In Brief: New Vision Unveiled for Toronto Waterfront

In February, Waterfront Toronto announced the winning submission for a new vision to transform a 12-acre (4.9 hectare) site into a community for residents and visitors to live, work and play.

Among the highlights of the winning submission from Dream Unlimited and Great Gulf Group were proposals to create:

• More than 800 affordable housing units, more than doubling the affordable housing Waterfront Toronto has brought to the waterfront, with many delivered in earliest stages to address an urgent need.
• New public spaces, including a two-acre (0.8 ha) forested green space, plus a significant urban farm atop one of Canada’s largest residential mass timber buildings.
• A landmark cultural destination and multi-use arts venue that brings together space for the performing arts, Indigenous-centered cultural celebrations and flexible education spaces.
• Exemplary low-carbon development and innovations, making Quayside the first all-electric, zero-carbon community at this scale;
• Visionary world-class architecture that will raise the bar on design across the entire neighborhood and create a visually striking focal point on Toronto’s waterfront.

This project had previously been under development as part of Google parent company Alphabet’s Sidewalk Labs, but that plan was abandoned in 2020.