"Niagara Falls is an excellent location for Hyatt's return to Ontario," said Nicholas Pritzker, president, Hyatt Development Corporation. "The Niagara Falls area has considerable existing strengths and achievements and we look forward to working closely with the community to help realize the region's potential and boost its status as one of the world's premier tourism and entertainment destinations."

The development will feature a 100,000 square-foot casino, a 350-room Hyatt hotel, 72,000 square-feet of meeting and exhibition space, a 1,200-seat performing arts centre, a multiplex cinema, a variety of themed food and beverage outlets, a full-service health spa, retail and more. Off-site attractions include a year-round 12,000 seat, indoor/outdoor amphitheatre; participation in River Country, a major expansion to Marineland; financial support and assistance for the city's new people-mover system and a full range of additional tourism, retail and entertainment attractions. The complex will be located on an eight-hectare site on Murray Hill overlooking the Horseshoe Falls.

"This announcement is great news for the people of Niagara Falls, for tourism and for the local economy," says Niagara Falls Mayor Wayne Thomson. "It is a great opportunity when an industry-leader like Hyatt sees a major long-term investment potential in our area."

Falls Management Company is scheduled to assume management of the interim Casino Niagara within the next 8 to 12 weeks. This morning, employees of the interim casino were notified about the agreement and management transitions through a letter which stressed job security and open communications throughout the process.

"We have assured Casino Niagara employees that when there's news or information that affects them in the coming months, employees will hear it from us first," said Richard Schulze, president Falls Management Company and vice Chair, Hyatt Development Corporation.

"Hyatt's success is based on an unmatched level of commitment to employee recruitment, training, support and growth," he continued. "Our policy is to endorse local hiring and purchase goods and services locally, whenever possible."

Schulze also stressed Hyatt's long-term commitment to Niagara Falls region: "This project is more than bricks and mortar," he said. "We want to build on the city's unique assets, and to enhance its status as a world-renowned, first class, year-round tourism destination -- on that attracts more people , keeps them here longer and keeps them coming back."

Hyatt hotels have played an integral role in several successful downtown redevelopment efforts. These include the Baltimore Inner Harbor, Baltimore, Maryland; the downtown and neighboring areas of Elgin, Illinois; and the harbor area of Long Beach, California. In each of these projects, Hyatt created wide-ranging public and private sector partnerships and worked cooperatively to help meet the objectives of the community.

"Strong community relations have been a big part of our success in other projects and that's what we're striving to achieve in Niagara Falls," said Schulze.

Hyatt-led Falls Management Company is a consortium of five firms including Hyatt Development Corporation, Highland Gaming L.P., which is owned by Neil Bluhm, co-founder and president JMB Realty Corporation, one of the largest real estate and development firms in North America, Toronto-based Shiplake Gaming Company, Olympic V Associates L.P., controlled by Buffalo businessman, Paul Snyder and Toronto-based Falls Entertainment Corporation.

Hyatt is one of the largest and most successful resort and tourism companies in the world operating 183 hotels including 109 hotels and resorts with more than 55,000 rooms in 84 cities in the United States, Canada and the Caribbean and another 74 hotels and resorts in 34 countries throughout the rest of the world. In 1997, Hyatt Hotels achieved sales of over $4.7 billion. With more than 20 years experience in the gaming business, Hyatt operates six casinos and is a partner with Circus Circus in seventh casino. Hyatt Development Corporation is one of the most experienced real estate development companies in the United States with an emphasis on hospitality projects in urban areas. Over the past decade, the company has developed more than $1 billion of hotel and casino projects in the U.S., Canada, and the Caribbean.