UES Movie Theater Site Could Be Redeveloped Pending a Sale

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It’s not yet time for the last showing at the Cinema 123 by Angelika, but as real estate developers hunt for opportunities, it could be coming soon.

East Village-based Reading International is putting 1001 Third Avenue on the Upper East Side up for sale, Crain’s reported. The company is hoping to land $50 million for the property, which could play to a host of redevelopment concepts.

The site is stuck between East 59th and East 60th streets, across from the flagship Bloomingdale’s store. That could make it ripe for a different flagship retail location, according to marketing materials for the site.

But those same materials also see a path forward for a residential, commercial or hotel development, or a luxury combination of any of the above. Newmark’s Adam Doneger, Adam Spies and Avery Silverstein are responsible for the marketing.

Any of those options could allow for up to 79,000 square feet of redevelopment. That jumps by another 16,000 square feet with the affordable housing bonuses, according to the marketing materials.

The 8,000-square-foot lot houses the 24,000-square-foot movie theater Cinema 123, part of the larger Angelika Film Center chain, which has other locations in Manhattan. The theater is still open, though a redevelopment would presumably shut it down, as would the loss of Reading International as owner unless it leases the space back.

The company is looking to improve its liquidity, according to a recent Securities and Exchange Commission filing. A limited liability company affiliated with Reading International purchased the site in 2005 for $12.2 million.

Reading International owns entertainment assets in the United States, Australia and New Zealand. It owns 55 movie theaters, in addition to holdings such as the Orpheum Theatre in the East Village and Minetta Lane Theatre in Greenwich Village.

The Upper East Side site is close to a 24-story, 81-unit property at 1026 Third Avenue that Kahen Properties filed plans to build three years ago. Units at the building became available to lease last year.

— Holden Walter-Warner