3 San Fran Theaters May Close

posted by Ross Melnick on August 5, 2002 at 3:54 pm

SAN FRANCISCO, CA — The San Francisco Chronicle is reporting that the Regal Entertainment Group is looking to sell its leases at three prominent movie houses, the 1984-era Galaxy, and two vintage houses, the UA Alexandria and the UA Metro.

Michael McCormac, who is handling the transactions, is quoted as saying that the “‘contracts are going back and forth,’ and if completed, the movie houses ‘probably would remain theaters for a period of time, then they would be 'bye-bye’.‘ … The Metro would probably be retail, and the Alexandria could be a combination (of retail and non-retail).’”

According to the Chronicle, Regal “owns the lease at the Metro, the lease at the Galaxy and the Alexandria’s lease and property”. All three theaters have been on the market for the past year with deals for the Metro and Alexandria nearing completion.

The shakeout is impacting other area theaters as they attempt to secure their future in a shaky exhibition market. Landmark “will temporarily close the Lumiere later this year for renovation, the Roxie is trying to build a second screen, and Century Theatres recently opened a high-end CineArts movie house in Palo Alto, where it took over a longtime Landmark space.”

In other area news, the Park Theatre in Menlo Park is also slated to be closed and possibly torn down.

(Thanks to Gary Meyer for this update.)