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According to the report, Sidewalk is seeking to facilitate the development of more than 140 hectares across Toronto’s dilapidated eastern waterfront. To expedite the normally glacial pace of public projects, Sidewalk would potentially pay for transit and infrastructure on the underdeveloped waterfront in exchange for a cut of property tax revenue and developer fees.

Sidewalk Labs confirmed some of those details in a blog post, but noted that it wasn’t planning on developing the entire waterfront itself.

Rather, the point is to finance the infrastructure and transit needed for outside development to take place.

“First of all, I want to be clear,” said Micah Lasher, Sidewalk’s head of policy and communications. “These are still concepts in progress. They have not been approved by Alphabet.”

The news still prompted a string of replies from politicians.

Toronto Mayor John Tory responded by stressing that the plan was far from a reality, noting in a statement Friday that Sidewalk hadn’t submitted its proposal for public consultation and government approval, so “no permissions or dispensations have been granted.”

Asked if the mayor was aware of Sidewalk’s change in thinking before the news, his office referred back to the statement.

An Ontario government source added that Premier Doug Ford would never have signed off on the newly revealed details.

Liberal MP Adam Vaughan — a Ford adversary and former Toronto city councillor — said although the Sidewalk offer to finance transit is not “the best way,” it’s proof that developers are desperate for a light rail transit extension into the eastern waterfront area.