist park and amenities had been “unable to reach agreement on key aspects of the proposal’’.
Under the non-binding agreement announced in May, Ardent revealed the complex would feature a four-star, 250-room hotel, 40 bungalows and a tourist area with 100 powered sites.
Evolution was slated to fund and build the precinct, which was also set to include restaurants, conference facilities and leisure offerings such as pools and gym.
Ardent chief executive Greg Yong said at the time that the project would be “another positive step in the recovery of our parks post-Covid and have a significant economic impact not only for Dreamworld, but also for the northern Gold Coast’’.
It’s unclear why the deal fell apart but the latest setback for Ardent saw the company’s share price lose 4.6 cents to close at $1.355.
The group suffered an $87m net loss in the last financial year largely as a result of Dreamworld’s prolonged closure.
It has also been buffeted by a series of other crises in recent years, including the shocking 2016 deaths of four visitors on the Thunder River Rapids ride.
A coronial inquest later pinned the blame on “inadequate” safety practices and said “shoddy record keeping was a significant contributor” to the tragedy.
A resort adjacent to the theme park was first flagged more than a decade ago when Macquarie Leisure Trust owned the property.
Cross-town competitor Village Roadshow earlier this year flagged plans for its own resort at Movie World.
In a statement to the ASX, Ardent vowed to press ahead with the development, saying it “remains committed to exploring an on-site tourist accommodation offering…and will now focus its attention on progressing the other available options’’.
The company also said it would continue to “explore opportunities to maximise the group’s total surplus land holdings adjacent to the park’’.
Evolution executive John Robinson Jr, whose firm recently completed the new Gold Coast Airport Rydges Hotel, could not be reached for comment.
Last week Mr Yong celebrated the 40th anniversary of Dreamworld by unveiling the $32m new Steel Taipan rollercoaster.
The thrill ride is the largest single investment in Dreamworld’s history. Mr Yong said it was likely to be the largest investment in a private sector tourism attraction since the start of the pandemic.
Originally published as Plans for a $75m Disneyland-style accommodation complex at Dreamworld have run aground
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