News - Local

Published: Wednesday, Jul. 15, 2009

Galaxy Theatres plans to join Atascadero's Colony Square project

Paso Robles-based businessman Jim Roush, who owned Century Cinemas, pulled out of the development

Comments (0) |

A Southern California movie theater chain will lease the 10-screen complex planned for Atascadero’s Colony Square project instead of Paso Robles-based businessman Jim Roush.

Privately owned Galaxy Theatres has signed a letter of intent with developers Jim Harrison and Peter Hilf. Roush notified city officials last week that he was pulling out of the project.

The news came Tuesday as Atascadero City Council members prepared to finalize a pledge of $1.5 million in redevelopment money as a financial guarantee for the Colony Square project — considered to be the centerpiece of Atascadero’s downtown revitalization strategy.

Frank Rimkus, CEO of Sherman Oaks-based Galaxy Theatres, said the company is ready to move forward immediately. “There is no need to delay,” he said. “The changes we are going to make can be made on the fly.”

Harrison and Hilf secured an $8 million construction loan for the theater project last week. Mission Community Bank, Santa Lucia Bank and Community West Bank are providing the loan to build the project’s first phase, a 10-screen movie theater and 14,000 square feet of adjacent retail stores.

Galaxy is expected to invest between $2 million and $3 million. The project is expected to be complete by next June. The developers had long struggled to find the financial support needed to move forward with the project.

The city has been without a movie theater since 2006, when Century Cinemas, owned by Roush, was demolished to make way for Colony Square.

In December, the Atascadero City Council agreed unanimously to pledge up to $1.5 million in redevelopment money as a financial guarantee to help kick-start the project, a move that was applauded by residents and downtown business owners. On Tuesday, the City Council finalized the agreement, which is said to be essential in securing the loan to launch the long-stalled project.

Galaxy Theatres was formed in 1998 and has developed or operated 18 theaters in four states, including nine locations in California. Rimkus said the company was drawn to Atascadero because of its intimate community; he called the Colony Square’s location “ground zero.”

“We like the location, the pedestrian scale of the design (of the Colony Square project) and the way the city of Atascadero long ago adopted the idea of being pedestrian friendly,” said Rimkus, a Cal Poly alumnus. “We are looking to bring people to downtown Atascadero.”

Rimkus said the state-of-the-art theater will feature digital technology with digital 3D capability, comfortable seating and popcorn with “real” butter. It will also have the capacity to host community concerts and operas and to broadcast Monday Night Football. About 40 people are expected to be hired, he added.

Roush’s proposal had included stadium seating, a large snack bar and the latest in sound technology.

Atascadero is expected to gain an estimated $50,000 a year in combined sales and property taxes once the theater and adjacent retail center are complete, Assistant City Manager Jim Lewis said.

When it’s completely built out, the project is expected to bring in an estimated $300,000 in additional tax revenue annually. To date, developers have only secured financing for the first phase.

“We are looking to come into the community and make a 50-year commitment and be a part of the community — that is what makes us distinctive. When we open, if we are doing our job right, we won’t be known as Galaxy Theatre doing business in Atascadero but as Atascadero’s Galaxy Theatre.”