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San Antonio Getting Saturated With Screens?
posted by
superdude480
on
March 9, 2005 at 2:45 pm
SAN ANTONIO, TX — It has been recently announced that Santiko Theatres has broken ground on the new Paladium 20 Theater in farwest San Antonio, right across Interstate 10 and Six Flags Fiesta Texas.
I think the grand opening is slated for Fall 2005 or Spring 2006. The theater will be located on the old rock quarry there and will be a part of the new shopping center, which will include a new upscale brand of Sears (called Sears Grand) and some other upscale shopping stores.
Santikos also said that two of their older theaters, Northwest 14 and Galaxy 14, will be closed and basically gutted and renovated into all stadium seating and state of the art sound. This is similar to what they did with their old Century South 9, which they gutted on the inside and rebuilt it as the Mayan 15 (with self serve concession stand and stadium seating).
Now shortly thereafter, AMC announced that they had reached an agreement to lease a new 12 screen theater to be built fairly close (I can’t remember where it is to be located) to Santikos Paladium 20. AMC said that it plans to have the theater open by Summer 2006.
And another shopping center announced that they’re building a new center right across from the Paladium at the corner of Loop 1604 and Interstate 10. It is also planning to build a theater with 18 to 24 screens. However, no exact details were announced on the number of screens cause they haven’t signed a tenant for the property yet, although a number of chains have expressed interest in it.
Now the potental problem with this, you see, is that AMC already has Hubner Oaks 24 just about 5 miles or so down I-H10 and Regal Cinemas has Fiesta 16, which is even closer at Dezavala and I-H10. Once the two new theaters open, that would put the total number of screens within (at the most) an 8 mile radius to 72 (not including the other 18 to 24 screen theater that is planned). I think it is safe to say these locations will be running one feature on at least on two screens, if not more.
AMC is also has plans to build a (as of yet unknown number of screens) theater in NW San Antonio as a part of a redevolpment project of the Central Park Mall. And yet another shopping center on the southwest side of San Antonio is being built as a part of the Brooks City base project has plans to build and lease a theater with 75000 sq feet of space. Its getting crazy here in San Antonio!
The following is a list of the total number of screens each chain currently has in operation (not the ones planned or under construction):
Regal Cinemas – 80 screens
Santikos Theaters – 106 screens (4 screens belong to mission Drive in)
Amc Theaters – 33 screens
Cinemark Theaters – 25 Screens
Total: 244 Screens
Comments (11)
Whats the population of San Antonio?
If only those chains would spread some of their love to the city of Boston, which is down to two movie theatre sites – the Loews Boston Common and the AMC Fenway…
I think its just over a million people
The average screen per capita is 1 screen per 25,000.oo people to make money .This is a industry average. That being said if it is a million the area should be able to support all those theaters.
The area should be able to support about 400 screens.
Yeah, but where are they going to get the product to fill all those screens?
GOOD POINT
San Antonio’s got more than a million people, but their market is still being glutted with too many screens. I grew up there.
I think it is safe to say that the north central and northwest suburban areas of the San Antonio metropolitan area is going to be saturated by new screens. The south and east sides (mostly Latino and black populated) of this city of 1.2 million (US Census 2004) have been historically under served. Perhaps this explains why one of a handful of operational drive-ins, the Mission is still a profitable venture. There is no better alternative to see first run theaters on that side of the city.
San Antonio continues to grow at an alarming rate, where more homes and businesses continue to be built on the north and northwestern parts of the city. We just passed Dallas as the second largest city in Texas. These areas that are now growing were once undeveloped land. I agree that the other parts of the city, west, south, and east have been severly overlooked.
One thing to note about the east and west sides of San Antonio is there are many old city buildings that some are not only historic, but you can definitely see the past with them, with some being built in the early 1900’s. I think also this may have an affect with building new structures, such as a multi-screen theatres, within these areas.
The Mayan Palace is wonderful inside, with the mayan theme within the music and decor within each section of the theatre. I think if these movie builders would give other areas of the city a chance, they probably won’t be disappointed.
One thing to also heard about the Mission Drive-In and why it still stands is because there is nothing that can be built on the land since it sits right next to one of our historic Missions here in San Antonio due to the regulations that are placed when wanting to build new structures right next to historic site. This is a plus for any drive-in enthusiasts out there.
Nevertheless, we always commute to see movies on the northern side of town since this is where they are being built.
Good Point Melissa but i have met and talked with john santikos who owns the mission drive in and he told me when i interviewed with him for an assistant manager job that the reason he keeps it open is because it makes alot of money for him and if that wernt enough what really keeps the drive in open is its great for mr santikos to tain new members of management out there. Everytime he promotes or hires a new manager they are sent out to the mission for anywhere between 2weeks and a month for training and then they are reassigned to on of the indoor complexes. When you ever go out there make a mental note of who is managing it then see in a month and they will be gone with new people in place. He told me he does it because the ones who have never been a manager before dont feel alot of presure like they would in one of the indoor complexes therefore mission drive in is the ideal place for training. He told me thats why when regal cinemas gave it back to him after there lease was up he was going to lease it to cinemark but then decided that it would be better for him to keep it as a training unit for his company. That plus him and cinemark could not come up with an aggreeable lease price for it.