Broadview Hotel (Toronto)

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The Broadview Hotel in 1945.
For several decades a series of strip clubs operated out of the Broadview Hotel.

The Broadview Hotel is a heritage building in downtown Toronto.[1][2][3] The building was built in either 1891 or 1893 (sources differ), as a commercial building. The building has been compared with the Gladstone Hotel, also on Queen Street. Both hotels are red brick buildings, of similar size and design. Both hotels have similar looking distinctive towers. The Gladstone was renovated in the early 2000s, and is now celebrated as a cultural hub.

Like the Gladstone, prior to its renovation, the four dozen rooms in the Gladstone were rundown, and rented to tenants who didn't mind their delapidated state.

According to The National Post the bar on the ground floor of the Hotel possessed a valuable license to operate a strip club -- where performers took their clothes off for patrons. The National Post reported that the city wasn't granting new licences, so companies with grandfathered licenses had a strong incentive to hold on to them. However renovations to improve the sightlines in the bar triggered structural problems, and the cost of repairs triggered the sale of the building to Streetcar Developments, on May 13, 2014.

Streetcar Developments is a firm that specializes in acquiring heritage properties, which it usually converts into condominium housing, has announced that the Broadview Hotel will not be converted into a condominium.[4]

See also

References

  1. Sammy Hewes, Peter Kuitenbrouwer (2014-05-13). "Broadview Hotel sale hastened by structural concerns after Jilly’s removed wall to improve view of strippers". National Post. Archived from the original on 2014-05-14. https://web.archive.org/web/20140514031227/http://news.nationalpost.com/2014/05/13/the-broadview-hotel-aka-jillys-strip-club-has-been-sold-to-a-real-estate-developer/. "A landmark 1893 Queen Street East hotel whose future has been the subject of much gentrification speculation has been sold to Toronto real estate planners Streetcar Developments." 
  2. Sarah Sweet (2014-05-13). "Say Goodbye to Jilly’s". The Torontoist. Archived from the original on 2014-05-14. https://web.archive.org/web/20140514130812/http://torontoist.com/2014/05/say-goodbye-to-jillys/. "Streetcar will begin by addressing “significant structural issues” and then turn its focus “to revive this building to a landmark everyone in the area can be proud of.” According to the news release, that likely won’t involve condominiums—so is the Drake Hotel poised to face some healthy east-end competition?" 
  3. Jamie Bradburn (2014-05-13). "From Dingman's Hall to Jilly’s: A short history of the Broadview Hotel". The Torontoist. Archived from the original on 2014-05-14. https://web.archive.org/web/20140514155504/http://torontoist.com/2014/05/from-dingmans-hall-to-jillys/. "The site was built for $25,000 in 1891 by soap manufacturer Archibald Dingman. The Romanesque Revival building, originally dubbed Dingman’s Hall, was the tallest on the east side of the Don River. In its early years, it featured a the Canadian Bank of Commerce branch on the ground floor, professional offices on middle floors, and grand halls on the upper levels." 
  4. "Condo developer buys Jilly’s strip club and historic Broadview Hotel". Metro News. 2014-05-13. Archived from the original on 2014-05-14. https://web.archive.org/web/20140514123015/http://metronews.ca/news/toronto/1031799/condo-developer-buys-torontos-broadview-hotel/. "The east end landmark at Queen St. E. and Broadview Ave. was bought by Streetcar Developments. The company said in a statement released Tuesday that it is in the “early stages of planning,” but said it would not turn the property into condos."