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Alcazar Theatre Building For Sale
posted by
seaver
on
May 10, 2004 at 9:03 am
SAN FRANCISCO, CA — In my search to find a theater for a second career, I came across this listing from the city by the bay. After looking at the price, I do not know if my heart will ever be the same.
…
Property Detail – Commercial For Sale: Alcazar Theater Building
$19,000,000 42800 1917 7
Active 12/20/02
650 Geary St San Francisco 94102
Agent: Ash A Shaikh Office: Alpha Real Estate, Inc.
Phone: 415-567-9840 Phone: 415-567-9840
Marketing Remarks: Alcazar Theater Building; 500+ seat Theater Hall, parking and storage. Only the Building for Sale; the business, Alcazar Theater is not for Sale and is not included in the price. Building delivered vacant at COE. Seller take elsewhere, Alcazar Theater business. Seller reserves the right to accept or reject any offer. Shown to qualified buyers only.
$19,000,000
650 Geary St, San Francisco, CA 94102
Listing # 246454
Agent Ash A Shaikh Phone: 415-567-9840
Office Alpha Real Estate, Inc. Phone: 415-567-9840
District SF District 8 – Tenderloin
Structure (approx sq ft) 42800 Sq Ft Source Per Tax Records Price / SqFt 443.93
County San Francisco
Year Built 1917
Map Book SFAR Map Map Coordinates SFAR, CS42
Features:
Structure Detached Building
Close To Public Transport, Restaurants, Shopping
Parking/Garage 1-10 On Site, Parking Lot 1 Block
Some quick research found that the space is landmark protected
Landmark 195
Alcazar Theater
650 Geary Street
Built 1917
The Alcazar Theater sits at the scruffy western fringe of San Francisco’s Union Square theater district. As a rental theater, it irregularly hosts revues, cabaret, comedians, and other theatrical events of varying quality.
San Francisco architect and Shriner, T Patterson Ross, was responsible for this Islamic fever dream of a building. He also designed lavish, but less crazed, homes for the wealthy residents of Russian Hill, Presidio Heights and Palo Alto.
Comments (8)
I walked by this building during my last trip to San Francisco. At the time, it was serving as a parking lot — which was a pretty depressing sight. Hopefully, the new owners will find a more constructive use for this architectural gem. ANYTHING would be better.
NINETEEN MILLION DOLLARS???????????????????????? That is INSANE!
It’s true 19 million is alot of money. The situation with alot of real estate in today’s world is that the land becomes so valuable that whatever is on the land may not seem worth the price. We have a theatre in Florida for sale for 1.55 million currently. We may take it off the market this summer, for a break, after being under contract for four months recently and having it fall through. It was kinda nice to own the building all over again when the deal fell through. Real estate in our area has been booming for several years now. Everyone loves this little town on the Gulf of Mexico. Being on Hwy 98, alot of people pass through, and many come for vacations now.
Real estate is real estate. Sometimes without a solid business plan, movie theatres are not the “best use” for the land itself. We, as movie lovers, must be prepared to write solid business plans and show a profitable return for investment. Those are the sad truths. We cannot save every theatre. But this one—The Alcazar—this lavish and magnificent piece of architecture, surely must have a better use than a parking lot or another residential condo development. Any updates? Any way I can help? Contact me. (708) 867-6252
I have been inside this theater. Don’t just walk by…the inside has been beautifully restored and preserved. It has incredible potential and worth the price to the right buyer.
Problem is, even though it has landmark status, all that seems to mean in San Francisco is that they have to protect the facade. Plenty of beautiful buildings in SF have basically been gutted for commercial or residential use, with only the facade left standing as some sort of bad joke, and some huge development arising all around it and engulfing it. The Hoffman Grill on Market Street is a prime example. At $19Mil, I can only assume that any buyer will want to build on this property, and will only do the minimum necessary to preserve the Alcazar (ie, just preserving the facade)…
In case anyone looks this far back in the news archives: This is not the Alcazar Theatre listed on Cinema Treasures, located at 260 O'Farrell Street. The Geary Street Alcazar, originally built as the Islam Temple for the Shriners, only took on the name Alcazar some time after the demolition of the O'Farrell Street Alcazar. I have no information on whether or not the Geary Street Alcazar has ever operated as a movie theatre.
I have been inside this theater. Don’t just walk by…the inside has been beautifully restored and preserved. It has incredible potential and worth the price to the right buyer.
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