Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System’s Oxford Properties said major Las Vegas casino operators have expressed interest in its C$3 billion ($3.1 billion) proposal to develop a casino, hotel and convention complex in downtown Toronto.
Caesars Entertainment, Las Vegas Sands and MGM Resorts International have all worked with Oxford on the proposal, Blake Hutcheson, Oxford’s CEO, said by telephone from Toronto where the company is based.
“There are a number of operators who have approached us and think that this site would be a bull’s-eye for their needs,” Mr. Hutcheson said.
MGM is waiting for Toronto to determine the best location for a casino and Ontario to select the best operator, Alan Feldman, a company spokesman, said in an e-mail. Ron Reese, a spokesman for Las Vegas Sands, didn’t immediately respond to a call requesting comment. Gary Thompson, a Caesars spokesman didn’t immediately respond to phone and e-mail queries.
The project is one of the largest urban redevelopments in North America and would include the renovation of the Metro Toronto Convention Centre near the city’s waterfront, Oxford Properties said in statement Friday. The plan, which would require no public investment, calls for an expanded convention center, space for offices, stores and residences, as well as the addition of a hotel, casino and 5.5-acre urban park.
The development would be called Oxford Place. Foster & Partners, an architectural firm, would be responsible for the master plan, Oxford Properties said.
OMERS has C$55 billion in assets.
