By Jonathan Friedman
Lookout Staff

August 13, 2010 – City Council members on Tuesday gave the green light for staff to begin the negotiation on what developers say will be the greatest cinema complex in Southern California. Although the City leaders said they were excited about greatly improving Santa Monica’s lackluster movie theater scene, they had several criticisms for the current version of the proposed project.

The project proposed by AMC Entertainment Inc. in partnership with locally based Metropolitan Pacific Capital is slated for a City-owned site on Fourth Street, near Arizona Avenue, currently occupied by a parking structure. The 83,000-square-foot complex would include 12 screens with a total of 2,197 seats, 2,100 square feet of retail tenant space and an interior restaurant that would be open to the public. A significant feature is a four-story-high IMAX theater with 3D capabilities.

“We’re excited about this,” said AMC architect William Slusher. “We think it will be our flagship theater. We want to have premieres here. It will be a state-of-the-art facility. We have a lot of hopes and dreams for it.”

The movie theaters on the Third Street Promenade were responsible for luring visitors in the 1980s and transforming the area into the famous outdoor mall it is today. But complexes in other parts of the county have long since surpassed those in Santa Monica with greater technology and seating. City officials say this is the major reason why Santa Monica theater attendance has dipped in the past decade.

“This is absolutely crucial to the revitalization of Downtown,” Council member Gleam Davis said. “The fact of the matter is that almost everyone I’ve spoken to about going to movies, in Santa Monica, goes somewhere else now.”

Although there was no opposition from public speakers during this float-up session to officially introduce the proposal to the council, several people expressed concern about parking issues. A temporary solution for the loss of spaces during construction is that some monthly Downtown parking will be moved to an area below the library and to the Civic Center structure, freeing up spots for Downtown shoppers. There are several options being considered as permanent solutions.

“Everyday my receptionist gets phone calls that it is becoming increasingly difficult [to park],” said Mark Weintraub, whose optometry practice is located across the street from the project site. “They don’t like coming to Downtown Santa Monica because there is not adequate parking.”

Weintraub said he feared the situation would become worse with the demolition of this parking structure combined with the additional movie theater audience. Attorney Tom Larmore and land-use consultant Howard Robinson, who represented various building owners in the area, had similar concerns. Several council members said finding an appropriate parking plan would be crucial during the negotiation process.

The developers are on the second design proposal. The original design of a curved building with a glass façade was rejected by City staff for various reasons, including that it supposedly did not fit with the area. Some council members said they preferred that design to the new one. Council member Bob Holbrook called the revised design “dull” and “boxy.” He said the developers needed to “pizzazz this up.”

Council member Kevin McKeown said he wanted the project to include a plan to spruce up the adjacent alleys. Slusher said a way to do this is being explored.

A development agreement is needed for this project because the developers are asking for some variances on setback rules. With a development agreement, public benefits must be offered. The current benefits on the table include theater use for community events, public art at the complex, a traffic management plan and commuter reimbursement for employees.

Most council members were less than enthused by these offers. They suggested additional benefits such as a local hiring program and ticket discounts for public transportation users.

Last fall when the council gave the go-ahead to begin the process for this project, several members said they wanted a limit on total Downtown theater seating, although an actual number was not established. One idea proposed to meet this demand would be to close the AMC Broadway 4 and prohibit future theater operations from opening in that building. But the property owner has publicly stated he wants to keep it a movie theater, whether it be with AMC or another operator. This issue was not discussed during the session. John Warfel of Metrolpolitan Pacific said at a Planning Commission meeting last month that discussions are ongoing.

Also as part of this project, AMC 7 will get a makeover with stadium seating and other modern features. Warfel said he expects this will reduce the seating by about 30 percent to 40 percent, and it will likely become a four- or five-screen theater.

After a development agreement proposal is worked out between staff and the applicants, the project must undergo environmental review. It will then go before the Planning Commission and City Council for approval. The California Coastal Commission also must review the project. Warfel in April estimated the permit process would take about 18 months and construction would last approximately one year.

"This is absolutely crucial to the revitalization of Downtown. The fact of the matter is that almost everyone I've spoken to about going to movies, in Santa Monica, goes somewhere else now."
    Council member
   Gleam Davis  

"We're excited about this. We think it will be our flagship theater. We want to have premieres here. It will be a state-of-the-art facility. We have a lot of hopes and dreams for it."
    AMC architect
   William Slusher.