Ashurst and Baker & McKenzie have taken key mandates on the development of Australian entrepreneur James Packer's latest Crown casino resort in Sydney.

The AUS$1.5bn (£870m) Crown Sydney Hotel Resort project (pictured), which will be located at Barangaroo South in Sydney Harbour, got approval from the New South Wales (NSW) Government earlier this month and is expected to open in November 2019.

Ashurst advised Packer's Crown Group on the deal, with a team led by hotel and tourism expert John Stawyskyj, a Sydney-based partner who is also head of the firm's Australian property and projects group.

He received support from corporate partner Garry Besson, who is also based in Sydney.

Bakers represented the New South Wales Government, with corporate partner David Holland in Sydney leading. 

Project finance partner Howard Fraser, construction lawyer Geoff Wood and real estate partner Sebastian Busa – all of whom are based in Sydney – completed the Bakers team.

Spread across 70 floors and with 350 six-star hotel rooms, the development will also include 80 luxury apartments, celebrity chef restaurants, at least 120 gaming tables and 10 VIP gaming saloons. 

The project was approved after an independent assessment committee found a competitive casino market would deliver increased tourism and broader economic benefits to New South Wales.

The NSW Government said the development would result in an estimated 1,250 additional jobs after construction, increased international tourism and an increase in gross state product of AUS$442m (£256m) per annum by 2025.