SkyCity folds CBD casino

• Published date: 11 April 2024
• Publication title: Mountain Scene

Local SkyCity boss Jono Browne confirms the company’s subsidiary, Otago Casinos Ltd (OCL), which has the casino venue licence, exited its Steamer Wharf lease a couple of weeks ago

The licence, due to expire on September 11, isn’t being renewed.

‘‘With the casino licences in New Zealand, you cannot relocate them, they cannot be reallocated anywhere else in the country, or anywhere else in the town,’’ Browne says.

The smaller of the two Queenstown casinos hasn’t actually traded since New Zealand went into its first lockdown, on March 25, 2020, and Browne says they’ve since decided to focus on their main one, on Beach St.

Both CBD casinos opened in 1999, following a fair amount of controversy, while SkyCity bought Wharf Casino from Singapore-based Lasseters in 2013, but at times has struggled to run itprofitably.

In January, 2020, Mountain Scene revealed the Wharf Casino’s landlord wasn’t keen on renewing the Steamer Wharf lease past September, 2021, unless OCL made a significant capital investment in the...