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Multiplex battles landlord over termination payment
posted by
danpetitpas
on
October 7, 2008 at 7:45 am
MEMPHIS, TN — The Muvico Peabody Place 22 & IMAX theater may have closed last June because of lack of business, but Muvico Cinemas is locked in a federal lawsuit with the owner of the downtown mall it was in over a $700,000 escape clause that the theater company says it was tricked into signing.
Business at the Peabody Place mall had been slowly drying up as virtually all the tenants on the shopping center’s second floor, where the theater was located, closed down.
Vacancies were not being replaced, and Muvico actually returned eight of its 22 auditoriums back to the owner two years ago as attendance dropped off. In its brief seven-year history, the theater had gained a reputation for being a hangout for unruly teenagers which drove away older patrons.
During the negotiations to give back some of the theater’s massive 110,000 square feet, the landlord included a $700,000 early termination clause. Muvico said they agreed to it because the landlord assured them that Peabody Place would continue to be a shopping mall. However the owner announced last summer he wanted to to turn the mall into a luxury hotel which Muvico says breaks their 20-year lease. The landlord disagrees and is suing for the $700,000.
Read more in The Daily News and CommercialAppeal.com.
Comments (2)
Who would want their movie experience disrupted by out-of-control teenapers?
A similar situation happened a few years back in Akron Ohio at the Rolling Acres Mall. The entire mall is empty, except for a J.C.Penney outlet store and a triplex theatre originally built by GCC. As of this past August, only these 2 are left, as the Sears and Macys anchors closed up shop in the spring. The problem here was roudy teens, as well as stolen vehicles.