Toronto Union Park | 303.26m | 58s | Oxford Properties | Pelli Clarke Pelli

Only to those who would realize its a blast wall and not just part of the structures design. which the average person would.
 
Interesting how the Sands proposal emphasizes the Convention Centre angle and suggests negatives ('too much of an infrastructure commitment', 'would not bring any business into the downtown area') for the Portlands or Exhibition Place.

Sands Corporation wants to build an ``integrated resort`` right downtown, expanding the Metro Toronto Convention Centre on Front Street.

While they`re holding back their initial design for now, CEO Michael Leven told the Economic Club of Canada today that their resort would include an ``iconic`` hotel tower with up to 2,000 rooms, a casino, convention and banquet space, as well as retail space.

Leven says his company is focusing more on making Toronto more competitive in the convention space market, rather than bringing a casino to the city.

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Leven says they`re not interested in the Port Lands and Exhibition Place as a location because the two sites would require too much of an infrastructure commitment. He also says a resort at Exhibition Place would not bring any business into the downtown area.
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Leven told reporters: “Toronto is very viable today — the question is, how viable will it be without being competitive in this (convention) market in the future? We think we can add to that to make it more competitive.â€

Convention centre owner Oxford Properties is proposing a $3-billion overhaul — if it gets a casino anchor tenant. Caesars Entertainment also wants to build a casino-resort there, while MGM Entertainment is focused on Exhibition Place and potentially part of Ontario Place.

Leven shrugged off concerns over gridlock and parking on Front St., saying he has been told 2,000 spots would be adequate given that most casino events happen at night and many patrons would use public transit. Sands would be willing to help pay for infrastructure improvements, he added.

The area’s councillor, Adam Vaughan, said in an interview that building on that site “would turn the Gardiner Expressway into a casino parking lot.â€

Oxford is awaiting a consultants’ study but says it is convinced changes made as part of the expansion would improve traffic flow in the area.

Toronto council is expected to vote on the casino question in April.

Sands, controlled by billionaire and Republican super-donor Sheldon Adelson, owns The Venetian and The Palazzo casino resorts in Las Vegas but gets most of its revenue from its gambling meccas in Macau.
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http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/cit...sands-chain-makes-its-pitch-to-businesspeople

Sands vs Caesars. I would like to see renderings of the Sands proposal. I found Caesars Casino renderings little tacky looking for the downtown.
 
I am increasingly convinced that the part east of John street is independent of the casino portion. Sands seems to be capable of producing more engaging and lessy "cheesy" buildings. ESPECIALLY singapore.. I will wait, but I like the fact that the sands seems to be proposing a smaller casino (5% of floorspace instead of 10%), and their developments tend to be a lot classier than Caeser's.
 
innsertnamehere said:
I am increasingly convinced that the part east of John street is independent of the casino portion. Sands seems to be capable of producing more engaging and lessy "cheesy" buildings. ESPECIALLY singapore.. I will wait, but I like the fact that the sands seems to be proposing a smaller casino (5% of floorspace instead of 10%), and their developments tend to be a lot classier than Caeser's.
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What Sands did in Singapore is breathtaking. If they proposed that in Toronto I could certainly be swayed to become to pro-casino.

Any word on how much they're willing to invest in Toronto?
 
I wonder what part of the project that is. does it include the office towers, or is it just the casino and convention centre? if the sands were to build here, would they be working with oxford or would they want to buy the property from them and build on their own?
 
"Leven says they`re not interested in the Port Lands and Exhibition Place as a location because the two sites would require too much of an infrastructure commitment."

What? You are planning to build a multi-billion dollar casino in an unsure, awkward city that doesn't even know if it wants one and you're cheapening out on a location because you're scared of committing a couple extra bucks for infrastructure. That's a great way to win them over...

It may seem a tad picky but if Sands or Caesars are ever going to build a casino in this city they will have to invest in something else than just a casino. And cut the crap about creating jobs, anyone who proposes the casino will be automatically creating new jobs. It's about the long term that matters.
 
The cost of the infrastructure to build in either of those two locations would be enourmous. you would basically have to fund a $billion + transit project to get it to work, while you would likely only have to kick in a couple hundred million for road improvements and for help with the DRL if you built at the Convention centre. (think $200-400 million) much different in price. I wonder if this could help fund the $500 million in upgrades to the Gardiner that they need? there are many possibilities of what they could build, and I look forward to see what they come up with.
 
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Not a comment on the proposal or anything, just struck by the resemblance...
 
toforumer said:
$2 billion. 36 months to construct.
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TheTigerMaster said:
What Sands did in Singapore is breathtaking. If they proposed that in Toronto I could certainly be swayed to become to pro-casino.

Any word on how much they're willing to invest in Toronto?
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Oxford is only putting in $2 billion while the sands in singapore cost over $8 billion so i wouldnt expect anything on that grand of a scale
 
So would the Sands proposal scrap the current twin-tower, hotel/condo proposals? Or will the towers remain and only difference will be the casino portion?
 
I think what is happening here is Oxford is responsible for the design of the portion east of John street, (the soopertalls) while the casino is free to do what it wants with the portion west of John. I look forward to some more detailed designs for the sands design. So the two western towers are up for a redesign, but the office / condo towers remain the same.
 
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