DOWNTOWN Movies set in 1980s are often box office gold. Theaters from the 1980s — not so much.
Concerned that movie theaters here could soon be obsolete if not allowed to expand to include more amenities such as stadium seating, the City Council on Tuesday night voted unanimously in favor of soliciting proposals for a new cinema development at Parking Structure No. 3 that would include ground floor retail and subterranean parking.
“This is basically testing the waters to see what’s out there,”said Councilman Ken Genser.
Upgrading the district’s aging theaters has been a hot topic for years, as Santa Monicans have watched other cities benefit from the increases in tax revenue generated by moviegoers flocking to new or renovated theaters, spending money at the concession stands, or heading out for drinks and dinner following screenings.
There have been calls for theater chains such as Mann and AMC — both located near the intersection of Third Street and Arizona Avenue — to make significant investments in their venues downtown, but a lack of available land in which to expand has proven a barrier.
That is, until now. With City Hall going on a spending spree, purchasing large parcels of land in downtown to be used for future parking, there appears an opening for theater operators to transition into the 21st Century.
Mann, which operates the Criterion 6 next to the Third Street Promenade food court, has already approached City Hall about possibly demolishing Parking Structure No. 3 on Fourth Street and turning it into a new theater complex that could accommodate stadium seating, as well as ground floor retail that could help enliven the block.
Under the proposal, Mann would maintain the historic marquee on the promenade. Roughly 500 additional seats would be added, giving the theater the capacity to host premier events or better handle the demand for big blockbusters like the latest “Harry Potter” film, said Andy Agle, economic development director for City Hall.
“Theaters have been critical to the revitalization of downtown and Third Street, and the Promenade Uses Task Force identified the importance of cinemas to the diversity of downtown, both as an activity itself and an anchor for other activities,” Agle said.
Representatives from Mann did not return phone calls seeking comment.A spokesperson for AMC, which operates two theaters on the promenade — the Santa Monica 7 and the Loews Broadway Cinemas — said the chain has no plans to expand or make upgrades at this time, but “we’re always looking at ways to enhance the movie-going experience.”
Rob York, a consultant for the Bayside District Corp., a public-private management company the helps run downtown, said in September that any chain would be willing to move into downtown if there was space available to add stadium seating and other amenities because Santa Monica, and particularly the promenade, is such an attractive market.
The Bayside District now offers four cinemas with a total of 21 screens and more than 5,500 seats, Agle said. Until recently, these four cinema complexes, plus the Landmark on Wilshire Boulevard, which closed earlier this month because of a planned redevelopment, have been competitive with theaters in Westwood, Century City, Hollywood, Culver City and West Hollywood.
Still, the continued success of cinemas in the Bayside District is threatened from both internal and external factors. The existing Bayside cinema complexes only offer between four and seven screens each, which could potentially put them at a disadvantage in competition for first-run movies, as movie distributors prefer to offer their product to theaters that can show movies on multiple screens at multiple times, Agle said.
Since 2002, several new cinemas have opened, each offering more choices and amenities to directly compete with Santa Monica’s cinemas.
Contemporary cinemas at the Howard Hughes Center and in Culver City are in direct competition, and have been joined by new cinemas at Westside Pavilion, Century City and the Grove.
Both Mann Theaters and AMC Theaters are on long-term leases which expire within the next 15 to 20 years, Agle said. If cinema patrons and distributors favor other cinema centers, the economic viability of existing operations in Santa Monica will decline, the operators may decide to leave Santa Monica, and residents will be forced to travel outside the city to see first-run films.
Mayor Richard Bloom said a sustainable city such as Santa Monica cannot allow for its residents to have to travel outside of the city to see films, especially when Santa Monica considers itself to be a home for the arts.
“We pride ourselves on having everything a resident would want to do in this city,” Bloom said. “This type of proposal promises to improve the pedestrian environment on Arizona (Avenue) and Fourth Street and will also hopefully help to create a more cohesive environment.”
Based on preliminary studies by City Hall’s economic consultant, Allan D. Kotin and Associates, it is estimated that, annually, there are about 1.25 million people who attend the cinemas in the Bayside District. They spend about $1.25 million on parking, between 50 and 70 percent of the movie patrons eat at nearby restaurants, and movie patrons spend, on average between $2 and $5 per person on concessions at the movie theater.
While there are significant public benefits to building a new theater at Parking Structure No. 3, Agle did point out there are some issues that still need to be addressed that could negatively impact the area.
Dedicating the parking structure for cinema development and only reserving the subterranean area for public parking may not achieve the full number of spaces envisioned for downtown, Agle said. This could place pressure on City Hall to properly plan for additional parking on its remaining city-owned land.
That creates an element of uncertainty relative to the overall parking plan, Agle said.
Another issue for consideration is that making only one site available for new cinema development will not fully satisfy the need to modernize the cinemas in the Bayside District, nor satisfy existing demand for upgraded cinemas, Agle said. If one cinema operator is able to upgrade successfully using Parking Structure No. 3, other cinema operators could be at a competitive disadvantage until other opportunities arise.
Preference will be given to those proposals that maximize parking and result in the preservation of or a modest growth in the total number of cinema seats.
“I think we have to be serious about doing something,” Councilman Bob Holbrook said. “In a bold venture, the city convinced theater operators to put theaters in downtown … (and) it is important the operators be given a chance to expand screens to be viable.
“We certainly don’t want to lose them.” kevinh@smdp.com
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on November 15, 2007. Read the original PDF.