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Lifestyle Real Estate

Here is what the proposed Crews & Tangos condo looks like

A Google Earth image of Church Street bar Crews & Tangos

The developer that is making popular Church Street drag bar Crews & Tangos part of a condo has released a preliminary drawing of the proposed building.

The illustration shows a mixed-use mid-rise stepped backed from the street with the Crews & Tango heritage building façade integrated into the front. There are retail spaces on either side.

In March, the announcement that private investment firm Graywood Developments planned to turn the lot at 506-516 Church – which also houses Boutique Bar and a parking lot – into a condo led to an outpouring of community concern.

Nearly 32,000 people signed a change.org petition calling for the bar to remain open.

The developer has yet to submit an application to the city. Once that happens, the city will conduct public consultations on the proposal.

Graywood is hosting an online information session about the development on Thursday, July 16. There will not be a live Q&A at the session but interested parties can submit questions in advance and answers will also be posted on the project’s website.

The developer has extended Crews & Tangos’ lease for two years and is exploring a joint plan with the club’s owner Michael Ramawad “aimed at maintaining a presence for Crews & Tangos in the new development.”

The architecture firm behind the builing is Diamond Schmitt, and heritage architecture firm ERA Architects will guide the retention and preservation of the heritage building

Crews & Tangos closed when the province issued emergency lockdown measures to curb spread of COVID-19 in mid-March. The bar has since reopened its patio and has begun hosting drag performances again.

The pandemic has compounded concerns over the disappearance of LGBTQ-owned spaces in the Church-Wellesley Village and elsewhere in the city.

Since the pandemic began, the owners of two popular queer spaces outside of the Village – Club 120 and the Beaver – have said they will not reopen again.

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