Reading Cinemas will return to its closed Wellington complex, news seen as good for the city.
The cinema building at the Courtenay Place complex had not been used since it closed due to earthquake considerations in 2019.
The new owners, Primeproperty Group (Prime), recently announced their aim to re-let Reading Cinemas once earthquake strengthening works have been completed.
Prime bought the Wellington assets from Reading Cinemas for $38 million, according to board details.
Mayor Tory Whanau had previously made forming a deal between the Wellington City Council and Reading Cinemas to develop the complex one of her top priorities.
But last year, the council announced it had scrapped a $32 million plan to buy the land and lease it to the company.
That led to it going up for sale in July.
Even with the council fronting $32m to purchase the land beneath the site, Reading would still have had to come up with approximately $70m to redevelop the complex according to Wellington councillor Tim Brown.
“The wonderful thing about the arrival of Prime is that Prime has really extensive resources, has wonderful experience, has done renovations of this nature before, so it turns out to be a win-win scenario. world,” Brown said.
Jeremy Smith, director of Trinity Hospitality Group, said he hoped the movie theater chain’s return to the venue would attract a wider variety of people to the city’s entertainment district.
“Having that balance between movie theaters, retail and hospitality (it’s going to be wonderful for the street) because you attract other people at other times of the day and that’s what Courtenay Place wants to revitalize: that the street “Has been busy from the end of the day, from the afternoon, through dinner, to the live music stage late into the night,” Smith said.
Disruption through the Council’s Golden Mile allocation remains a “potential problem” for a network desperate to bring the party district back to life, he said.
“This will disrupt the whole street for a long time.
“Personally, I would prefer that the Golden Mile not move forward and that we explore others to revitalize Courtenay Place, which would also speed up the whole process,” Smith said.
Whanau said he was grateful that Primeproperty took over the site. Stating that the finishing touch of the cession of the Golden Mile would ultimately allow advantages to be obtained for companies in the region.
“The council’s Golden Mile allocation will begin this year. On the first level of the task, we will revitalize Courtenay Place and bring new life and power to our downtown area.
“Businesses will significantly benefit from the influx of customers that will be attracted to the area once the revitalisation is complete,” Whanau said.
Jon Justice, duty manager at nearby pool hall The Ballroom, said he hoped reopening the complex would lift the tone of the strip and send a few more customers his way between showings.
“That’s 40 metres of unused frontage that quite often gets squatted in front of – graffiti moves in – people avoid it because of that,” Justice said.
Filmmaker and critic Graeme Tuckett said cinemas had stepped up to fill the void left by the closure of the multiplex in 2019.
He hoped Reading would invest enough in the complex to differentiate it from other offerings in the capital.
“As well as the mighty Embassy [Theatre], you also have the Light House, the Roxy, the [Penthouse Cinema & Cafe], all with incredible paintings and Wellington moviegoers have been able to get a price ticket whenever they want.
“But I think if [Reading Cinemas] were to really spend the money and put an IMAX screen in there they would make an awful lot of friends,” Tuckett said.
The timing of the reopening is impeccable, he said, now that the film industry has almost fully recovered from three consecutive brutal years of the pandemic.
Primeproperty’s purchase of the site also included the adjoining carpark properties.
Primeproperty Group chief executive Eyal Aharoni said in addition to the extensive earthquake strengthening, the mall area of the site would be expanded to provide new retail and dining options on top of a similar number of cinemas as when the complex closed in 2019.
“We believe this site offers great potential to provide a much-needed retail and cinema complex with generous parking for Wellington. Together with Reading Cinemas Courtenay Central Limited we will ensure that Wellingtonians have access to a world-class cinematic experience, while the new retail and hospitality offerings will help reinvigorate the area,” Aharoni said.
Aharoni said the paintings are expected to last about 18 months and the goal is to open them in 2026.
They said the redevelopment of the site would be controlled through the group’s internal team, in partnership with local engineering firms and developers and would provide employment opportunities for the domain in the structure phase and in the long term once the facility opens.
“While sustainable features are still being designed, PPG is committed to ensuring the renovation is as environmentally friendly as possible. One of the main benefits will be reduced traffic, as the complex will bring retail offerings lately only found in the Hutt Valley. and Porirua in Wellington, reducing the need for citizens to leave the city,” Aharoni said.
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