Bremner's Big-Time Evolution
Fifth Avenue, the Champs Elysée, the Yellowbrick Road: big international cities are known for their major avenues and there's a major one growing in Toronto's downtown south core.
Been down Bremner Boulevard lately? Ripley's Aquarium of Canada just opened to the public, slotted at the base of the CN Tower. (No longer will you have to live in a world where you can't go see a red lionfish.) The new Ripley space is over 134k SF, and houses more than 16,000 marine animals. The new 567-room Delta Hotel is scheduled to open in late 2014. Tourism Toronto VP Andrew Weir calls the area a "tourism campus," all connected by a central transit hub. "This is particularly important when we bid on major conventions," Anthony says, with the Convention Centre at Front Street and John Street.
Colliers VP Hotels Robin McLuskie points to the strong confluence of "demand generators" including the ACC, CN Tower, Ripley's as well as the East Bayfront, all bringing in more leisure demand. "The mixed-use developments, which include hotel components, like Le Germain at Maple Leaf Square as well as the Delta, are well programmed given the inclusion of food and beverage retail, office space and other amenities, which is helping the area become more populated and active for both business and leisure demand," Robin says.
