Packer’s Colombo casino faces dilemma
Reports from Colombo indicate that James Packer’s proposed US$400 million casino in the Sri Lankan capital is under a cloud.
The Sunday Times in Sri Lanka reports that the central government has asked the consortium building the hotel and casino to move the proposed site of the development and change its design.
Leisure Lake Holdings, the joint venture of Crown and its local partner Rank Holdings, owned by casino businessman Ravi Wijeratne, had planned to locate their Crown Complex gaming joint on a car park in Colombo’s new designated gaming zone.
But the country’s Urban Development Authority recently issued a letter advising Leisure Lake that it needed to choose an alternate location for ‘aesthetic’ reasons.
Packer and his partners want to lure high spending Indians and Chinese gamblers to a 36-storey integrated resort which includes a 400-room hotel with meeting, convention and gaming facilities.
The government is believed to have asked for the number of floors to be reduced and for changes to the construction plan.
Ian Jarrett
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