http://www.pulse24.com/Business/Top_Story/20050728-001/page.asp

I wonder why they did not do this sooner. Do they have to receive regulatory approval?

The word is that Toronto's first casino will be part of this project.

I believe there is a ban on any new casinos being built in Ontario.

Looks like they're putting those parking lots to good use. I went to the Woodbine race track the other day and I was pleasently surprised that they spruced up the place, the new slots addition have made the place a more booming place and the second and third levels are quite nice.

Some renderings from the website:

http://www.woodbineentertainment.com/WoodbineLive/images/rendering-aerial.jpg

http://www.woodbineentertainment.com/WoodbineLive/images/rendering-ground.jpg

The word is that Toronto's first casino will be part of this project.


No, there just hoping a casino will be built and this is prep work for it, well according to this article at least.

Woodbine Live to recruit new racetrack fans
Complex to open by late 2007, 2008

$400 million site has attractions for all


EMILY CHUNG
BUSINESS REPORTER

An expansion that could cost up to $400 million is part of Woodbine Entertainment Group's strategy to attract a more diverse audience to its Toronto racetrack, David Willmot, president and CEO, said yesterday.

"There's so much choice these days and you have to offer that choice," he said, noting it's getting harder to market venues featuring a single attraction.

Willmot, along with Cordish Co. chairman David Cordish, Mayor David Miller and provincial cabinet minister Monte Kwinter, was at a ceremony to unveil plans for Woodbine Live, a 25-acre complex featuring cinemas, a performance hall, restaurants, bars, clubs and stores built along two main pedestrian walkways. It will also include a hotel, pool and spa with a view of the races.

The expansion, to be developed jointly by Woodbine Entertainment Group and Cordish Co., will sit on the northwest side of the racetrack and slots casino and is slated to open in late 2007 or early 2008.

It is the first phase of a development Willmot hopes will encompass 100 acres of Woodbine's 700-acre property at Rexdale Blvd. and Highway 427.

Woodbine Entertainment Group owns both Woodbine and Mohawk Racetrack in Campbellville, Ont. In recent decades, the industry has faced competition from other gambling and entertainment options such as electronic gaming.

Many people will never be interested in horse racing despite aggressive marketing, Willmot said. "But they may well come to a development like this and we'll do our best to display the beauty and the courage of the animal when they're here and hope to get a little bit of crossover. But the development better stand alone as a development."

Willmot said it's up to the province to decide whether to build a full-scale casino at Woodbine. "All I can say is that this development will bring millions more people to this site, which can only be to their benefit if they decide to do so."
Baltimore, Md.-based Cordish Co. was an ideal partner, Willmot explained, as a family business with a long-term view. Cordish has developed multi-use entertainment venues all over the United States, such as two Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino complexes in Florida. Woodbine Live will be the company's first project outside the U.S.

"We say `no' a lot," explained Cordish, who was impressed by the location near four highways in a "world-class city" with a racetrack and a casino as existing anchors and the potential for further development. He also spoke highly of Woodbine Entertainment Group as a partner. "The perfect storm is present here," Cordish said.

The developers estimated the project will generate 1,100 jobs during construction and 2,300 upon completion, with $1.5 billion in economic benefits. Construction will begin as soon as the developers obtain the necessary government approvals and permits. That could happen by January or February, said Rob Ford, city councillor for Ward 2, North Etobicoke, who said he'll try to speed the process along.

Miller said he was against building a full-scale casino on the site, but said plans for the development are exciting. "They're trying to create an in-town, urban feeling," he said. "It's not going to detract from other areas of the city. It's going to build a new venue in an area that needs it and that's very positive."

^ I think they'll find a way to cram a casino in there somewhere even if it is smaller scaled. They already have slot machines there right now and by adding a hotel building, I think having a casino will make it an even bigger attraction.