Packer plans new Burswood hotel

Billionaire businessman James Packer is looking at building a new luxury hotel at his Burswood entertainment complex as part of plans to get a bigger share of the booming Chinese tourist market.

Mr Packer's Crown casino and hotel group has had preliminary talks with the State Government about buying land surrounding the Burswood Dome, which will become a prime redevelopment site when the Perth Arena opens this year.

Mr Packer's Burswood Nominees owns the dome site, but the 9ha of carpark surrounding the doomed stadium is owned by State Government under an arrangement involving the Burswood Park Board and the Town of Victoria Park.

Property sources say the government-owned land could be worth $45 million or more, given its positioning next to the casino and hotel complex.

At The West Australian's Leadership Matters breakfast last month, Mr Packer revealed he was looking at further expansion of Burswood once his group completed a $750 million refurbishment and extension program later this year.

He unveiled plans to rebadge Burswood as the Crown Perth complex and vowed to develop it to a standard equal to his Melbourne and Macau complexes.

Mr Packer said the current development works were "only just the start" as he attempts to attract Chinese tourists, who are forecast to be spending $800 billion overseas each year by 2020.

Acting Racing and Gaming Minister Brendon Grylls said any discussion about negotiations would be premature because the Government had not received a formal proposal.

Premier Colin Barnett said the Government would support Mr Packer building a new hotel on the Burswood site.

"They would require more land so there has been some discussion about them purchasing some land off the State Government," Mr Barnett said. "In principle we are agreeing with that."

A Crown spokeswoman yesterday declined to comment.

Victoria Park mayor Trevor Vaughan said he would seek information from the Burswood Park Board about any potential land sale and whether it might activate the Town of Victoria Park's residual rights to the land.