It's the full-frontal makeover of a landmark that's been teasing east-end residents for months.

This week the scaffolding and construction mesh finally get ripped off the restored red Romanesque Revival facade of the Broadview Hotel, formerly Jilly's strip club.

As the lights go up on the northwest corner of Queen St. East and Broadview Ave. on Wednesday, the veil comes off a plaque erected in a nod to the heritage of the 125-year-old bastion of Hogtown hospitality.

The interior of the 58-room boutique hotel isn't expected to receive guests until the spring, said Les Mallins, founder of Streetcar Developments, the company behind the $24-million project.

But the Broadview Hotel has been such a complex undertaking, he is eager to celebrate the exterior milestone with drinks (OK, it's coffee) for the public, on the house — well, outside the house — about 7 p.m. on Wednesday.

He's excited to hear what the neighbours think.

"It's nice to be part of a project that's so important for the community," said Mallins.

The mechanicals are installed but the interior of the Broadview is still very much a construction site.

The developer is promising there will be hints of the building's past in the lobby, with brass and carrera marble fittings and fixtures.

Vestiges of its past will also be on display with some Jilly's memorabilia, including signs and the entertainers' lockers, to be grouped in a small museum near the lobby washrooms.

"Maybe we saved a brass pole or two," said Mallins, 43.

He laughs and pleads the fifth on whether he had entered Jilly's before he bought the building.

Mallins says he's not ashamed to admit that, even after more than a decade of working with historic properties, there was a six-month period in which this renovation proved so challenging, he avoided the site.

The entire spine of the building had crumbled after the previous owners knocked holes in a masonry support wall that used to run the length of the structure. They were trying to provide Jilly's patrons with a better view of the stage. But stabilizing the building and adding a four-storey addition, barely visible from the street, meant a complex construction plan.

"Ours was the most out of sequence renovation project you can imagine," said Mallins.

A fine-dining restaurant will look out on Queen St. The reception area will be at the north end of the lobby beside Thompson Parkette. The main entrance is off Broadview.

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While most of the guest rooms will be contemporary, there will be one dedicated to the Jilly's period.

Mallins won't say what Toronto's DesignAgency, responsible for the interiors, is planning.

"But you can imagine the type of fun you can have with artwork and materials," he said.

The addition incorporates floor-to-ceiling windows in the suites on the back of the hotel. The original arched window style remains in the original structure.

The rooftop turret with finial on the southeast corner has also been restored. It will be a private dining room with an adjoining terrace wrapping around a glass atrium. On the back of the building there's an enormous skylight lending overhead drama that matches the perfect skyline view to the west. A rooftop bar will be backed by folding doors that open on to the terrace.

As much as possible, Streetcar Developments has opted for historic accuracy that will highlight the character of the building.

It went with slate shingles on the turret even though they cost $90,000 more than the modern alternative. The slate is trimmed in lead-coated copper.

There was a built-in masonry safe on the second floor.

"We had high hopes we would find something that will help us pay for this. Unfortunately, it was empty," said Mallins.

"Throughout the process we made all the tough decisions. Even when the budget was going in the wrong direction we stayed with the restoration that will get (the building) ready for the next 125 years," he said.

"Now we're past the tough part. Now's it's a finishing exercise but we need to take the same kind of care," he added.

Streetcar Developments, as the name suggests, concentrates on transit-oriented sites.

The east end isn't traditional hotel territory. But the neighbourhood is changing says Mallins, looking south to the emerging residential and employment district.

"The east end as a destination is very much an evolving cultural scene. There will be another hotel but there won't be another historic one."