Hong Kong gaming tycoon Tony Fung is negotiating to downsize the plan for the $8 billion Aquis Great Barrier Reef casino resort in Cairns.

The billionaire has already requested the state government to release the minimum requirements for an integrated resort development, The Courier Mail reported.

David Chu, Fung’s partner in another project in Brisbane, told the news outlet the tycoon’s decision to scale back could help him gain the needed approval to start building the colossal resort in 2017.

“It is a huge project. Some might say too big for Cairns,” Chu said, according to the report.