Crown Melbourne adds Brunetti Oro to A$200m hospitality redevelopment
The Riverwalk café is planned for 2027, with entertainment and bar openings due this November. Crown’s property investment proceeds alongside continuing regulatory scrutiny of its reform programme.
Crown Melbourne has added Brunetti Oro to the hospitality businesses planned for its A$200 million Southbank redevelopment. Crown announced on 17 September that the Melbourne café brand would open on the Riverwalk in 2027. The wider programme covers more than 15 restaurants, bars and casual dining venues, as well as improvements to the riverside precinct. [1]
The café plans include a gelateria, pastry displays, an open pizza kitchen, coffee and cocktail bars. Crown said the venue would serve customers from morning through to late-night desserts. Chief executive Ed Domingo described the addition as part of an effort to attract more visits through local hospitality brands alongside international dining names. [1]
Entertainment joins the opening calendar
Crown LIVE and Bellevue Bar & Terrace are scheduled to open in November 2026, ahead of Victor Churchill and Mott 32 in 2027. In an update on 5 October, Crown announced a Foo Fighters show at Crown LIVE on 16 November, with an audience of 1,250. The concert provides a dated event within the venue’s opening programme. [1]
Crown frames the property investment around dining, entertainment and nightlife. The announced venues are hospitality additions to the integrated resort; its September release does not announce more gaming tables or a new casino licence. The commercial aim of encouraging more visits remains Crown’s expectation rather than a reported result from the redevelopment. [1]
Reform obligations continue
The Victorian Gambling and Casino Control Commission separately oversees Crown’s Melbourne Transformation Plan. The regulator says that programme sets objectives and milestones through 31 December 2026. Progress will be central to its next periodic investigation into the casino operator, scheduled for 2027, so the hospitality opening calendar sits alongside an ongoing assessment of casino operations. [2]
The VGCCC requires Crown to publish progress reports twice a year. Its expectations include integrity, transparency, cooperation, prevention of criminal exploitation and prompt action where gambling harm is seen or suspected. Those requirements concern the way the casino operates and the reforms identified following the 2021 Royal Commission. [2]
In March 2024, the commission determined that Crown was suitable to operate the Melbourne casino and that its licence should continue. The regulator’s current overview says the licence runs until November 2050. Continued oversight of the Transformation Plan remains part of that operating position, independent of the resort’s announced restaurant and entertainment investment. [2]
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