Canada's Niagara Falls finds 'Paradise' with Chinese

Jim Diodati, mayor of the city of Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada, is fresh off a week-long visit to China where he met with investors.

The main topic of discussion was a $750.4 million mixed-use project led by the GR Investment Group of China. Called the Paradise development, it will be one of the largest Chinese investments in Canada's history.

"Canada as a whole, especially our new prime minister, is a country that's open and welcoming business," Diodati told China Daily. "We have pursued domestic investment, but it's a global economy. So we decided to go out with a strategic initiative to seek out foreign investment."

The project covers 484 acres and will have restaurants, recreation and entertainment complexes, retail shops, apartment housing, a private school and elderly care facilities.

It will feature more than 500,000 square feet of commercial and mixed-use space, be home to nearly 10,000 residents and create an estimated 10,000 jobs.

A company press release said the project would take six to seven years to complete.

The project was announced at a press event on Nov 13 in Beijing.

Ontario's Premier Kathleen Wynne and Michael Chan, Ontario's minister of Citizenship, Immigration and International Trade, were among the Canadian officials in attendance.

Niagara Falls chief administrative officer Ken Todd, who traveled to China with the mayor, told China Daily that the city had been cultivating relationships with Chinese investors for years.

"Based on those relationships we're building, this is not going to be the last foreign investment we're going to be talking about," Todd said. "We have support at the provincial level and for us that just shows the importance of building these relationships."

Serge Felicetti, the city's director of business development who was also part of the mayor's delegation, said the project is now going through a secondary planning phase, which includes hiring consultants and determining the potential plans for various parts of the mixed-use property.

"Once that's finalized near the end of next year, that will fine-tune the numbers," he said.

Diodati said the development group is "still lining up other potential investors," adding that several investors have plans to visit Niagara Falls in the near future to meet with local officials.

The Xincheng Real Estate Fund, a subsidiary of state-owned CITIC investment firm, has pledged up to about $100 million toward the project, according to a report in the Niagara Falls Review.

"We met with investors on our side a number of times, and of course we're in touch by phone and email in between, but it's one thing to explain to someone what you want to do and it's another thing to show them," Diodati said. "We want to see a good relationship and things can get lost in translation. There's great opportunity and we don't want to miss out."

"When you're getting the type of investment that creates jobs, new revenue for the region, and its foreign direct investment (FDI), that sends a signal globally that we're a great place to invest," Felicetti said. "It's a real positive to other potential FDI opportunities for Niagara and the province of Ontario.

"We've gone over a couple of times to try to attract FDI to the city and the region, and we've gone to more than just China," he said. "Whether it's domestic or foreign investment we strive to work to see that it's a win-win for all parties."