Discover Mills Lands 18-Screen AMC Theater

ATLANTA-Discover Mills, the 200-tenant, 1.2-million-sf shopping center that shaved market share from Simon Property Group’s 1.9-million-sf Mall of Georgia and the 1.24-million-sf Gwinnett Place mall when it opened in November 2001 hopes to do the same again this year with the planned opening of an 18-screen AMC theater complex in late 2003.

Kansas City, MO-based American Multi-Cinema Inc. plans to break ground in February on Discover Mills’ entertainment district and have the theater open in December.

AMC officials couldn’t be reached at GlobeSt.com’s publication deadline to learn the estimated seating size and construction cost of the venture. But area construction industry estimators tell GlobeSt.com comparable projects usually run about $20 million or an estimated $4,000 per seat for a 5,000-seat cinema.