Another article on the Clifton Hill (HOCO) developments from Buffalo Business First:
Theme park anchors new Canadian development
James Fink
Business FirstThe already dizzying pace of development in Niagara Falls, Ont., is about to take another spin, this time with a project anchored by a 175-foot Ferris wheel.
Hoco Ltd., a Niagara Falls-based hospitality and entertainment developer, is working with city officials on a multi-phase project that will cover 30 acres, extending south from Clifton Hill toward the Skylon Tower. The mixed-use project will include a 28-story, 294-room Comfort Suites hotel, a 50,000-square-foot indoor/outdoor waterpark, an amusement park and 140,000 square feet of new retail outlets and restaurants along Clifton Hill.
The privately financed project carries a $100 million-plus (Canadian) price tag.
“With all the changes going on here, you have to develop new projects to stay competitive or you will get swallowed up,” said Harry Oakes, Hoco president. “We are making our own statement about the strength of Niagara Falls.”
Niagara Falls’ resurgence, which began a decade ago, gains momentum with each passing month. The projects – all with roots deep in the hospitality industry – strengthen the city’s position as a tourism center in Southern Ontario and Western New York.
“There have been big-impact statements and big ‘wows,'” Oakes said.
Hoco’s project joins a list that includes a 58-story addition to the Hilton Niagara Falls in the city’s Fallsview neighborhood and a 59-story hotel planned near the Rainbow Bridge, along with a $200 million waterpark-hotel-aquarium complex overlooking the Niagara Gorge now being constructed by Ripley’s Entertainment.
“The private sector, groups like Hoco, have taken it upon themselves to continue to build a better experience for our visitors,” said Victor Ferraiuolo, Niagara Falls Tourism interim president.
In a classic “build it and they will come” scenario, Niagara Falls has seen the number of visitors it attracts more than double during the past decade. In the early 1990s, Niagara Falls attracted about 8 million annual visitors, most of whom spent about three hours in the city.
That number has nearly doubled since then to 14 million, with the average length of stay now approaching two days.
City officials predict that those numbers will swell to 20 million visitors and an average stay of three to four days within the next 10 years.
It is those kinds of statistics that are fueling developments like the one Hoco has in store for Niagara Falls.
Hoco, whose local holdings include Comfort Inn and Quality Inn hotels along Clifton Hill, which features such venues as the Great Canadian Midway and the Movieland Wax Museum, will start the first phase of the project this fall.
The company’s initial plans call for demolishing a 16,000-square-foot building on Clifton Hill that currently houses an indoor golf range and replacing it with a 22,000-square-foot building that will be filled by a restaurant and a retailer. Oakes said he is negotiating with prospective tenants.
At the same time, Oakes is working with Canadian officials to get all the clearances his company needs to start construction on the Ferris wheel. The ride, which will anchor the amusement-park complex, is slated for a vacant parcel Hoco owns that runs just behind the main Clifton Hill grouping of businesses.
Oakes optimistically thinks the Ferris wheel could debut next year.
The wheel will operate all year, with riders sitting in enclosed cars that are air-conditioned in the summer and heated in the winter. Riders will get a panoramic view of the Falls as well as Queen Victoria Park and the rest of the city.
“There is something quite memorable about a Ferris wheel,” Ferraiuolo said. “It will be a visually interesting attraction to add to our skyline.”
For many years, Niagara Falls’ skyline was dominated by a Ferris wheel that operated on the roof of the former Maple Leaf Village complex. The Ferris wheel and Maple Leaf Village closed in the early 1990s and have since been replaced by Casino Niagara.
With the Ferris wheel serving as its main attraction, Oakes said he envisions the amusement park playing the same role for Niagara Falls that Tivoli Gardens does for Copenhagen.
“Tivoli Gardens is really my benchmark for this,” Oakes said.
The park will include about 20 rides including a wooden roller coaster and a Wild Mouse-like ride. It is designed to play off the family market.
“It’s not going to be another (Six Flags) Darien Lake,” Oakes said. “It will be a nice mid-sized park that’s family-friendly.”
The final development phase calls for Oakes to construct a 28-story Comfort Suites hotel that will almost neighbor the Skylon Tower. The waterpark, the fourth one planned for Niagara Falls, will have 30,000 square feet indoors and another 20,000 square feet outdoors.
Oakes said he’d like to complete the entire development within the next five years, assuming that the Niagara Falls market remains robust.
Ferraiuolo said projects like the one Oakes is proposing fill an important niche for the city. The project will link Clifton Hill, Queen Victoria Park and the city’s Fallsview district. That is something that should not be taken lightly or understated, he added.
“These types of developments create a natural linkage, especially for the pedestrian foot traffic,” Ferraiuolo said. “It makes for a very diverse and welcoming experience.”