The new owner of Jilly’s strip club has bought up 4½ acres of land just to the west of the landmark hotel and hopes to create a new community — including three condo towers — that will connect Riverside to the downtown.

The large development parcel, to be called Riverside Square, includes the Toyota dealership on Queen St., just east of the Don Valley Parkway, as well as two sizable Tippet-Richardson Ltd. warehouses adjacent to the dealership.

Some area residents are already concerned about the proposal for 555 residential condos in one 24-storey and two 12- or 13-storey mixed use buildings in an area which has undergone massive change just in the last few years, including a major influx of new condos and busy bars.

Streetcar already has three lower-rise condo projects in the area, built in the last seven years.

“Streetcar has pretty much become a development powerhouse. They are no longer the builder of small infill projects. They are moving into the big time with this one,” said area realtor Ara Mamourian, a long-time resident who leaked the plans this week in a blog.

Most of the reaction so far has focused on the size of the towers and the fact the only access is from already busy Queen St. E., although the site stretches in parts east to Broadview Ave. and south almost to Eastern Ave.

Streetcar founder Les Mallins stressed Thursday that the size of the condo buildings are very preliminary — the sale just closed in June, two weeks after Steetcar bought Jilly’s and the New Broadview Hotel — and will change as the project goes through community consultation, transportation and city approval.

The aim is to create a new residential community with a much-needed grocery store and other retail that will fill in the stretch of Queen St. E. from Broadview to the bridge over the DVP, said Mallins in a telephone interview.

But just as importantly, the project is meant to connect the up-and-coming Riverside area to Corktown and downtown to the west via a proposed park and an underground walkway that would allow cyclists and pedestrians to safely navigate under busy Eastern Ave.

That part of the plan is key, but yet to be vetted by city planners and transportation experts, noted Mallins.

Mamourian, a member of the Business Improvement Area who has been working with local councillor Paula Fletcher to develop some height restrictions on new development in the exploding Riverside and Broadview area, believes most opposition will focus on the 24-storey tower.

That residential building is proposed to be well back from Queen St. and step up from just six or seven storeys, said Mallins.

Streetcar also hopes to extend Munro St. south — it now ends at Queen St. That will, in essence, divide the sizable parcel into two blocks and give it more of an urban, pedestrian-friendly feel, added Mallins.

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Streetcar has bought itself considerable goodwill through its plans to revitalize the New Broadview Hotel, as well as the fact it has sent a letter to area residents early, alerting them to its latest land acquisition and plans for the Toyota/Tippet-Richardson sites, said Mamourian.

“They are the only developer that reaches out to the community. The fact they do that, knowing they are going to get a lot of pushback, is a good thing,” said Mamourian.

“Hopefully Streetcar gets really creative. I think if there’s any developer who will do this right, it’s Streetcar.”