The credits are rolling on an entertainment executive’s ownership of a theater in the North Fork.
Josh Sapan put the Village Cinema at 211 East Front Street up for sale at a $5.5 million asking price, Behind the Hedges reported. Sapan formerly served as the chief executive of AMC Networks before stepping down recently.
The Greenport movie theater shuttered at the start of the pandemic and has been closed for nearly three years. Sapan recently made renovations to the two-story property, however, including adding seating, a custom ticket booth, a cafe and a space for art exhibitions.
Sapan purchased the property in 2004 for $500,000. The cinema hasn’t been on the market since.
The property includes a classic 23-foot neon sign on the exterior. There are four screens — three at the orchestra level and one at the balcony level — and 632 total seats. In addition to screenings, the venue can also be used for live concerts, cultural events and film festivals.
John Catrambone of Dering Harbor Real Estate has the listing.
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Celebrated theater architect John Eberson designed the original venue, which was completed in 1939 by Prudential Theaters following a hurricane that destroyed the previous venue the year prior. Its premier film was “The Story of Alexander Graham Bell.”
As the theater has changed, however, the movie scene on the East End has as well. The appetite of audiences has waned in the region, leaving only two major theaters left in the area.
This month, an anonymous buyer purchased the shuttered cinema at 43 Hill Street in Southampton for $8.9 million. The buyer previously announced plans to reopen showings there for the first time since the pandemic, as well as cultural events, but details are scarce.
The Hampton Arts Cinema in Westhampton Beach was sold last year for $1.1 million, matching the listing price for the twin-screen theater. The buyers plan to renovate the property.
— Holden Walter-Warner