No idea what the true status of the (former) Celebration AMC 2 theater is, but here’s what I know.
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The theater is still listed for lease on the Sevell Realty Partners web site.
The Sevell agent responsible for the listing has told me directly that it is “temporarily off the market”.
The space is not available for lease from the building’s owner, Lexin Capital.
From what I can observe, the power is still on and food & beverage equipment is still there. Point-of-sale is gone from the concession stand and the box office. I’ve tried to find out from AMC, through their agent, whether projection equipment was left behind, but that answer does not appear to be forthcoming, oddly.
I’ve tried to push something forward for that space as my own personal time allows, but my chief concerns are that 1) my time is limited, since I have a full time job, 2) while I have general business acumen, I have zero movie exhibition experience, 3) I’m not 100% sure what model would work there, and 4) if it’s such a great idea, why hasn’t anyone else stepped up?
Regarding models, it’s one thing to have a few good ideas, but another to flail around trying different things while you’re burning a lot of money each month for rent. There’s no lack of enthusiasm in town for a theater that would play art house, R-rated movies, and cult classics… but would there be enough people voting with their wallets to keep the thing afloat, or would it ultimately be an expensive and humbling lesson about the movie business?
If you do happen to read this, are covertly moving something forward, and would like some assistance, feel free to touch base with me.