Regal Pullout Threatens West Seattle Mall

SEATTLE-Regal Cinemas, plagued by financial woes, says it may pull out of an agreement to build a 12-screen movie theater at Westwood Village, a shopping mall located at the southern end of West Seattle. Regal, the country’s largest movie chain, was expected to be an anchor of the refurbished shopping center, one of the region’s first and oldest neighborhood destination retail complexes.

The company announced in February that it would close 30 percent of its theatres and halt plans for new projects as it works to repay $2 billion in debt. Wesbild Shopping Centers, which owns Westwood Village located at Southwest Barton Street and 25th Avenue Southwest, is gambling that the revamp center will attract solid national names like Old Navy.