It seems Toronto will no longer be home to Sidewalk Labs' proposed neighbourhood of the future, because the company just announced that they're abandoning the highly controversial Quayside project.
Sidewalk Labs CEO Dan Doctoroff made the announcement in a statement Thursday morning.
"In October 2017, Sidewalk Labs and Waterfront Toronto set out to plan a shared vision for Quayside, a fundamentally more sustainable and affordable community resulting from innovations in technology and urban design. Since the project began, I've met thousands of Torontonians from all over the city, excited by the possibility of making urban life better for everyone," Doctoroff wrote.
"So it is with great personal sadness and disappointment that Sidewalk Labs will no longer pursue the Quayside project."
He said the company has invested significant time and money in the innovative project, but it is no longer financially viable due to the current state of the economy.
Alphabet's @sidewalklabs is killing its Toronto smart-city project. Announcement: https://t.co/YrVnI35OzX
— Alex Bozikovic (@alexbozikovic) May 7, 2020
"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 said.
"And so, after a great deal of deliberation, we concluded that it no longer made sense to proceed with the Quayside project, and let Waterfront Toronto know yesterday."
The project was originally set to transform Toronto's waterfront and offer exciting new technology such as intelligent sidewalks, autonomous vehicles and tall-timber residential developments.
It was due to cost $1.3 billion, with an eventual goal of creating some 44,000 jobs, $4.3 billion in annual tax revenues and spurring at least $38 billion in private sector investment by 2040.
But many also spoke out about privacy concerns, and issues surrounding how citizen data would be stored and more have followed the project since the beginning.
The plan was eventually revised to be a much smaller version than the original proposal, and a deal with Waterfront Toronto was reached.
Now, it seems the many complaints from government officials and watchdog groups will no longer be a concern.
Our task today is the same as it was yesterday, last month, and last year: to build a liveable, sustainable, and affordable new neighbourhood at Quayside. My statement: pic.twitter.com/0NWaYfLIpO
— Joe Cressy (@joe_cressy) May 7, 2020
The company says that, despite the cancellation of the project, they'll continue to work internally on factory-made mass timber construction that can improve housing affordability and sustainability, a digital master-planning tool that can improve quality of life outcomes and project economics, and a new approach to all-electric neighborhoods.
"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," Doctoroff wrote.
"Sidewalk Labs was attracted to Toronto by the diversity, growth, and opportunity the city has to offer, and that view has been affirmed and strengthened at every step along the way. Toronto is one of the world’s great centers of technological innovation, and nothing about this decision will in any way diminish that."
by Mira Miller via blogTO
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