MOVIE THEATER DOWNTOWN JAX!?!?!

[Jaimen]

Mayor Brown suggested seeing a movie theater downtown, i personally love that idea...it brings plenty downtown, it also entertains downtown residents. but where do you think would be the perfect spot to place it. i think that it should be along the skyway and have its own station.

[Ocklawaha]

Following the lead of Oklahoma City, a 16 screen theater just might work but theres not many locations where something like that would fit. LaVilla, Shipyards, Brooklyn, old JEA site...

Oh but the sweetest location would be anywhere between Adams and Bay Street, west of Lee and east of Johnson. Hey its so easy to get to you might say you could drive a bus right to it.

OCKLAWAHA

[tufsu1]

the movie theater construction boom is largely over....while a theater downtown is a good idea, it needs to be part of a larger complex (or area) that includes dining, nightlife, and retail.

As such, I would suggest that it needs to be close to the Bay Street entertainment area...at one time, there was discussion about a block along Main Street, near the library.

[Ocklawaha]

For some reason the LaVilla site in the location I outlined looks SO much better to me.

OCKLAWAHA

[Dapperdan]

There used to be plenty of old movie theatre buildings that could have been used for single screen operations, but they were either all torn down or allowed to crumble.. too bad. Even a single screen theatre that shows limited first run movies  would have been something.

[ChriswUfGator]

Mayor Brown suggested seeing a movie theater downtown, i personally love that idea...it brings plenty downtown, it also entertains downtown residents. but where do you think would be the perfect spot to place it. i think that it should be along the skyway and have its own station.

I think the Florida Theatre should be operated as a theatre. Lease it to a movie operator, maybe throw in some incentives. Also, while you're at it, that was the former headquarters for the Florida Theatres, Inc. chain, there is 7 stories of offices in that building that are completely vacant. It would be nice to see the City come up with some use for that dead space, preferably something arts-oriented that would draw more people downtown. Dumping it on the general office space market wouldn't work, the vacancy rates downtown are already astronomical and that would only make it worse. But letting it sit vacant isn't contributing anything either. You'd have to come up with a creative solution, but it can be done.

So that's my suggestion on how to build a theatre without spending a dime. Probably would even pay for itself.

[Dapperdan]

The Florida Theatre already does some older movies from time to time, but it is still a popular venue for  touring artisits. I saw BB King there and it was perfect. I am not sure how the movie theatre part and the touring part would share space and divy up the time. A movie operations needs all the showtime slots they can get to be able to make any money.

[exnewsman]

I believe a movie theater was part of the plan for Carlton Jones' Bay St Station project. Not sure if tjat project is completely dead or not.

[5 Points Theatre]

The movie business is very tough for a single screen theatre! 

I am told that the Florida Theatre is very expensive to run, and needs a lot of staff.  That said, if you fill it up for one show a week (with 1,500 seats), you'd make more than many suburban screens do all week.  The Tampa Theatre works like that.

Overall the movie business is scared right now...  Ever-improving home theater systems and widespread video piracy make theater chains worried that no one will actually go out to the movies anymore.  The new theater up by the airport has seriously under-performed (because the house that were planned nearby haven't been built yet).

There is a current proposal to use the Florida Theatre office space as an arts education center affiliated somehow with JU.  Maybe Stephen can pull up the details?

[thelakelander]

I think worrying about a movie theater in DT is pointless at this time.  I would like to see the administration focus more on getting basic things wrong with DT corrected and alleviated first.  I know they aren't "sexy" and exciting topics but we'll get further with the redevelopment of DT than spending hundreds of millions on one trick ponies.  Other than some master planning or visioning for "city-owned" land and zoning policies to prohibit sprawling autocentric site development, I'd let market and private sector decide the fate of their own properties. 

I'd hate to see us repeat the pattern of killing off development on certain parcels because of a wish to hold out for a specific type of use that the market may not be ready to support without heavy subsidization (see the DT Pittsburgh links below):

Lord & Taylor exit leaves hole

A major pillar of Downtown's retail revitalization hopes began an ugly fall this week.

The May Department Stores Co. announced plans to close the 125,000-square-foot Lord & Taylor store it opened less than three years ago as part of a national divestment to shed 32 underperforming locations nationwide.

http://www.bizjournals.com/pittsburgh/stories/2003/08/04/story1.html

Saks Fifth Avenue balks at Downtown Pittsburgh lease option

Ten years ago, a subsidy-inspired boom resulted in four department stores operating in Downtown. That, however, lasted only a short time. Today, Macy's â€" which took over the Kaufmann's name in a consolidation in 2006 â€" is the only other department store Downtown.

http://www.bizjournals.com/pittsburgh/stories/2010/09/20/daily25.html

Department stores fight for survival

Think Kaufmann's would never entertain the idea of abandoning its landmark store in Downtown Pittsburgh? Or Lazarus wouldn't consider pulling up stakes after only five years in its shiny new Fifth Avenue location?
Think again.

Department stores are taking a beating from discounters and are fighting for their lives, says retail industry analyst Lois Huff.

In this environment, anything goes.

Under terms of a $48 million public subsidy for the Downtown Lazarus, Federated could elect to close the store after November, a similar five-year window as in the Lord & Taylor deal. It has yet to reach the $41 million in annual sales that would trigger repayment of an $18 million city loan.

It could walk away at year's end leaving the building as collateral.

Lazarus officials did not return a call for comment yesterday.

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/s_147534.html#ixzz1SYjqKjws


Statement by New Colonist Editor Eric Miller on Closing of Downtown Pittsburgh Department Store

PITTSBURGH--Federated Department Stores announced this morning that the downtown Pittsburgh Lazarus-Macy’s store will close. The announcement follows a closing announcement of the downtown Lord and Taylor store. Both stores were subsidized and part of a larger plan to reinvigorate downtown with additional redevelopment.

Today’s announcement would make it easy to want to throw in the towel and forget about the idea that Pittsburgh’s downtown activity can be on-par with that of New York or San Francisco. What both of those cities have downtown that Pittsburgh doesn’t is department stores, but it is also great numbers of residents.

Retail stores like K-Mart or Lord and Taylor naturally, economically and without subsidies locate where there is a residential population to draw from.

Moving forward, downtown Pittsburgh should move immediately to increase the number of condominiums and apartments downtown. New residential construction in the city has been met with more success in recent years than any commercial attempts. Lofts in the Strip, the Lincoln at North Shore complex and developments on the South Side are examples.

To facilitate downtown housing, the city should pursue groceries and discount retailers large and small (from Dollar General to Target), perhaps filling the Lazarus building with such a retailer in order to make daily life in downtown Pittsburgh practical and convenient.

These stores will also be a draw from other neighborhoods including those within walking distance and those connected by the East Busway or South Hills light-rail lines. Those customers will also support in some degree the remaining two department stores downtown--Sax Fifth Avenue and Kaufmann’s as well as smaller stores like Barnes and Noble and Burlington Coat factory.

For a lively downtown, housing is the answer and stores to make daily life convenient are a close second.

http://www.newcolonist.com/press.html

[Steve]

I agree that there are bigger fish to fry. However, a perfect site would be the parking garage that would presumeably support the convention center on the site of the old city hall (current courthouse annex). Chicago had a large municipal garage with a theatre on the ground floor. Clustering sites is a good idea IMO with the convention cneter and restaraunts and bars.

[rjp2008]

Mooneyhan's plan is to bring serious FILM INDUSTRY back to downtown Jacksonville. Sound stages, offices, a film college, premier theatre, restaurants, etc. Whether or not he can pull it off remains to be seen, but at least the vision is there for big thinking in a way that could spur jobs, creativity, national attention, etc. The Prime Osborn was one of his targets I believe for the facilities.

[thelakelander]

Mooneyhan's plan for DT....

[Tacachale]

I'd love to see a movie theater downtown, but the question is what would work there. I don't see a modern 18- or 24-screen corporate megacomplex working, and most of Jacksonville's theaters with screens in the single digits have been put out of business over the last 10 or 15 years.

Jacksonville doesn't seem to like to do anything mid-sized - it's either small and local, or it's big scale, and so we miss out on a lot. At any rate a good sized theater downtown would have the benefit of drawing people from the surrounding old city neighborhoods, who currently have to go a fair distance to the other theaters.

[Tacachale]

Mooneyhan's plan for DT....

Yup. It's amazing to me that some around here are still entertaining this as plausible.