Theaters for sale

[Stage Addict]

Posted: 3/16/06 at 8:04pm

Does anyone know if there are any theaters in the NYC area for sale? I am doing a project where we have to "spend" 10 million dollars and I thought it would be fun to "purchase" a theater...but I have absolutely no idea how much that would cost. Any help would be splendid.

[BobbyBubby]

Posted: 3/16/06 at 8:08pm

I imagine a theatre in NYC, especially the Broadway district, would cost well over 10 million bucks.

[GYPSY1527]

Posted: 3/16/06 at 8:08pm

If its theoretical, why don;t you buy the theater from someone. Say, the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre (formerly Plymouth) and rename it. Seriously...yuck!

[Katurian2]

Posted: 3/16/06 at 8:15pm

I think the Broadway theatre is worse. Really! Can we be any more original?!

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 3/16/06 at 8:20pm

Probably the old Loews Mayfair a/k/a Demille diagonally across the street from TKTS . The theater is the one with the corner billboards on it . It may be too big but what is left of it I do not know. It may be scheduled for demolition. It is prime property & has been vacant for too long

If I had money, I would renovate it & reopen it & show all widescreen movies & film festivals

Good luck

[Stage Addict]

Posted: 3/16/06 at 8:34pm

Do you have a rough guess as to how much that might cost? (It really doesn't need to be exact but I have NO idea how much this would cost).

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 3/16/06 at 8:47pm

Not a clue in the world

Something tells me for $ 10 million you could lease the theater for a period of years ( assuming it is not scheduled for demolition) & than renovate it (use volunteers as it is cheaper for the non tecnical things like cleaning & painting)

[Runner1B]

Posted: 3/16/06 at 9:07pm

If this helps you at all, the Times Square Church (Mark Hellinger Theatre) was sold by the Nederlanders in 1990 for $14 million .

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 3/16/06 at 9:22pm

The Mayfair could be leased ( doubt you could afford to buy it) It would be cheaper than the Hellinger as the Hellinger was a working theater when sold whereas the mayfair would need a fair amount of repair

[Thesbijean]

Posted: 3/17/06 at 12:41am

The Grammercy theatre is and has been vacant for awhile...

[Wanna Be A Foster]

Posted: 3/17/06 at 12:48am

At the very least 5 billion.

[JRTO]

Posted: 3/17/06 at 11:27am

To give you an idea (again)... the Princess of Wales (where LOTR is in Toronto) was built for $40 million.

$20 million for the property (it used to be a parking lot) and $20 million for construction.

In New York, I bet you could double those costs now. The new 42nd St. theatre cost Livent $43 million around the same time.

If you've got $10 million- put on a hit show. Hairspray made it's money (over $10 million) in 18 weeks.

Let me know if you find that hit show!
Updated On: 3/17/06 at 11:27 AM

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 3/17/06 at 7:15pm

You might be able to afford to buy a 200-300 seat Off-Broadway space, though, mind you keeping it filled with shows will be a struggle since so few things run very long anymore Off-Broadway.

A Broadway theatre would cost you well into the tens of millions. Just doing a renovation of a long closed Broadway house would be well out of your budget -- it cost $35 million to renovate the Biltmore and $34 million to bring back the new Amsterdam.