Here’s what Streetcar Developments wants to do to Jilly’s strip club

Pedigree: Streetcar Developments is an increasingly major player in east-end real estate. The restored hotel is intended as the centrepiece of a new condo community the company wants to build across the street, on a vast parcel of land that currently has a car dealership and some warehouses on it.

Most promising feature: The glass-clad rear addition looks like a surprisingly harmonious fit. Local residents are probably more intrigued by the building’s intended use, though. Streetcar is hoping to lure a restaurant operator to the ground floor, and the rest of the building would be a Drake-style boutique hotel—but not, apparently, an actual Drake Hotel. The people who run the Queen West institution have repeatedly denied any involvement.

Risk factor: The city is in the process of getting a heritage designation for the hotel, which will restrict what the developer can do with the building.

Likely opposition: This is a crowd-pleasing project, but some heritage buffs may not appreciate the change to the facade.

The odds: The project is going before the Toronto Preservation Board on May 28, and things are looking good for Streetcar Developments. City staff are recommending that the proposed alterations to the building be approved, which means they probably will be. Some construction has already begun.