Sidewalk Labs says it won´t pay upfront costs for new LRT critical to `smart city´ waterfront development
(The Star Travel)

Google sister company Sidewalk Labs won’t pay the upfront costs of the transit project that’s critical to the its planned “smart city� neighbourhood on Toronto’s waterfront, meaning the public sector will have to come up with the hundreds of millions of dollars required to build the new rail line. Instead, in its long-awaited master plan released Monday the company proposes giving up to $100 million in “credit support� to help finance the project, to be repaid later at a low interest rate.But the LRT isn’t part the transit plans that are currently the subject of fractious debate between the city and province, meaning the viability of Sidewalk’s proposal could now hinge on city hall and Queen’s Park both agreeing to change course.The 6.5-kilometre Waterfront East LRT would run from Union Station to the Port Lands along Queens Quay, and is estimated to cost at least $1.2 billion. Although the city has been studying building the line for over a decade, it’s unfunded and there is no firm timeline for its construction. The LRT is seen as essential to Sidewalk’s vision to redevelop Toronto’s Quayside and Portlands neighbourhoods, which would create roughly 30 million square feet of new development anticipated to generate 44,000 jobs and house 53,000 residents. Read more:Sidewalk Labs unveils plan for Toronto waterfront, vows Quayside will be ‘economic windfall’ for city5 key take-aways from Sidewalk Labs’ master plan for Quayside and Toronto’s waterfrontTech investor slams Sidewalk Labs as a ‘dystopian vision’ for TorontoAccording to plans contained in leaked documents obtained by the Star earlier this year and later confirmed by Sidewalk CEO Dan Doctoroff, Sidewalk was considering providing the upfront costs for the LRT, on the condition that it be paid back through the tax proceeds of new development served by the line. However, a highly-anticipated Mast ...