Sidewalk Labs Moves on from Waterfront Toronto

The New York-based Google Affiliate, Sidewalk Labs cuts off Toronto’s Sea-facing smart-city project by putting the $3.9 billion project on hold 

Fremont, CA: Sidewalk Labs, a subsidiary of Alphabet that functions in liaison with the government and municipalities to solve urban problems, has cut off any developments from the controversial multi-billion-dollar smart city project in Toronto after working on it for more than two and half years. The company’s CEO and Founder, Daniel Doctoroff, commented in a blog post that the decision was due to COVID-19’s impact on the global economies and real estate markets. 

“As unprecedented economic uncertainty has set in around the world, and in the Toronto real estate market, it has become too difficult to make the 12-acre project financially viable without sacrificing core parts of the plan we had developed together with Waterfront Toronto to build a truly inclusive, sustainable community,” he wrote. “The Quayside project was important to us, and this decision was a difficult one. We are grateful to the countless Torontonians who contributed to the project, and for the support, we received from community groups, civic leaders and local residents.”

The 12-acre district, Quayside on Lake Ontario was rescheduled to be redeveloped by Sidewalk Labs and the non-profit Waterfront Toronto, which is also overseeing many other projects still under construction. 

Sidewalk Labs was under doubtfulness afterword was out in May 2019, about the company’s plans of development beyond the Quayside parcel, even though the company maintained Quayside was always supposed to be a foundation for future phases.

“While this is not the outcome we had hoped for … Waterfront Toronto has confidence in the city’s economic future, and will take the long view when making real estate and development decisions on Toronto’s Waterfront,” he said. “Quayside remains an excellent opportunity to explore innovative solutions for affordable housing, improved mobility, climate change and several other pressing urban challenges that Toronto — and cities around the world — must address in order to continue to grow and succeed. Today is not the end of Quayside, but the first day of its future. Waterfront Toronto will continue to seek public and expert input as we make a next-generation community at Quayside a reality.”