Crown Casino

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Casino operator Crown Resorts has announced a string of asset sales, including the disposal of two floors within its luxury Sydney development to James Packer.
James Packer will pay $60 million for two residential floors of the 70-floor Crown Sydney at Barangaroo.
The apartment space is located above the mid-levels in the luxury high rise project that will include a casino for high rollers.
Crown said the sale will be made on the same terms as those entered into with other buyers.
It was sold after approval of Crown's independent directors, the company told the stock market on Wednesday.
Crown has been looking overseas to sell apartments in the ­luxury residential tower. The Australian report, at this stage, Mr Packer's two-floor apartment - located somewhere between the 40th and 50th floor - will be the biggest in the building in terms of square metres, and will feature unprecedented features.
Fashioned by New York-based interior designers, it’s expected the apartment will have Scandinavian bleached birch wood, ripple textured bronze glass, polished blackened stainless steel, leather detailing, and white and silver-veined stone slabs from Greece.
Though the pricing is being kept under wraps, there’s speculation that the penthouse atop the Barangaroo tower, to be branded Crown Sydney, One Barangaroo, could come with a price tag as high as $100 million. 
The record apartment sale stands at $27 million in the Opera Residences development at Circular Quay which sold in November last year on the site of the old Coca Cola Amatil building.
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The wealthy businessman, former chief of Tenix, Robert Salteri and his wife Kelly has since been pinpointed as the $27 million buyers.
The 104 apartments to be built in the old Coca-Cola Amatil building by China-based developers Macrolink and Landream sold out within two hours last November, totalling $500 million worth of real estate.
It was in June 2016 when Crown Resorts secured approval for the $2 billion Sydney casino at Barangaroo.
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Crown had originally targeted a late 2019 completion for the casino with luxury apartments but it is now 2021 as the likely opening date
The Crown company is also selling its 50 per cent interest in the Packer family's luxury Ellerston property in the NSW Hunter Valley to James Packer and his sister Gretel for $62.5 million.
Crown will continue to have access to the golf course and other facilities at Ellerston for its VIP gamblers, in line with its commitment to the NSW government.
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James Packer pays record $60 million off the plan to buy Crown Barangaroo apartment 

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Plans for Melbourne’s tallest building — 322 metres — have been given the green signal by the Daniel Andrews’ government. 
James Packer’s Crown casino will expand its Southbank site to eight hectares for its $1.75 billion 90-storey tower.
On completion, the 1 Queensbridge Street site will have a 6-star hotel with 388 rooms, 708 apartments, a pedestrian skybridge and visitor attractions.
It will eclipse Eureka Tower by 25 metres. 
Planning Minister Richard Wynne, who had earlier taken a firm hand to curtail over-development of sites, approved the project – which is claimed to represent $2.1 billion in economic benefit - after 12 months of talks with the developer and Melbourne City Council, according to Fairfax Media.
Premier Andrews said the project would create 4000 jobs; 3000 during construction and another 1,000 once up and running.
"It's not just about height though, the quality of this design outcome, particularly the public realm benefits that will be accessible for all Victorians, really mark this out as a very, very special project," Andrews was quoted as saying.
But the decision was met with criticism from several quarters. 
Melbourne City councillor Rohan Leppert from the Greens said the tower "makes a mockery" of new rules for skyscrapers introduced by Wynne last year. This was, he said, "particularly due to the complete lack of setback to Queens Bridge Street and the sheer bulk of the building".
He also questioned why the public had not had any opportunity to have input into the tower decision.
Wynne amended the planning scheme in order to approve the tower, instead of the usual process of first seeking formal feedback from Melbourne City Council.
RMIT Planning academic Michael Buxton was also quoted in the report as saying Crown appeared to have created its own rules for the site.
"There is supposedly a rule in place for projects like this, but there are no rules, and the more powerful you are the fewer the rules," Professor Buxton said.
Crown and its joint venture partner Schiavello Group will pay $100 million towards a community package that will see a $25 million upgrade of Queensbridge square, and $15 million towards Sandridge rail bridge.
Construction is expected to start in 2018 and could take up to six years to finish. 
There will be no gambling within the building.
The announcement comes a day after an Auditor-General report found Victorian Commission for Gambling and Liquor Regulation oversight of gambling and money laundering at Crown Casino was inadequate, said the AAP in a report.
The VCGLR accepted the report and Andrews said if it needed extra government support he would "only be to happy" to provide it.
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