It took a little more than two and a half years, but it looks like the casino resorts to be built by The Star Entertainment Group in Queen’s Wharf in Brisbane, Australia is finally coming together. Excavation was done at the site after regulators approved the project in 2016, but it wasn’t until now that the first big construction equipment showed up. According to thebull.com.au, the first of 10 tower cranes is on site and construction is about to begin.
This first crane, measuring about 160 feet tall, will help build one of the four hotel and residential towers to be located on the property. Another is expected to arrive next week to assist, with the other eight arriving as more towers are built.
The Bull quotes Queensland’s Tourism Minister, Kate Jones as saying, “When you have up to ten tower cranes on the city skyline, that’s a great thing.” She tells local media outlets that the resort is a “project that will create long term sustainable jobs in Brisbane, and also be a game-changer for Queensland’s tourism industry” and that it will create 8,000 permanent jobs and “tens of millions of dollars” in revenue for the government when it’s ready.
Star formed Destination Brisbane Consortium with Chow Tai Fook Enterprises and Far East Consortium in order to enter the bidding wars in 2015. It ultimately won out over Australia’s Crown Resorts when regulators made their final decision a year later. The consortium began working on the massive project, which is going to include four hotel and residential towers with 2,000 residential apartments, a casino, 50 food and beverage options and a public area that measures the “equivalent of 12 football fields.”
The official launch of construction is expected to take place next month when construction company Multiplex is handed the reins from Probuild. Around 2,000 temporary jobs will be created through the construction project, but they’re not short-term temporary positions—the resort isn’t expected to be completed until 2022 at the earliest.
Star currently has two venues in Brisbane—Treasury Casino and Hotel Brisbane. Once the new casino is ready to turn its lights on, the gambling operator will transfer its casino license from Treasury to the new resort.
