This past week a judge ruled in favor of Woodsonia and ordered AMC to vacate the property. While the theatre is currently closed and demolition has begun on other areas of the mall, AMC is listing the site as “temporarily closed” and representatives have made statements that they still hope to find a way to retain the theatre/reopen.
It seems odd that AMC is putting up such a fight for this location. Beyond clearly being a lost cause, this theatre wasn’t exactly a top performer. Perhaps, it’s part of some negotiating ploy for a future theatre at the new development.
The “for lease” banners have been removed, the property is no longer listed on the corresponding real estate site, and a general commercial properties site categorizes the building as “no longer available”. So, something is afoot, but I haven’t been able to find any details as to what that might be.
Woodsonia Real Estate has purchased the mall property and announced plans for a $220+ million redevelopment project. Initial reports mentioned a cinema being included with the new project and seemed to indicate that talks were underway with AMC. However, it appears something went amiss, as Woodsonia is now suing AMC to vacate the property. More recent reports indicate that all but three of the tenants have accepted buyouts and Woodsonia is now entering a legal battle to evict the three holdouts (AMC, Best Buy, and Joann Fabrics).
Likely a combination of declining attendance due to streaming (sub runs have been hit particularly hard), inability to book top titles due to shorter release windows (many studios started skipping sub runs all-together), and AMC’s general apathy towards the sub run business model. I’m not sure what East Pointe’s recliner remodel status is (whether it’s been conducted or is planned), but that would also play into the decision.
I’m sad to hear that East Pointe has been forced to make the change. Back in the Starplex days this place pulled in incredible business. I doubt it will ever see attendance like that again, nor do I foresee the price change going over particularly well with patrons. Truly the end of an era.
Unfortunately, none of the theatre chains currently have the financial means, nor does such a project fit within the business models most are following. At this point, I think it would take a major developer and a project similar to what occurred with the Texaco Building/United Artist Theatre conversion to the ACE Hotel/Theatre.
Beyond the theatre, anyone taking on the site would have to address the large office/retail building which encases the theatre. It stands as somewhat of a “white elephant” property; requiring a massive investment to bring back. That’s not to say it couldn’t or shouldn’t be done, but there has been little indication that anyone is interested in making such an investment. The current owners appear content with siting on the property as a tax write-off and speculative long term land investment.
It is startling to see how the Costa Mesa Metro area has slipped from cinema relevance. There was a time when the area was known as the “Westwood of Orange County”, due to the proliferation of high profile theatres and desirable demographics. Back in the 70’s and 80’s any film of note had to play in Costa Mesa. However, the area never kept pace with the megaplex/stadium era. The formerly high profile theatres quickly became dated and closed; the Metro Point and Triangle Square new builds failed to stand out as anything special. Now, the area is somewhat of a secondary/forgotten market.
The Brookhurst Theatre’s original projection booth had a floor level door (not the standard ladder/hatch one normally finds) which opened to the roof and the Loge had a similar door. As there was a worn path between the two doors, I always suspected projectionists and/or managers had utilized the rooftop to move between theatres, rather than going outside.
Trans-Texas and Starplex were each owned/operated by J.C. Mitchell, with Lee Roy Mitchell acting as a silent partner (i.e. providing financial backing). A similar scenario took place with Interstate Theatres (involving different owners/operators with Lee Roy Mitchell backing). The Cinemark link with these various companies was somewhat blurred/overlapping until around 2006. At that point a more formalized separation between the companies was required.
In recent years the auditorium was utilized as the Playhouse night club and the former lobby was home to Calle Tacos (the nightclub was accessed via a separate door/hallway). Both businesses went under during the 2020 pandemic and the venue has sat vacant for the past two years. However, there is currently (Winter 2022) work taking place at the site, which suggests a new business is moving into the lobby space.
The mall property was purchased for $150 million, in the spring of 2022, by billionaire real estate developer/sports mogul Stan Kroenke. Reports suggest the site, along with neighboring parcels owned by Kroenke, will be redeveloped into a mixed use property which will include the training facility and administrative offices for the Los Angeles Rams.
The Hollywood Knitting Factory was located in the subterranean level of the Galaxy Shopping Center, beneath a Longs Drug Store (now CVS) and the GCC/AMC Hollywood Galaxy Theatre (now LA Fitness). The venue was divided into two rooms; the main club and the smaller “Alterknit” stage. During its' ten year run, the Hollywood Knitting Factory struggled to turn a profit and faced increasingly problematic permitting issues. As a result, the club’s parent company chose not to renew the lease and the venue closed on October 25, 2009. The space was later occupied by a Japanese housewares retail outlet and currently (2022) sits vacant.
During the theatre’s burlesque years, early 70’s exploitation/adult film star Rene Bond utilized the Ivar as the “home base” for her live act. Frequently chaperoned by her parents, Ms. Bond’s show consisted of singing (she was known for bringing her father on stage during her rendition of “My heart belongs to daddy”), dancing, and a striptease conclusion. Afterwards, she sold autographed pictures and fan club memberships in the lobby with her mother. In the late 70’s, adult actress/Gong Show hostess Carol Connors undertook a similar long term residency (minus the parents) and served as the inspiration for the exterior bikini girl mural.
Back in the summer 0f 2002, this theatre suffered a minor fire after hours. When informed of the fire, Interstate Theatre’s CEO commented “Why did they put it out?” Needless to say, the Stockyards 8 wasn’t exactly held in high regards during its' later years.
The Cinemark look and Starplex name were due to the theatre having been connected to the Mitchell family (founders of both Cinemark and Starplex). I believe it was something like Lee Roy Mitchell’s daughter (Lone Star), then his grandson (EVO). However, despite the look/name and family connections, this theatre was never actually a part of Cinemark or Starplex. For many years the Starplex Cinemas website even had a disclaimer note regarding this location not being a part of the chain.
The Galaxy suffered from a “looks good in theory/on paper” market, but doesn’t pan out in reality. At first glance, the Hollywood Blvd area appears lucrative; massive foot traffic and dense residential areas near bye. However, in reality, most of the foot traffic is comprised of tourists/pass-through visitors who aren’t interested in staying to watch a movie and locals tend to venture away from the blvd for movies/shopping/etc. due to the perceived hassles of the area. The Chinese 6 has suffered greatly from the same scenario, only getting by on festivals/rentals/special events as a means of survival. The El Capitan and main Chinese are destination theatres which operate in their own unique business model, but the days of the blvd. being a viable location for a standard day to day theatre going destination have long passed.
The theatre closed on October 29, 2022. Citing an increase in rent, fluctuating business, and rising crime in the area, the owners chose not to renew their yearly lease back in August. As of 11/2, all of the branding has been removed and “for lease” signs hang from the building (the hand/footprint tiles remain in place).
I was a manager at Fullerton in the 90’s. By then, they had “upgraded” that schedule from manually typed form to a dot matrix printed, Lotus spreadsheet (same basic layout and look though). The layout/look didn’t really change until the 97' expansion, courtesy of another “upgrade” to a laser printer and excel spreadsheet.
I drove by the Vista this morning (10/11). It appears that there is some work underway, as there are standard construction elements in place (porta potty, fencing, signage, etc.). However, I would imagine permitting and misc redtape will hold things up for quite some time. Beyond the large new build apartment complex approval slowing things down, renovating the one-hundred year old theatre will open up a lot of issues with ADA, seismic retrofitting, and various modern facility requirements (i.e. formerly “grandfather in” items will have to be addressed with any new work).
As of September 2022, the venue has yet to reopen from the 2020 pandemic shutdown. The gated entryway has amassed a great deal of debris and dust, suggesting that there hasn’t been any activity since the closure. However, the club is still listed as “Temporarily Closed” online and the Deja Vu group maintains a webpage for the site.
There is a large conference room located off of the projection booth for the four smaller auditoriums. During the theatre’s AMC years this room was utilized for management seminars and regional meetings. The room also had a small cubicle situated in the corner which the regional marketing director worked out of.
The projection booth for the two larger auditoriums features two adjacent rooms which were the AMC regional manager’s office and an office for regional administrative staff/auditors. In the early 1990’s AMC merged regional offices into a larger division office (located in Century City) and the former regional offices were basically subjugated to storage. This space was later utilized as a home base for the Block 30 management team during the Block’s construction/pre-opening.
There is a spacious storage room located off of the utility corridor that runs behind the two large auditoriums. AMC utilized this room to store defunct equipment, paperwork, and misc marketing materials from the regional days. Even in the late 90’s, long after the regional offices had closed, the room was still piled from floor to ceiling with regional garbage.
During the megaplex/stadium seating boom of the late 90’s plans were drawn up to add auditoriums and upgrade facilities. However, this plan was quickly dropped once the Block project was lined up. After the Block opened AMC sought to convert Mainplace to discount bookings, but the mall didn’t feel that fit with their image at the time (obviously this changed a few years later). So, AMC finished out their lease as a pseudo art house, with occasional children’s films and studio test screenings (auditorium #5 was equipped to run work prints of films and was frequently booked by Disney for audience tests).
The theatre was gutted by a large fire on the morning of 7/13/22. Sitting vacant for a number of years there had been issues with break-ins, squatters, and theft/vandalism. Between preexisting issues with finding a tenant and the fire being extensive enough to cause a partial roof collapse, one has to suspect the surviving structure will be razed for new development.
I walked by the rear of the Egyptian today (6/14/22). The remodel is extremely extensive and has much of the theatre stripped down to the framework (pictures posted).
This past week a judge ruled in favor of Woodsonia and ordered AMC to vacate the property. While the theatre is currently closed and demolition has begun on other areas of the mall, AMC is listing the site as “temporarily closed” and representatives have made statements that they still hope to find a way to retain the theatre/reopen.
It seems odd that AMC is putting up such a fight for this location. Beyond clearly being a lost cause, this theatre wasn’t exactly a top performer. Perhaps, it’s part of some negotiating ploy for a future theatre at the new development.
The “for lease” banners have been removed, the property is no longer listed on the corresponding real estate site, and a general commercial properties site categorizes the building as “no longer available”. So, something is afoot, but I haven’t been able to find any details as to what that might be.
Woodsonia Real Estate has purchased the mall property and announced plans for a $220+ million redevelopment project. Initial reports mentioned a cinema being included with the new project and seemed to indicate that talks were underway with AMC. However, it appears something went amiss, as Woodsonia is now suing AMC to vacate the property. More recent reports indicate that all but three of the tenants have accepted buyouts and Woodsonia is now entering a legal battle to evict the three holdouts (AMC, Best Buy, and Joann Fabrics).
Likely a combination of declining attendance due to streaming (sub runs have been hit particularly hard), inability to book top titles due to shorter release windows (many studios started skipping sub runs all-together), and AMC’s general apathy towards the sub run business model. I’m not sure what East Pointe’s recliner remodel status is (whether it’s been conducted or is planned), but that would also play into the decision.
I’m sad to hear that East Pointe has been forced to make the change. Back in the Starplex days this place pulled in incredible business. I doubt it will ever see attendance like that again, nor do I foresee the price change going over particularly well with patrons. Truly the end of an era.
Unfortunately, none of the theatre chains currently have the financial means, nor does such a project fit within the business models most are following. At this point, I think it would take a major developer and a project similar to what occurred with the Texaco Building/United Artist Theatre conversion to the ACE Hotel/Theatre.
Beyond the theatre, anyone taking on the site would have to address the large office/retail building which encases the theatre. It stands as somewhat of a “white elephant” property; requiring a massive investment to bring back. That’s not to say it couldn’t or shouldn’t be done, but there has been little indication that anyone is interested in making such an investment. The current owners appear content with siting on the property as a tax write-off and speculative long term land investment.
The Mission Tiki closed on 1/22/23. The final movies screened were “A Man Called Otto”, “Plane”, and “M3GAN”.
It is startling to see how the Costa Mesa Metro area has slipped from cinema relevance. There was a time when the area was known as the “Westwood of Orange County”, due to the proliferation of high profile theatres and desirable demographics. Back in the 70’s and 80’s any film of note had to play in Costa Mesa. However, the area never kept pace with the megaplex/stadium era. The formerly high profile theatres quickly became dated and closed; the Metro Point and Triangle Square new builds failed to stand out as anything special. Now, the area is somewhat of a secondary/forgotten market.
The Brookhurst Theatre’s original projection booth had a floor level door (not the standard ladder/hatch one normally finds) which opened to the roof and the Loge had a similar door. As there was a worn path between the two doors, I always suspected projectionists and/or managers had utilized the rooftop to move between theatres, rather than going outside.
Trans-Texas and Starplex were each owned/operated by J.C. Mitchell, with Lee Roy Mitchell acting as a silent partner (i.e. providing financial backing). A similar scenario took place with Interstate Theatres (involving different owners/operators with Lee Roy Mitchell backing). The Cinemark link with these various companies was somewhat blurred/overlapping until around 2006. At that point a more formalized separation between the companies was required.
In recent years the auditorium was utilized as the Playhouse night club and the former lobby was home to Calle Tacos (the nightclub was accessed via a separate door/hallway). Both businesses went under during the 2020 pandemic and the venue has sat vacant for the past two years. However, there is currently (Winter 2022) work taking place at the site, which suggests a new business is moving into the lobby space.
The mall property was purchased for $150 million, in the spring of 2022, by billionaire real estate developer/sports mogul Stan Kroenke. Reports suggest the site, along with neighboring parcels owned by Kroenke, will be redeveloped into a mixed use property which will include the training facility and administrative offices for the Los Angeles Rams.
The Hollywood Knitting Factory was located in the subterranean level of the Galaxy Shopping Center, beneath a Longs Drug Store (now CVS) and the GCC/AMC Hollywood Galaxy Theatre (now LA Fitness). The venue was divided into two rooms; the main club and the smaller “Alterknit” stage. During its' ten year run, the Hollywood Knitting Factory struggled to turn a profit and faced increasingly problematic permitting issues. As a result, the club’s parent company chose not to renew the lease and the venue closed on October 25, 2009. The space was later occupied by a Japanese housewares retail outlet and currently (2022) sits vacant.
The former theatre space has been remodeled and now serves as a smoke and vape retail store.
During the theatre’s burlesque years, early 70’s exploitation/adult film star Rene Bond utilized the Ivar as the “home base” for her live act. Frequently chaperoned by her parents, Ms. Bond’s show consisted of singing (she was known for bringing her father on stage during her rendition of “My heart belongs to daddy”), dancing, and a striptease conclusion. Afterwards, she sold autographed pictures and fan club memberships in the lobby with her mother. In the late 70’s, adult actress/Gong Show hostess Carol Connors undertook a similar long term residency (minus the parents) and served as the inspiration for the exterior bikini girl mural.
Back in the summer 0f 2002, this theatre suffered a minor fire after hours. When informed of the fire, Interstate Theatre’s CEO commented “Why did they put it out?” Needless to say, the Stockyards 8 wasn’t exactly held in high regards during its' later years.
The Cinemark look and Starplex name were due to the theatre having been connected to the Mitchell family (founders of both Cinemark and Starplex). I believe it was something like Lee Roy Mitchell’s daughter (Lone Star), then his grandson (EVO). However, despite the look/name and family connections, this theatre was never actually a part of Cinemark or Starplex. For many years the Starplex Cinemas website even had a disclaimer note regarding this location not being a part of the chain.
The Galaxy suffered from a “looks good in theory/on paper” market, but doesn’t pan out in reality. At first glance, the Hollywood Blvd area appears lucrative; massive foot traffic and dense residential areas near bye. However, in reality, most of the foot traffic is comprised of tourists/pass-through visitors who aren’t interested in staying to watch a movie and locals tend to venture away from the blvd for movies/shopping/etc. due to the perceived hassles of the area. The Chinese 6 has suffered greatly from the same scenario, only getting by on festivals/rentals/special events as a means of survival. The El Capitan and main Chinese are destination theatres which operate in their own unique business model, but the days of the blvd. being a viable location for a standard day to day theatre going destination have long passed.
Pictures from the theatre’s final days of operation depict a rather unique, bare bones, setup in the main auditorium.
https://wehotimes.com/x-rated-studs-at-the-pussycat-theater-in-west-hollywood-is-closing-october-29th/
The theatre closed on October 29, 2022. Citing an increase in rent, fluctuating business, and rising crime in the area, the owners chose not to renew their yearly lease back in August. As of 11/2, all of the branding has been removed and “for lease” signs hang from the building (the hand/footprint tiles remain in place).
I was a manager at Fullerton in the 90’s. By then, they had “upgraded” that schedule from manually typed form to a dot matrix printed, Lotus spreadsheet (same basic layout and look though). The layout/look didn’t really change until the 97' expansion, courtesy of another “upgrade” to a laser printer and excel spreadsheet.
I drove by the Vista this morning (10/11). It appears that there is some work underway, as there are standard construction elements in place (porta potty, fencing, signage, etc.). However, I would imagine permitting and misc redtape will hold things up for quite some time. Beyond the large new build apartment complex approval slowing things down, renovating the one-hundred year old theatre will open up a lot of issues with ADA, seismic retrofitting, and various modern facility requirements (i.e. formerly “grandfather in” items will have to be addressed with any new work).
As of September 2022, the venue has yet to reopen from the 2020 pandemic shutdown. The gated entryway has amassed a great deal of debris and dust, suggesting that there hasn’t been any activity since the closure. However, the club is still listed as “Temporarily Closed” online and the Deja Vu group maintains a webpage for the site.
Some random features/info:
There is a large conference room located off of the projection booth for the four smaller auditoriums. During the theatre’s AMC years this room was utilized for management seminars and regional meetings. The room also had a small cubicle situated in the corner which the regional marketing director worked out of.
The projection booth for the two larger auditoriums features two adjacent rooms which were the AMC regional manager’s office and an office for regional administrative staff/auditors. In the early 1990’s AMC merged regional offices into a larger division office (located in Century City) and the former regional offices were basically subjugated to storage. This space was later utilized as a home base for the Block 30 management team during the Block’s construction/pre-opening.
There is a spacious storage room located off of the utility corridor that runs behind the two large auditoriums. AMC utilized this room to store defunct equipment, paperwork, and misc marketing materials from the regional days. Even in the late 90’s, long after the regional offices had closed, the room was still piled from floor to ceiling with regional garbage.
During the megaplex/stadium seating boom of the late 90’s plans were drawn up to add auditoriums and upgrade facilities. However, this plan was quickly dropped once the Block project was lined up. After the Block opened AMC sought to convert Mainplace to discount bookings, but the mall didn’t feel that fit with their image at the time (obviously this changed a few years later). So, AMC finished out their lease as a pseudo art house, with occasional children’s films and studio test screenings (auditorium #5 was equipped to run work prints of films and was frequently booked by Disney for audience tests).
The theatre was gutted by a large fire on the morning of 7/13/22. Sitting vacant for a number of years there had been issues with break-ins, squatters, and theft/vandalism. Between preexisting issues with finding a tenant and the fire being extensive enough to cause a partial roof collapse, one has to suspect the surviving structure will be razed for new development.
I walked by the rear of the Egyptian today (6/14/22). The remodel is extremely extensive and has much of the theatre stripped down to the framework (pictures posted).