Why rich lister Chris Morris bought the 'worst performing casino' in Australia, By Jessica Gardner
- 10th November 2014
- Chris Morris Townsville Casino Hotel
- Chris Morris Townsville Casino Buffet
- Chris Morris Townsville Casino Entertainment
- Chris Morris Townsville Casino Players Club
Profiles
'Best spot in Townsville': Chris Morris will spend at least $20 million giving the Jupiters casino a face lift. Photo: Josh Robenstone
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Rich lister Chris Morris says he has bought the worst-performing casino in Australia, but after a $20 million facelift the Townsville casino will be a cash cow that will fund his expanding Queensland tourism empire.
TOWNSVILLE'S casino will be sold to a hotel and brewing group linked to entrepreneur Chris Morris, the gaming venue's owner Echo Entertainment revealed today.
The Computershare chairman's Colonial Leisure Group entered into an agreement to buy Echo Entertainment Group's Jupiters Townsville casino for $70 million in January. The deal was settled last month after probity clearance was received.
In an interview with The Australian Financial Review, Mr Morris said the property had great potential, but had suffered from a lack of investment.
'[Echo] had been trying to sell it for two years,' he said. 'The only money that had really been spent on it is the gambling facilities.'
Mr Morris said the waterfront casino is the 'best spot in Townsville' but a dated design has not made enough of the views out to Magnetic Island. And although the venue gets 2,000 visitors a day, it has struggled to encourage spending outside of the 350 poker machines and 50 gaming tables, he said.
Chris Morris Townsville Casino Hotel
'The only reason people were going there was to gamble,' he said. 'The food and beverage offering ... was very average.'
Chris Morris Townsville Casino Buffet
The 66 year old does not expect to take a profit for the next four years. He will spend a minimum of $20 million to overhaul the design and put in new restaurants and bars, 'which is what we specialise in our hotels in Perth and Melbourne'.
Mr Morris, who BRW estimates has a fortune of $700 million, made his name and wealth in technology, co-founding share registry business Computershare, but his passion these days is tourism. Colonial Leisure Group owns 15 businesses, including a number of pubs, a Margaret River brewery and the Daintree Eco Lodge in north Queensland.
The Jupiters deal pushes his investments in Queensland in the past three years over $100 million. He also owns a Queensland helicopter charter company, Orpheus Island and recently bought an outback cattle station Mt Mulligan.
Mr Morris says his dream is to create packages for international tourists that take in the Great Barrier Reef, the Daintree and the outback, allowing them to stay at his trio of unique properties. Jupiters will play a crucial role in this plan.
'Having the casino allows you the cash flow to do other things,' he said.
The fight between Echo and Crown Resorts to build a new casino in Brisbane and a proposed $8 billion mega gambling resort in Cairns are underpinned by the prospect of a boom in Chinese visitors. But Mr Morris said his efforts in Townsville are aimed more at the locals, given there are few direct flights to the regional centre.
Mr Morris also said he is against the installation of pokies in pubs but he does not have a problem with them in casinos. 'People make a conscious decision to go to casinos,' he said.
To make up for his lack of gaming business experience and to take advantage of Jupiter's 'huge potential', Mr Morris has poached Brad Morgan, who recently ran SkyCity Entertainment's Darwin casino.
'[Jupiters Townsville] is the worst-performing casino in Australia by a long way,' he said. 'But you don't want to buy the best-performing business because it's hard to improve.'
In January, Echo said Jupiters Townsville had limited expansion opportunities and offloading the casino would allow the company to focus on its Sydney, Brisbane and Gold Coast properties.
'Having the casino allows you the cash flow to do other things,' he said.
The fight between Echo and Crown Resorts to build a new casino in Brisbane and a proposed $8 billion mega gambling resort in Cairns are underpinned by the prospect of a boom in Chinese visitors. But Mr Morris said his efforts in Townsville are aimed more at the locals, given there are few direct flights to the regional centre.
Mr Morris also said he is against the installation of pokies in pubs but he does not have a problem with them in casinos. 'People make a conscious decision to go to casinos,' he said.
To make up for his lack of gaming business experience and to take advantage of Jupiter's 'huge potential', Mr Morris has poached Brad Morgan, who recently ran SkyCity Entertainment's Darwin casino.
'[Jupiters Townsville] is the worst-performing casino in Australia by a long way,' he said. 'But you don't want to buy the best-performing business because it's hard to improve.'
In January, Echo said Jupiters Townsville had limited expansion opportunities and offloading the casino would allow the company to focus on its Sydney, Brisbane and Gold Coast properties.
The owner of Townsville's ‘The Ville-Resort-Casino', Chris Morris, has reportedly purchased the landmark development site opposite from his own resort in what will likely be a $10 million deal.
Chris Morris Townsville Casino Entertainment
It is believed that the 2.9ha site, will be used to develop more accommodation for the resort, to provide land to stage big outdoor events and for car parking. It's situated perfectly at the end of the peninsula on which the casino is built.
Mr Morris purchased The Ville Resort-Casino for $70 million in 2014 and confirmed he had entered into a contract to buy the land but declined to comment further.
'I'm bound by a confidentiality agreement,' Mr Morris told the Townsville Bulletin.
A $30 million redevelopment is currently underway at The Ville to provide three new restaurants, a poolside function space for 700 people, an infinity-edge pool with private cabanas and swim-up bar and an elevated deck connecting the pool to the hotel's lobby level.
According to sources, the work has meant land at the front of the resort previously used for open-air events will be no longer available and so the property needed extra space.
Even before the expansion work began, the 200-room resort needed more accommodation and car parking.
The price for the land is believed to be around the $10 million mark – well short of the almost $50 million paid by former Gold Coast developer Resort Corp for the site from Consolidated Properties at the peak of the property boom.
The site was marketed by Colliers International, who declined to comment but Sally Elliott of Smith and Elliott Real Estate who sold units off the plan for the Saltwater project said it was a signature site deserving of a spectacular development.
Chris Morris Townsville Casino Players Club
'It's a signature site for Townsville and North Queensland and needs a person with a lot of vision and an overdose of testosterone,' Ms Elliott said.
