Genting Casino Plan Could Revive London’s Faded Trocadero
Posted on: October 6, 2025, 08:53h.
Last updated on: October 6, 2025, 08:53h.
- Genting wins backing to turn Trocadero into casino
- Late-Victorian landmark to feature gaming and restaurant floors
- Critics fear new casino will worsen West End nightlife issues
The London Trocadero will be revamped into a casino if Malaysian gaming giant Genting gets its way.
Last week, Westminster City Council planning officers recommended approval of the Genting plan, which includes a gaming floor of up to 16,000 square feet spread across basement and first-floor levels, alongside a restaurant and additional food-and-beverage spaces on the upper floors.
The late-Victorian, Baroque-inspired building in the heart of the city’s bustling West End has been largely empty since the 2011 closure of SegaWorld, later known as Funland. Sega World was an indoor theme park, complete with a giant statue of Sonic the Hedgehog over the front entrance, which, from 1997, housed the UK’s first IMAX cinema.
Faded Glamor
Today, apart from a smattering of retail space on the street level – money exchanges and a shop selling Union Jack-themed bric-a-brac to tourists – part of the Trocadero building hosts the newly opened Zedwell Piccadilly hotel.
Other attractions remain in limited form — for example, the Crystal Maze LIVE Experience, based on a cult British gameshow, operates out of the complex.
A Muslim prayer space also operates in the building’s basement. Plans to develop the space into a mosque were approved in 2023, but the project has yet to be realized. Islamic teaching prohibits gambling, which would make these two planned developments awkward neighbors should both come to fruition.
Genting’s documents project a potential opening in October 2026, though that timeline has not yet been independently confirmed by planning authorities. The developer emphasizes that the plan would reuse the existing structure via a historic retrofit – retaining façades and listed architectural features while modernizing interiors.
Local Quibbles Overruled
The proposal is opposed by local community the Soho Society, which argues that additional gambling venue in an area dense with nightlife could exacerbate antisocial behavior and contribute to an overconcentration of late-night entertainment uses.
Genting rejected the suggestion that the venue will be “alcohol-led,” emphasizing that casinos in the UK operate under strict regulation and would follow a robust operational management plan, The Standard reported.
Westminster planning officers sided with the casino operator, arguing that the proposed casino would essentially replace a former nightclub and so it would align with the area’s existing entertainment character. The area has long been a hub of late-night activity, and a carefully managed casino would not necessarily harm public order, they said.
If realized, the redevelopment is expected to generate up to 350 jobs and establish training initiatives for new workers without prior experience, according to Genting.
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