Amazon has bought a former movie theater in Revere, breaking its pattern of leasing warehouse developments and purchasing the site outright.
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National Amusements sold the Showcase Cinema de Lux at 565 Squire Road for $49.8M to Amazon, Suffolk County land records show. The former 10-screen, 102K SF movie theater permanently closed in December amid reports the site was under a sale agreement to Philadelphia-based developer Northbridge Partners. A lawyer for the parties this past October said Amazon would be the development's end user.
It is unclear if Northbridge will still be involved at the property, and representatives for parties in the transaction didn't respond to requests for comment Tuesday.
In a statement Tuesday evening, an Amazon spokesperson cited a policy of not commenting on the company's future roadmap. Amazon only owns a few of its more than 20 existing industrial facilities in Massachusetts, Colliers Research Analyst Dion Sorrentino said.
“It seems it’s a strategic play that they would want to own this property outright,” Sorrentino said. “I’d imagine this is going to be their kind of trucking hub for the more urban area, just from the geographic positioning.”
The former theater sits less than 10 miles from Boston and is surrounded by a massive parking lot. It could relieve parking for Amazon’s 830K SF warehouse 2 miles away, at the former New England Confectionery Co. site that Clarion Partners bought for $355M last year, Sorrentino said.
National Amusements, which owns the Showcase Cinemas chain, previously said it would search for a new location, possibly even one in Revere.
Movie theaters struggled mightily during the coronavirus pandemic, with both the ArcLight Cinemas at North Station and the ShowPlace ICON luxury theater at WS Development’s 60 Seaport Blvd. closing this year. Larger chains have thus far managed to stay afloat, including AMC, which recently extended the lease for its 19-screen downtown Boston location for 10 more years.
UPDATE MAY 26, 9:30 A.M. ET: This story has been updated with information from Amazon.
