Moorpark Begins Talks on Theater Complex

Moorpark city officials announced Tuesday that negotiations are under way to bring the city a 10-screen multiplex movie theater and restaurant complex that could generate $100,000 annually in sales tax revenue.

“It would certainly round out the city in terms of entertainment,” Mayor Paul Lawrason said late Tuesday after a City Hall meeting with Councilman Bernardo Perez, city staff members and representatives of ALDICO Development Co., the Los Angeles developer who has pitched the project.

“The idea that you get a big entertainment center in the city with some restaurants is really kind of exciting,” Lawrason said. “It’s one of the top priorities as far as the economic development of the city.” Moorpark does not now have a movie theater.

The multiplex is proposed for a 6.3-acre site southwest of the intersection of Campus Park Drive and Collins Drive, Lawrason said. The site will be served by a freeway off-ramp at Collins Drive after the Simi Valley Freeway and California 23 connector is completed.

“It’s right adjacent to that off-ramp, so accessibility will be excellent,” Lawrason said.

ALDICO representative Al Dick told city officials on Tuesday that United Artists has signed a letter of intent to operate the theater complex if his company gets approval to build the facility.

The project would include the 40,000-square-foot, 2,900-seat theater, 15,000 square feet of restaurant space and a two-level parking structure.

Lawrason said city staff members will work with the developer to address questions on the large amount of parking the facility would require, traffic circulation and other concerns.