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Studio Park - $140 Million Celebration Cinema/mixed use project


joeDowntown

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As nice as this could be, I feel its a day late and a dollar short. Cinemas are dying and maintaining profit margins for over a decade in an downtown with increasing rents and property values will be difficult.

Unless this is seen as a loss leader, I'm doubtful it will stick around past ten years. The building should at least be designed to be repurposed should a cinema become a nonviable tenant.

 

They must feel it will make money to make the investment.  It's at least centered around the majority of new activity downtown.   Its walkable to from quite a few new and less new developments.  I could even walk there from Union Square weather permitting, although I know most people arent me when it comes to walking.  I'm in wait and see mode,  but I feel like it could be sustainable. 

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As nice as this could be, I feel its a day late and a dollar short. Cinemas are dying and maintaining profit margins for over a decade in an downtown with increasing rents and property values will be difficult.

Unless this is seen as a loss leader, I'm doubtful it will stick around past ten years. The building should at least be designed to be repurposed should a cinema become a nonviable tenant.

 

 

The Rave theater in downtown Kalamazoo ended up closing because (from what I hear) there were a lot of fights on weekends and it started to get a bad reputation. It was a first-run film venue for the predominantly lower income residents close to downtown Kzoo. Based on a lot of the recent violence surrounding the downtown GR bar scene, I would venture the same thing would carry over to a first-run movie theater.

 

Now the Kzoo downtown theater has a mix of first run and indie films. And a bar. It seems to be working?

 

http://drafthouse.com/kalamazoo/kalamazoo

 

http://www.mlive.com/entertainment/kalamazoo/index.ssf/2014/12/alamo_drafthouse_celebrates_on.html

 

Nationally, Alamo Drafthouse has become a sensation:

 

http://www.mysanantonio.com/business/article/Alamo-Drafthouse-considered-more-innovative-than-6075222.php

 

Not sure if Celebration Cinema's business model could accommodate an Alamo Draft House model, but it would be awesome.

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The Rave theater in downtown Kalamazoo ended up closing because (from what I hear) there were a lot of fights on weekends and it started to get a bad reputation. It was a first-run film venue for the predominantly lower income residents close to downtown Kzoo. Based on a lot of the recent violence surrounding the downtown GR bar scene, I would venture the same thing would carry over to a first-run movie theater.

 

Now the Kzoo downtown theater has a mix of first run and indie films. And a bar. It seems to be working?

 

http://drafthouse.com/kalamazoo/kalamazoo

 

http://www.mlive.com/entertainment/kalamazoo/index.ssf/2014/12/alamo_drafthouse_celebrates_on.html

 

Nationally, Alamo Drafthouse has become a sensation:

 

http://www.mysanantonio.com/business/article/Alamo-Drafthouse-considered-more-innovative-than-6075222.php

 

Not sure if Celebration Cinema's business model could accommodate an Alamo Draft House model, but it would be awesome.

 

The Celebration Cinema in Portage, in order to compete with the Alamo, opened both a bar and a restaurant. They don't serve you at your seat like the Alamo but its definitely a welcomed improvement. 

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Celebration is trying to stay out in front on the innovation side.  They realize that they are competing against people with really nice HDTV's and comfy chairs at their homes and they are trying to raise the bar on the experience you receive at a theater.

 

I would suspect their attendance is down but the amount people are spending per visit is going up.

 

They have a few theaters that serve beer/drinks now (see Studio C in Okemos as an great example) and they have been investing in some really nice seating (recliners at some locations,etc.).  I think a downtown concept with a bar similar to, (or better than, what they have in Okemos could be really popular.  Might actually pull some people downtown for a "dinner and a movie" that are just staying out in the burbs now.

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As nice as this could be, I feel its a day late and a dollar short. Cinemas are dying and maintaining profit margins for over a decade in an downtown with increasing rents and property values will be difficult.

Unless this is seen as a loss leader, I'm doubtful it will stick around past ten years. The building should at least be designed to be repurposed should a cinema become a nonviable tenant.

 

tumblr_n2rnsgNIF21sk8wyjo1_500.gif

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I see this as a great filler activity.  When people come to downtown for a convention or for an out of town event this would be an option for something to do during the day and then have dinner or drinks.  Rather than sending people back to the burbs to watch a movie or sit at home, they can walk down Ionia for a movie and food and whatever retail ends up going in there. 

 

I can't wait for it to open personally.  I hate driving 15-20 minutes just to see a movie.

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joeDowntown, on 13 Mar 2015 - 12:03 AM, said:

 

Is there really that steep of a decline in movie tickets? Wasn't the TV, VCR, projection screen, DVD, Blu-Ray, Streaming video supposed to kill it off decades ago?

 

I bet a movie theater will do great downtown. Dinner, movie and night cap all in one shot will be very popular.

 

I do think movie theaters are evolving to meet new demands, but I think the death of movie theaters may be a bit premature.

 

Joe

 

 

JoeD :) :

 

And now if they can just inspire the Parking Authority to narrow and heighten their current Arena Ramp Addition so that they can apply the 38 Commerce-design wrap-around example re-imagined instead as a U-shaped wraparound destination retail / entertainment VAArena South Atrium of three to four stories; designed to mimic the Fulton Street façade with it’s own curving glass curtain wall that also houses the vertical transportation and atrium well for the stacked shopping concourses behind it; lit up at night with activity even on non-event nights; generating revenue for parking services and other needy city services; skywalk-connected across Oakes Street SW into a 2nd-level concourse on the north side of Celebration facility.

 

In conjunction, the old Gentilozzi concept for the Area 5 hotel/apartments/1st  floor streetside and interior 2nd floor shopping concourse; connected across U.S. 131 exit/entry boulevard by skywalk to the east side of Celebration facility.

 

Now if only to be able to conjoin the northward Monroe Avenue half of the original streetrail alignment with Mayor Logie’s new Arena South loop concept (it deviates from Monroe Avenue Two-Way Center Corridor south at Monroe/Pearl up Monroe Center past GRAM, turning right on Ottawa to VAArena/BOB area, across Fulton on Ottawa to Arena Place/Celebration facility/VAArena South Atrium/Area 5 development area, left onto Oakes to Ionia, continuing right up Ionia up to Goodrich <to serve Market Area prior to turnaround>, left onto Goodrich through Heartside Park/Globe Apartments/Metro Park/Looseleaf/Herkimer West area, left onto Commerce to connect back to Central Station via last leg of alignment from Commerce left to Cherry and left again from Cherry to Central Station underneath U.S.-131 S-Curve).

 

A study of translating the Arena South plan into a destination 1/3- or 1/2-scale of the LA Live area that surrounds LA’s Staple Center or the area surrounding Prudential Center in Boston may be worth a consideration by a few visionaries we know?  . . . . maybe . . . . ? :camera:

Edited by metrogrkid
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  • 11 months later...

Sounds like this deal will be approved / announced in April.   Somewhere between 100-200 residential units, 40-50,000 SF retail space.  1000 car garage, which the city will buy after Celebration builds it.   At one point, I heard the project cost will be over $100 Million.   

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10 minutes ago, urbanland said:

Sounds like this deal will be approved / announced in April.   Somewhere between 100-200 residential units, 40-50,000 SF retail space.  1000 car garage, which the city will buy after Celebration builds it.   At one point, I heard the project cost will be over $100 Million.   

Its good to be in the popcorn business! 

In the mlive article linked earlier in this thread, Loeks says the project would demand 300 parking spaces.  How much would the additional 700 spaces help with the downtown parking crunch?

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1 hour ago, urbanland said:

Sounds like this deal will be approved / announced in April.   Somewhere between 100-200 residential units, 40-50,000 SF retail space.  1000 car garage, which the city will buy after Celebration builds it.   At one point, I heard the project cost will be over $100 Million.   

That's a big project. I'd be surprised if they can fit it all on that one lot they were proposing before. Wonder if it will span over that 131 Business off/on ramp?

Especially if they're doing 40 - 50,000 sf of retail + a theater on the ground floor? That alone is bigger than the footprint of the Southeast lot.

Doing more math, a 1000 car parking garage is a big garage. The JW Marriott garage is 700 spaces and reaches 11 levels tall, with no other building above it and no ground floor retail.

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38 minutes ago, GRDadof3 said:

Doing more math, a 1000 car parking garage is a big garage. The JW Marriott garage is 700 spaces and reaches 11 levels tall, with no other building above it and no ground floor retail.

That definitely gives some perspective and helps answer my question.   Wow...anxious to hear more

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5 hours ago, urbanland said:

Sounds like this deal will be approved / announced in April.   Somewhere between 100-200 residential units, 40-50,000 SF retail space.  1000 car garage, which the city will buy after Celebration builds it.   At one point, I heard the project cost will be over $100 Million.   

$100 million price tag would make me think there's some height to this.  Something in the 250' range granted it's all speculative.  That would be a pretty substantial undertaking indeed. 

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20 hours ago, GRDadof3 said:

That's a big project. I'd be surprised if they can fit it all on that one lot they were proposing before. Wonder if it will span over that 131 Business off/on ramp?

 

It would take up all of Lot 5 and some of lot 4.   The existing road between the highway and oaks would go away.   Ottawa would extend to cherry.  in other news, several of the monthly parking rates downtown will double effective August 1. 

Edited by urbanland
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