Merchants Cheer Plan for Downtown Theater

Downtown merchants Wednesday cheered Century Theatres’ announcement of plans to open a 1,658-seat movie theater in the heart of the city’s historic business district.

The proposed nine-screen movie theater and retail complex would provide a much-needed catalyst for the city’s redevelopment plans, officials said, although they cautioned that the deal is far from finalized.

“This is the key,” said Keith Burns, owner of Books on Main. “If this goes through, it will signal formal redevelopment to in-town developers and Los Angeles developers interested in coming to downtown Ventura.”

Under the proposal, Century would operate a 31,000-square-foot theater to be built by Burbank developer Victor K. Georgino. The complex, which would occupy almost the entire 500 block of Main Street, would include an additional 13,600 square feet of retail space, featuring restaurants and shops.

If the project goes through, the city also has promised to build a parking garage, which merchants say would ease traffic problems downtown.

A city-owned parking lot on Santa Clara Street--now home to the weekly farmers’ market--has been targeted as a prime site for the garage.

But “the plan is not cast in concrete,” Ventura planning manager Mitch Oshinsky said of the lot between California and Chestnut streets. “We are going to have to take a look at how many spaces we have and future demand.”

Although Century executives have committed to the project, the city has yet to receive a formal letter of intent, downtown redevelopment manager Pat Richardson said.

“They have verbally told us that they intend to go forward,” Richardson said. “We are taking them on their word.”

The City Council is expected to sign off on a negotiating agreement with Century and the developer Monday night.

As proposed, the theater would be constructed at the site of the County Stationers building at the corner of Main and Chestnut streets and stretch down the block to the Bank of America building.

The largest of the four properties, the 39,600-square-foot County Stationers building, has been on the market for several years. Its owner, a Ventura family trust, has the property listed at $1.2 million.

Although family members did not return phone calls Wednesday, their agent said they plan to stand by their asking price.

“Whether it’s a theater or anybody else, they will have to pay what the owner wants,” said Jim Gloyd, an agent with Grubb & Ellis.

Although the city’s Redevelopment Agency has the right to seize properties under eminent domain, city officials said they expect that the Main Street properties can be purchased outright, either by the developer, the city or a combination of both.

“There’s a huge number of possibilities here,” City Atty. Peter Bulens said. “It all depends on how willing people are to sell and at what price.”

Property owners at the other three sites could not be reached for comment. Under state law, the city would be required to relocate businesses renting space from them to comparable sites or back into the new retail center.

Opening a downtown movie theater has been a top goal for Ventura leaders and some merchants, who hope the project will attract businesses and inject much-needed night life into the area.

In September, the AMC theater chain backed out of a deal to operate a multiplex in the 200 block of Main Street, near the Buenaventura Mission.

Business leaders had hoped that project would spark redevelopment there but embraced the new project just the same.

“We had all preferred to have the development in the 200 block because we wanted development in that area to move along,” said Tim O’Neil, president of the Downtown Ventura Assn.

“But we also see a tremendous opportunity,” he said. “This is really what we have all wanted and have talked about for a long time.”

Downtown merchants said the planned city parking garage would help make up for 52 spaces eliminated during the widening of Main and California streets last year.

“The parking problems are growing daily,” O’Neil said.

But city planners want to make sure the structure blends into the historic character of downtown.

“We are going to be careful,” Oshinsky said. “We want something that looks good and is not going to be some massive thing.”

Along the 500 block of Main on Wednesday, merchants were discussing the plans for the proposed theater.

Bob Mack manages the Sav-Mor thrift store. Although he was worried that his store would be lost in the construction, he favors the idea of a downtown theater.

“If we stay, it’s great,” he said. “Anything to improve the traffic downtown.”

But others worried that the project would hike rents and attract trendy chain stores that may force smaller businesses out of the area.

“You start turning this into mini-mall central,” said Kathleen Bell, who works at Cosmos Cotillion. “You turn away the charm.”