Casino Boss Wins Final Tick for Esso House Scheme

Macau casino owner Keong Kuong Loi’s will move ahead with demolishing Esso House in Melbourne’s Southbank after complying with conditions of its development permit.

Nice Future International Investment had submitted plans to the City of Melbourne for a mixed-use building comprising two towers, a podium and public open space at 12 Riverside Quay.

This was a condition of the council’s support for the project, which was part of a Melbourne Planning Scheme Amendment, C391, applied for in October 2020, whereby council had to see and approve all technical reports. 

It was approved by the Victorian planning department in January, 2021 and included an Incorporated Document that set out guidelines for the redevelopment of the Esso House site. 

The city has now considered the designs and plans and passed a motion that the documents had been noted. 

Deputy lord mayor and planning lead Councillor Roshena Campbell said it was important that the plans had come back to the council due to the large degree of community interest.

“This is a really good day for public transparency,” Campbell said.

“The reality is that this committee would not normally be reporting on, be considering or even noting these plans—but it is entirely appropriate that we are doing so.”

The Melbourne Design Review Panel also undertook a review of the plans and made refinements to them.  

Incorporated documents within planning scheme amendments allow relevant authorities to set out specific planning controls and limitations for certain sites and projects that may vary from the usual planning controls that govern development on neighbouring sites.

These are usually used for large development projects considered to be significant to the state. 

Known as Esso House, the current 15-storey tower is the former headquarters of the Exxon-Mobile company and is on the southern bank of the Yarra River, neighbouring to the Eureka tower, the Langham Hotel and Southgate Shopping Centre.

▲ A render of the new public park planned for at 12 Riverside Quay at Melbourne's Southbank.

A few doors from the building is the Crown Casino and Shopping Complex. 

Hayball Architects designed the plans for the site, which will include 1000sq m of public open space.

The plans show 254 apartments across the two 36-storey towers comprising two penthouses, 28 three, 146 two and 78 one-bedroom apartments.

The scheme also includes a 200-key hotel and 1450sq m of office space. 

The towers will sit atop three basement levels with parking for 164 cars and 10 motorcycles, and 152 bicycle storage spaces.

A portion of the second basement level will be set aside for a supermarket while there will be other retail tenancies on the first basement level, the ground floor and the first floor. 

That public space will eventually be owned and managed by the City of Melbourne Council with a design process that began in 2023 still under way.

It has been previously reported that Nice Future International Investment  bought the site in 2016 for $160 million.

ASIC records list several shareholders and directors for the company with Keong Kuong Loi, the largest shareholder. 

Keong Kuong Loi owns several Macau-based casinos.