Everyone's Looked, None Found Solid Cinema Solution

NEW YORK CITY-”Everybody’s look and nobody has come up with a good creative use of these spaces,” Brad Mendelson, executive managing director at Insignia/ESG, tells GlobeSt.com about vacated movie theaters. “So far there’s been nothing that was fundamentally sound and worked. At least in my experience I haven’t found or heard of a sound solution.”

Theaters, he explains, are concerned with “marquis identity,” whereas stores are “frontage oriented,” seeking space to show their wares. When these cinemas fail, they take everything with them; they gut the places so no other theater can come in and take their market share.”

Mendelson notes that “these are really great spaces,” but are hard to adapt to other purposes given the physical requirements of the special use. “There’s degradation in the floors, the columns are irregularly placed, there’s stadium seating, etc.” He says businesses that might be a good fit for the unusual space, such as a gym, generally cannot afford the high rent. He explains, “In many cases the rent is higher for movie theater space because of the investment they had to make for the special conditions.”