An evaluation team struck by Waterfront Toronto to assess Sidewalk Labs’ proposal has concluded the Manhattan firm’s project has “sufficient merit” to proceed to the next phase of the approvals process.

The statement by a six-member evaluation committee is based on a technical evaluation that staff of Waterfront Toronto, a tri-government agency, conducted on Sidewalk Labs’ proposed plans to develop a smart technology-driven neighbourhood on the waterfront called Quayside, a project calling for innovations such as data collecting sensors, wood-frame buildings and removable pavement.

The technical evaluation by Waterfront Toronto staff, released Tuesday, says of the 160 “solutions” or innovations Google sister firm Sidewalk Labs has put forward in its master plan for the proposed 12-acre neighbourhood, a large majority — 144 innovations or 90 per cent — meet Waterfront Toronto’s objectives.

Some of the innovations include a mass timber factory producing materials for the construction for wood buildings, robots that detect when trash bins are full, roofs covered in vegetation to reduce stormwater runoff, a patent pledge of Sidewalk Labs’ digital innovations that would support the growth of Canadian innovations, and the use of common standards for digital systems and technologies used at Quayside.

The list of innovations supported by Waterfront Toronto will be prioritized, and the number may be pared down by the agency and Sidewalk Labs to fit the 12-acre Quayside, Waterfront Toronto says.

There are 16 innovations the technical evaluation says don’t meet Waterfront Toronto’s objectives for Quayside because the agency doesn’t think they’re feasible on 12 acres, including a sewage waste heat recovery system through a connection to the Ashbridge’s Bay Wastewater Treatment Plant, a system that produces biofuels from household organic waste and recurring payments from Waterfront Toronto to subsidize the operation of “advanced infrastructure.”

One innovation — “raincoats” for buildings Sidewalk Labs displayed at its head office on Queens Quay that are supposed to allow year-round use of some outdoor spaces by keeping away rain, snow, sleet, etc. — aren’t supported by Waterfront Toronto.

Footings or anchors for the devices end up being fastened on sidewalks, according to plans, and would be an impediment to accessibility, Waterfront Toronto says.

Sidewalk Labs also experimented with the raincoats and found they don’t work.

“We’re excited to keep looking into solutions for outdoor comfort in our building designs at Quayside, which we will review with Waterfront Toronto on an ongoing basis,” Sidewalk Labs spokesperson Keerthana Rang said in an email Tuesday.

And some of Sidewalk Labs’ proposed apartment sizes for Quayside aren’t supported by Waterfront Toronto because they’re too small, the latter says.

Some of the 144 innovations that are supported by Waterfront Toronto require additional funding from governments and regulatory reform. Responsibility for funding the “vast majority” of the innovations lies with the private sector — including Sidewalk Labs, the technical evaluation states.

The land Quayside sits on is owned by Waterfront Toronto and the city, and is valued at $590 million, money Waterfront Toronto says it wants to reinvest in the project after a land sale, for initiatives such as affordable housing and innovations that help reduce both energy use and waste.

The technical evaluation report goes on to state there is “potential in Sidewalk Labs’ proposals for Quayside to be the beginning of a bold future on the waterfront.”

“In my view, Waterfront Toronto has excellent material in hand to support the next stage of this process, namely to negotiate a final agreement with Sidewalk Labs for the Quayside development,” evaluation committee member Sheldon Levy, former president and vice chancellor for Ryerson University, and former provincial deputy minister of Training, Colleges and Universities, states in a letter to George Zegarac, a fellow committee member and Waterfront Toronto CEO.

Sidewalk Labs’ initial master plan, a document exceeding 1,500 pages, called for development in the Port Lands, beyond the 12-acre parcel near Queen Quay East and Parliament Street and for Waterfront Toronto’s commitment to help get a new LRT built to service new commuters in Quayside and the Port Lands.

But after pushback from Waterfront Toronto, those proposals and others were taken off the table by Sidewalk Labs last fall. Soon after, Sidewalk Labs released its Digital Innovation Appendix, which provided details of how it intends to deploy its technology at Quayside and how it intends to collect and use data in the district.

Waterfront Toronto’s technical evaluation began Oct. 31.

The agency’s board is set to decide May 20 on whether Sidewalk Labs’ proposal, which by then will be in the form of a draft innovation plan, should proceed to the next phase.

Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading...

The City of Toronto will also be voting on the project, on a yet-to-be specified date.

A date of Dec. 31 has been set for Waterfront Toronto to decide whether it reaches an implementation agreement with Sidewalk Labs that would put the project into motion.

Meanwhile, the evaluation committee’s latest findings will lead to a second round of public consultations on Sidewalk Labs’ proposal that will kick off Feb. 29 downtown.

Read more about: