Toronto Woodbine Racetrack Ancillary Facilities Building | 14.5m | 2s | Woodbine Ent | DIALOG

Don’t forget that this is more than the casino. There is a 5,000 seat theatre, the racetrack and a large hotel. The retail should do fine. When I walked there from the GO station I didn’t pass a single café or restaurant despite there being some residential nearby.
 
Parkdalian said:
I'm sure it's discussed somewhere else in the forum, but I can't find it. How will people get from the GO station to the resort? It's a real hike!
Click to expand...
The Finch LRT eventually.

SaugeenJunction said:
From Toronto's New Deal Agreement:

Advancing Transit-Oriented Communities by prioritizing approvals and finalization of agreements for the development of East Harbour; and cooperation and collaboration from the city on a proposal for mixed-use Transit-Oriented Communities at the future Woodbine GO Station.
Click to expand...
I came to this thread because I hadn't heard anything about a zoning application for anything more than "the destination" aspects of this redevelopment. This development is moving at a snails pace. Woodbine Live, which was expected to be a retail and entertainment east of Queens Plate seems dead, the soon to be station isn't until 2030, and no residential has gone through a development application. This whole site has been a design firm enrichment program... how many illustrations and map versions of this site have been created?
 
All of the east side of Highway 27 on either side of Rexdale Blvd are strip malls, and there is Woodbine Mall north of this development. This is not an area that is starved for retail space.

A walk from the non-existent GO Train station for Woodbine (the one coming in 2030) to the casino would take an hour, according to Google Maps (I think you could do it in under forty minutes). This is not a walkable area. If they build the Woodbine GO station, they need to have a tram or something to get people to the casino.

The Finch West LRT is not finished yet, and no plans or funding have been procured to extend it to Woodbine. Even if it was extended, the current projections are that it would carry about 2,500 people a day. Not much.

Do people who are at a casino want to leave the casino - and walk outside! - for ho-hum retail?

There's a possibility that I'm wrong here, but this development has always felt very boondoggle for me. For it to work, the grounds and the area around the casino would have to become a destination. The current architecture and plans suggests that is not the case. It seems like what it is: one of Dougie's buddies wanted to build something in Rexdale, and Dougie said yes.

(I also find all casino developments kind of gross because they are built on capitalizing on other people's misery.)
 
Parkdalian said:
All of the east side of Highway 27 on either side of Rexdale Blvd are strip malls, and there is Woodbine Mall north of this development. This is not an area that is starved for retail space.

A walk from the non-existent GO Train station for Woodbine (the one coming in 2030) to the casino would take an hour, according to Google Maps (I think you could do it in under forty minutes). This is not a walkable area. If they build the Woodbine GO station, they need to have a tram or something to get people to the casino.

The Finch West LRT is not finished yet, and no plans or funding have been procured to extend it to Woodbine. Even if it was extended, the current projections are that it would carry about 2,500 people a day. Not much.

Do people who are at a casino want to leave the casino - and walk outside! - for ho-hum retail?

There's a possibility that I'm wrong here, but this development has always felt very boondoggle for me. For it to work, the grounds and the area around the casino would have to become a destination. The current architecture and plans suggests that is not the case. It seems like what it is: one of Dougie's buddies wanted to build something in Rexdale, and Dougie said yes.

(I also find all casino developments kind of gross because they are built on capitalizing on other people's misery.)
Click to expand...

I think they believe it can be a Vegas-lite analogue - but I have some doubts about just how comparable Woodbine is to an actual tourist destination.

AoD
 
While it would have to meander, especially if were to eventually end at Pearson, I would have to think that Line 6 is the best bet for getting folks from the future GO station to the core of Woodbine Live. I would hope Ford is already considering this as it was one of his brother's babies (i.e., the "resort," not the LRT).
 
We are compiling this year's end-of-year poll and would appreciate an up to date photo showing the front exterior the project. If anybody's swinging by the site, please pop a couple shots for us!
 
IMG_9986.JPG
IMG_9989.JPG
IMG_9988.JPG
IMG_9987.JPG
 
I missed that the entertainment venue has already had its first event on the last day of 2023, although a concert in May 2024 is officially designated to be a "Grand Opening Event", despite other things including boxing (much like with the Pickering Casino) happening before it.
https://urbantoronto.ca/news/2024/01/news-roundup-january-19-2024.55064
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/art...ith-new-concert-venues-to-the-north-torontos/
https://www.setlist.fm/venue/the-th...sino-resort-etobicoke-on-canada-13d11519.html
https://www.ticketmaster.ca/the-theatre-at-great-canadian-casino-tickets-toronto/venue/132544
I still wish they would have chosen to build an actual theatre (as in its name), like the new Fallsview venue, instead of the college-gymnasium-like layout with the big flat floor in front of the stage. (This isn't really a theatre, in the same way their Pickering venue isn't really an arena.)
 
Last edited:
So with the Federal government agreeing to provide funding for the 2026 World Cup I guess that we will hear about the 8,000 seat stadium and training centre? I also wonder if this will speed up one or two more hotel/residential projects?
 
Between Pickering and Woodbine, my impression is that inside, there is too much square footage and not enough money to cover it all- both these casinos come out feeling like B-tier regional American casinos.

That being said, I do appreciate the new theatre spaces that these developments will offer.
 
You must log in or register to post here.

Back
Top