Investors put money into building condos, a college campus and company headquarters along Queens Quay East, under the assumption that light rail transit would soon follow.

But the LRT project meant to connect Union Station with the burgeoning lakefront community to its east seems to have gone off the rails just a year and a half after the government gave it a stamp of approval.

Waterfront Toronto needs an additional $272 million, approximately, to get the LRT project started, said president John Campbell, and it’s looking to the city and the province for the money.

The line would initially serve the East Bayfront neighbourhood, which is planned to accommodate 6,000 residential units, 8,000 jobs and 3,000 George Brown College students.

In a week of heavy transit politicking, neighbourhood developers reminded city council that even though they’ve invested “hundreds of millions” in the area “on the promise and expectation of LRVs,” they’re still waiting.

Since they are bringing thousands of jobs and significant tax revenue to the area, and street plans are already designed to ensure LRT tracks won’t disrupt traffic, it would be “prudent” for council to consider putting transit cost savings towards this project, John O’Keefe wrote on Feb. 7, on behalf of 10 landowners and investors involving properties between Yonge St. and Cherry St.

“The future of our waterfront is at stake,” O’Keefe wrote.

Transit is a high priority for Waterfront Toronto, an agency funded by three levels of government and charged with revitalizing the lakefront, Campbell said.

But building a tunnel at the midpoint of Queens Quay to bring LRTs into Union Station is more complicated, and costly, than originally anticipated, he added. Interim solutions to transport people to the newly developed area are being considered, he said.

It will be crucial to have transit when George Brown College opens its lakefront campus to 4,000 students and employees this fall, said spokesman Brian Stock. George Brown and the TTC have come up with “very acceptable” alternatives, he said.

“[LRT] is one of those things that would’ve been nice to have, but we’re dealing in the real world here,” he said.

The TTC is “absolutely committed” to an LRT along the lakefront, but it’s not within the organization’s budget to build it, TTC spokesman Brad Ross said. To serve the area, the TTC will increase 6 Bay route service and lengthen the route to reach Sherbourne St. in August, Ross said. The 75 Sherbourne also runs to Queens Quay, he noted, and the TTC might add a shuttle from Union Station to campus.

The city is working with the TTC and Waterfront to find “creative solutions,” Gwen McIntosh, director of the city’s Waterfront Secretariat, said in an email. East Bayfront transit has never been fully funded under Waterfront’s long-term plan, McIntosh noted.

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For investor Alan Vihant, a Great Gulf Homes senior vice president, the letter serves as a reminder that a lot has been invested in the Waterfront. His company would have invested in the area regardless of the LRT plan, Vihant said, but transit made it more attractive.

“They said they would deliver transit to that area,” he said. “It shouldn’t be forgotten about or deleted.”

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