Christchurch Casino has once again made local news headlines. This time, the popular New Zealand casino has seized the opportunity to purchase land surrounding its premises, leaving players hopeful that the casino will soon expand its gaming facilities as well.
The casino has been operating in Christchurch since 1994, and offers over 500 slot machines and 36 gaming tables. Additionally, the establishment also plays host to the country’s largest national poker championships and tournaments.
Christchurch Casino is owned by the Sky City Entertainment group, which purchased a hefty 40.5% of the casino’s shares back in 2005 for a consideration of more than NZ$93 million.
The casino’s purchase of new land will enable mass development around the location to take place, and players are hoping that this will happen in the near future. While the casino has not announced any expansion plans just yet, the opportunity to buy the land was too good to pass up, according to the operator’s spokespeople.
The purchase has followed a smaller, adjacent purchase of land for Christchurch Casino, on which the casino plans to construct its new hotel, The Peterborough. The operator’s plan is to construct a NZ$85 million, 200 room hotel and resort on the space that is currently occupied by a car park, which may help to attract tourists and increase revenue from offshore visitors.
Chief Executive of Christchurch Casino, Brett Anderson, has commented on the purchase of the land, noting that it will give the casino some flexibility when it comes to its future planning. He noted that this will apply particularly to the challenges facing Victoria Street if the Christchurch council goes ahead with its planned streetscape, which may result in the loss of numerous car parks close-by.
The newly purchased land, which comes to 4,047 square metres in total, was purchased by the casino for a price of NZ$3.7 million at a local auction. With the addition of the new space, Christchurch Casino will now stand on a total area of over 11,000 square metres. This has the potential to become a new gaming floor, entertainment facilities, a theme park, or any other popular casino-related attractions that could bring in fresh new revenues from Kiwis and tourists.
Source links: https://www.gamblinginsider.com/news/4061/christchurch-casino-expands-its-land-holdings
