Quayside, Toronto

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Quayside
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The future site of Sidewalk Labs' City of Tomorrow in Toronto, 2020 04 09 (49758660997) (cropped).jpg
Quayside, Toronto
Quayside
CountryFlag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada
Province Flag of Ontario.svg  Ontario
City Toronto
Website https://quaysideto.ca/

Quayside is a waterfront district Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located between Queens Quay East and Parliament Street. The 4.9 hectares (12 acres) site is owned by Waterfront Toronto, the City of Toronto and CreateTO (the city's real estate agency) and private landowners. In June 2023, Waterfront Toronto proposed a new master-planned mixed-use development of the former dockland and industrial site to succeed Sidewalk Toronto, an unrealised smart city proposed by Alphabet Inc. subsidiary Sidewalk Labs.

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Site

The area is bounded by Gardiner Expressway to the north, Bonnycastle Street to the west, Queen's Quay East (from Bonnycastle east up the eastern side of Parliament Street Slip) and east by Victory Soya Mills Silos. While the area east of the Parliament Slip is vacant other than berthing for Toronto Harbour Cruises ships, a number of low rise businesses reside along the north side of Queen's Quay East. The parcels of land included in the project are:

Waterfront Toronto has estimated the value of the land alone at CA$590 million. [2]

Sidewalk Toronto

The project began as a request for proposal by Waterfront Toronto in March 2017 and made official in October 2017. [3] Sidewalk Labs committed US$50 million and one year's worth of engagement to develop a plan for execution. The two partners formed a third entity, called "Sidewalk Toronto," devoted to bringing the lakeside property to life. [4] The agreement did not give Sidewalk Labs the right to develop land or avoid government approvals. [5]

The project would have encouraged the use of electric vehicles and an onsite power generation station using renewable energy was planned. [6] [7]

The project has also attracted significant controversy, particularly relating to the terms of the agreement and also privacy concerns. The contract between Sidewalk Labs and Waterfront Toronto has been shrouded in secrecy. Board members of Waterfront Toronto, a city, Ontario and federal partnership, had only four days to review the deal to work with Sidewalk Labs for a year on development plans — before signing. [8] Toronto city councillor Denzil Minnan-Wong, the sole city representative on the Waterfront Toronto board, has called for the agreement to be made public beyond the four-page summary that is currently available, stating "I know enough about the agreement that I think you would like to know more about the agreement." [5] He also made a failed motion to make public the Sidewalk Labs contract at a 2017 board meeting. [9] Privacy concerns have also been brought up by numerous experts, who note the incentives for parent company Alphabet to collect personal data from residents and visitors. Sidewalk Labs CEO Dan Doctoroff stated in 2017 that while data sharing isn’t in Sidewalk Labs’s ethos, he couldn't say with definitive certainty what would happen with the information collected in Quayside since it wasn't clear then who would own the data. [10]

On May 7, 2020, Dan Doctoroff, CEO of Sidewalk Labs, announced the Labs would drop plans to build in Toronto. [11] [12] He expressed personal regret, and said he had met thousands of Toronto residents excited by the idea, attributing the decision to economic uncertainty and real-estate fluctuations. [11] [13]

Quayside 2.0

Waterfront Toronto issued a new request for proposal in July 2021 for a development partner for the site. [14] On 15 February 2022, ‘Quayside Impact Limited Partnership’ (QILP), consisting of Dream Unlimited and Great Gulf Group was named as the preferred proponent. [15] In June 2023, Waterfront Toronto along with Quayside Impact Limited Partnership submitted eight development applications to the City of Toronto to develop five Quayside blocks — 259 Lake Shore Boulevard East (Block 1 and 2) and 333 Lake Shore Boulevard East (Block 3–5). The proposed development application consisted of new mixed-use buildings containing 4,634 residential units (including 869 affordable rental units and 200 affordable ownership units) and a new public elementary school and cultural centre. [16]

The Toronto City Council adopted a zoning by-law amendment on 24 July 2024 to permit the development of Block 1 and 2. [17] As of August 2024, the approval for the development of Blocks 3–5 is undergoing the city's planning process. Construction is expected to begin in 2025 and be completed by 2034. [18] [19] The project's design team consists of architects Alison Brooks, David Adjaye, Matthew Hickey and the Henning Larsen Architects and SLA firms. [20]

See also

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References

  1. ↑ "Waterfront Toronto Takes First Step in Building Quayside: A New Community That Will Provide Testbed for Solutions to Pressing Urban Challenges" (Press release) – via Canada Newswire.
  2. ↑ Diamond, Stephen (October 10, 2019). "Open Letter from Waterfront Toronto Board Chair" (Press release). Waterfront Toronto. Retrieved May 10, 2020.
  3. ↑ "quayside". www.waterfrontoronto.ca. Waterfront Toronto. Retrieved May 10, 2020.
  4. ↑ Bliss, Laura (January 10, 2018). "If Google Were Mayor". The Atlantic . Retrieved May 10, 2020.
  5. 1 2 Gray, Jeff (February 23, 2018). "Cracks appear in Sidewalk Labs' Toronto waterfront plan after fanfare". The Globe and Mail . Retrieved May 10, 2020.
  6. ↑ "The Technology Behind Sidewalk Toronto's Concept Images - Urban Toronto". urbantoronto.ca. Retrieved May 10, 2020.
  7. ↑ Austen, Ian (December 29, 2017). "City of the Future? Humans, Not Technology, Are the Challenge in Toronto". New York Times . Retrieved December 30, 2017.
  8. ↑ Rider, David (March 5, 2018). "The risks of becoming a Google city". Toronto Star . Retrieved May 10, 2020.
  9. ↑ "Smart communities need smart governance". The Globe and Mail . December 5, 2017. Retrieved May 3, 2020.
  10. ↑ "Despite Google ties, Sidewalk Labs CEO says there's no intent to sell data from Toronto smart city project". GeekWire. November 27, 2017. Retrieved May 10, 2020.
  11. 1 2 Miller, Mira (May 7, 2020). "Sidewalk Labs abandons ambitious waterfront project in Toronto". BlogTO .
  12. ↑ Rider, David (May 7, 2020). "Sidewalk Labs pulling out of Quayside project". Toronto Star .
  13. ↑ "Sidewalk Toronto, the vision behind Google's failed city". Tomorrow.City - The biggest platform about urban innovation. January 19, 2024. Retrieved August 6, 2024.
  14. ↑ "Quayside". Toronto.ca. August 6, 2024.
  15. ↑ "PROJECT TEAM – Quayside". quaysideto.ca. Retrieved August 6, 2024.
  16. ↑ "Agenda Item - 2022.EX34.11". toronto.ca. July 19, 2022. Retrieved August 6, 2024.
  17. ↑ "Quayside Phase One Gets Green Light From Toronto City Council". storeys.com. Retrieved August 6, 2024.
  18. ↑ "Quayside | Waterfront Toronto". www.waterfrontoronto.ca. Retrieved August 6, 2024.
  19. ↑ Hickman, Matt (February 16, 2022). "The second time's the charm for Toronto's Quayside, as Adjaye, Henning Larsen, and Alison Brooks Architects sign on". The Architect’s Newspaper. Retrieved August 6, 2024.
  20. ↑ "Toronto wants to kill the smart city forever". MIT Technology Review. Retrieved August 6, 2024.

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