A group of local New York City real estate investors including BLDG Management’s Lloyd Goldman, Eric Roth of Brick Capital and Eastern Consolidated’s Brian Ezratty have purchased the famed Midway Theater retail building in Forest Hills for $20.5 million, Roth told The Real Deal.Read the full story here: Lloyd Goldman-led partnership to buy historic Midway Theater
not surprised
ReplyDeletemy first choices to go see a movie are AMC 14 on 34st or AMC 25 on 42nd.
I hope AMC takes over this movie theater and install reclining chairs like the AMC in Fresh Meadows!
DeleteNice to see you supporting the jobs of your Forest Hills neighbors - I'm sure Manhattanites appreciate it.
DeleteAll the businesses there are goners. They're gonna do a condo. Its too lucrative not too.
ReplyDeleteAnd then there will be nothing for the new condo owners to do! There is already Tim Paw-LENTY of housing in Forest Hills. I already own an apartment. I don't NEED more apartments. I need more shops and restaurants. >:(
ReplyDeleteI couldn't agree with you more. If they do build a condo or something, they better incorporate the Midway Theater into it somehow or I predict they're going to run into a massive display of community opposition.
DeleteYeah just b/c you own your apts means that everyone else is content and nobody else would buy one in the area.
DeleteThe point is that the theater is a major quality of life booster here in Forest Hills. I think the neighborhood would really miss it if it closed. It's fantastic to have a theater you can just walk to, right here at our doorstep, and a very nice one at that. It also brings in a lot of people from other areas of Queens, who then in turn shop and dine in the Austin St. area, so it's a magnet for customers for our local businesses. It's the same reason I always was a vocal opponent of destroying the Tennis Stadium for short-term gain for some developers. These cultural establishments add a very important element to a neighborhood.
DeleteCould this be where the much ballyhooed Forest Hills hotel will rise?
ReplyDeleteHope an entertainment center will be incorporated.
Could the theater get landmark status?
ReplyDeleteIf it would, it would only be for the facade. The whole building was razed and rebuilt in the last 15 years; only the facade is original. If they were to razed the building again while keeping the original facade again, maintain a large multiplex, additional retail and hotel/office/condos above, I would be ok with the development.
Deletewhy would the theatre get landmark status? They didn't preserve a thing from the past. I just hope banter has a long lease.
ReplyDeleteugh no more glass box condos. please!
ReplyDeleteI like downtown Kew Gardens with our local non-chain businesses, restaurants, and the Cinema
ReplyDeleteConsidering the developer that sold the property specializes in Retail & Mixed use developments, it would be fair to say they were unsuccessful at buying out the long term leases on the property and decided to move on. So I think it would be safe to say there will be no changes for some time.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite local theaters are the Kew Gardens Cinemas & the College Point Multiplex. I got sick of the Midway years ago. Every time we went to a movie there was always drama! If it wasn't misbehaving children, it was old Jews fighting with each other! I'm not a babysitter.
There is a lot of growth in Forest Hills with new condos underway. And so there will be an expansion of retail necessary to keep up with the growth.
ReplyDeleteI can't comment on when the leases expire, but it does seem to reason that this property will get developed on. Obviously they didn't pay so much capital into the building just to keep it as is. The goal is to generate as much revenue as possible.
This isn't a pro consumer or pro community thing where consumers will get their pick of businesses or something. It is a pure profit play for the acquirers trying to maximize revenue from this property.
Will changes occur? Obviously when leases expire. But it does seem likely they will redo the movie theatre and expand it and build a highrise complex here.
Cord Meyer already knocked down existing low rise retail to make room for a CVS and HIGHRISE.
This facility will also be the next to see redevelopment.
That section of Forest Hills where this building is, is experiencing high growth. So just like the Windsor you will have new housing on the other side.
ReplyDeleteThis could be the firm I think it is who has a horrible reputation with managing buildings. Likely will jack up the rates and buildings will go into disarray.
ReplyDeleteReviews on the net show a lot of issues with this management firm.
Remember these guys are looking to PROFIT. Now there are nice projects that go up that people want to buy units in or that have ground floor retail you may use. But money is still the name of the game.
ReplyDeleteI don't see these guys as a quality developer of buildings but rather a building management firm which owns lots of buildings in aggregate.
I don't place any high hopes of improvements at the site and it is quite possible it could get worse. Just because someone pours money to acquire a property doesn't mean they will make it nicer. It means they are using the asset to profit and they want it under their management umbrella. That means containing costs so they can profit.
Sorry folks but don't look here to anything beneficial.
The buildings the management firm deals with are not what I would call quality.
ReplyDeleteForest Hills always gets the sharks looking to profit rather than any real development which is really nice like you see elsewhere.
Not sure what the going rate is in the area, but the average lease in the building was about $21.63 as of year end 2012. The rents have actually been in decline, so I am going to guess that Banter & Gloria managed to get sweet deals to fill the space. Unless there are other sources of revenue, such as janitorial services, leasing data lines (is the theater digital?); I would be hard pressed to justify a cap rate somewhere north of 4%. The seller has sold off their Austin Street properties over the last five years, one of which was one of the two rumored sites for a boutique hotel back in 2006. But then again, none of these properties would meet the profile of Federal's current portfolio today.
ReplyDelete$21.63 a foot? Really? Austin Street is going for $70 and up a foot, mostly "and up," especially closest to Continental and the Restaurant Row areas.
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ReplyDeleteWent through the filings on Edgar
ReplyDeleteTo The Anonymous blogger from 9/17, 11:51 PM (et al):
ReplyDeleteI have to say that you are mistaken. The Midway Theatre was not razed internally. The facade and the interior was retained when the theater underwent conversion for 9 screens in the late 1990s. The facade is mostly intact, as well as the round Art Moderne lobby with the sweeping staircase and large picture window. This is a rare example of an Art Moderne theater by America's foremost theater architect, Thomas W. Lamb. It was named after the Battle of Midway in 1942 as a tribute to the courageous American troops. The theater has only been subdivided to accommodate additional screens. Nothing was demolished.