Oxford Properties Group Unveils Plans For $3 Billion Toronto Casino ComplexCity Will Determine Fate Of Project |
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The Metro Toronto Convention Centre will get a $3 billion makeover, if the Oxford Properties Group gets their way.
The group, part of the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System, is hoping to create the largest urban development project in Canadian history.
The proposed downtown complex, designed by London-based company Foster & Partners, will feature a hotel, retail and office space, residential buildings, 4,000 underground parking spaces and a casino.
The entire project hinges on the casino, according to Michael Kitt, Executive Vice President of OPG. Without it, the deal will not go through.
“[The casino] allows us to privately fund the new convention center and all of the new public amenities that this project includes,” Kitt said. “If the casino disappears, it’s back to the drawing board for us.”
Ontario Lottery and Gaming has earmarked downtown Toronto as one of five potential sites for a new gaming license, but it will ultimately be up to the community to determine whether or not the casino is built.
The OLG has pressed the Toronto city council to make a decision by early 2013. If the license doesn’t go to Toronto, it could also be granted to Mississauga, Markham, Richmond Hill or even Vaughan.
So far, it appears that Toronto is divided on the issue. Some residents focus on the 12,000 permanent and 6,000 construction jobs that the project will create, while others point towards the possibility of additional crime coming to the area.
OPG has stated that it doesn’t want to operate the casino themselves, they just want to act as landlords.
MGM Resorts International, Caesars Entertainment and Las Vegas Sands have all expressed an interest in becoming involved with the project should it stay in Toronto, the largest city in Canada.
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