But the Price Tag Is $70 Million
FLATUBSH — A request has been issued for a redeveloper for the decaying but still ornate Loew’s Kings Theatre at 1025-1035 Flatbush Ave., vacant since the 1970s.
But whatever developer is chosen and whatever the plan is, the cost will be steep — approximately $70 million.
“The redevelopment must rehabilitate and reuse the theater building, be economically feasible, and retain certain elements of the theater’s unique architectural features,” according to the city’s Economic Development Corporation (EDC), which is supervising the process in cooperation with Borough President Marty Markowitz.
The city took over the ownership of the Kings in 1979, but has been unable to find what it considers a suitable developer despite several false starts.
The Loew’s Kings, one of several “wonder theaters” built by the Loew’s chain throughout the city in the 1920s, opened in 1929, and originally presented both movies and stage shows.
Its architecture was influenced by the Palace of Versailles and the Paris Opera House. The theater features high curved ceilings, ornate plaster walls, wood paneling, pink marble, a glazed terra-cotta ornamental façade, and a sweeping staircase leading to the mezzanine.
During the decades that followed, the Kings was one of several movie palaces in Flatbush (others included the Kenmore, the Albermarle and the Rialto), making the area around Church and Flatbush avenues THE place to see a movie on weekends. The Kings had a uniformed crew of ushers, and the local youths who worked as ushers over the years included Barbra Streisand, Henry Winkler and Sylvester Stallone.
The Loew’s Kings, like the other trend mentioned above, fell victim to changing demographic trends in Flatbush in the 1970s. According to the latest RFP, the city is still seeking entertainment-type uses, at least for part of the facility.
“Due to the condition of the theater,” according to a statement by the EDC, “the fiscal feasibility of the project may require public investment. Proposals must clearly explain the sources and types of funding anticipated, including those expected from the public sector … Funding may also be available through federal Historic Rehabilitation Tax Credits.”
Needless to say, developers are also expected to preserve many of the design elements of the historic venue, which seats almost 2,200. The Beacon Theater, a popular concert venue in Manhattan, seats only a few hundred more, at 2,800.
In 2006, according to Janel Paterson, an EDC spokeswoman, the city issued an “RFEI,” or requests for expressions of interests, for the Kings, and representatives of several developers came for a short tour of the facility. Since then the city has done both a condition study (of the conditions of the building, which are rather rundown) and a marketing survey.
An RFEI is often done as a preliminary step to an RFP to get a sense of the market, added Paterson.
“The Loew’s Kings is an indelible part of my youth and that of many Brooklynites and New Yorkers. I look forward to some innovative proposals to restore this ‘grand old lady’ of Brooklyn in an area of the borough that is in great need of such an exciting performance venue,” said Markowitz.
As another comparison, we might look at the fate of several other Loew’s “wonder theaters.” The Loew’s Paradise in the Bronx, after being closed for many years, has reopened as a venue for Latino theater productions, boxing and wrestling. The Loew’s 175th Street first became headquarters for a well-known 1970s TV preacher, the Rev. Ike., and then a rock concert hall, the United Palace. The Loew’s Jersey City now presents classic and avant-garde films and some performances, and the Loew’s Valencia in Queens is a church.
A site visit and question-and-answer session will be held on April 7 at 2 p.m. at the Loew’s Kings Theatre, 1025 Flatbush Ave. Those wishing to attend must RSVP by contacting Liliana Ruiz at (212) 312-3840 or e-mailing lruiz@nycedc.com on or before April 4. To download a copy of the complete RFP, visit nycedc.com/rfp.
— Raanan Geberer
Brooklyn Daily Eagle
© Brooklyn Daily Eagle 2008
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