A delay, but not a dropout: Alamo Drafthouse plans 2018 opening at the Bloc

Updated Friday, June 9, 2017 at 10:10 a.m.: There was a lot of fanfare when developer Ratkovich Co. announced a slew of new tenants for its Downtown Los Angeles project the Bloc in 2014. Hipster favorite Alamo Drafthouse, an Austin, Texas-based dine-in movie theater chain, was scheduled to open its doors a year later.

But when its opening was pushed back to 2017, and no construction activity seemed to be happening at the Bloc, which has been plagued with delays as its storefronts sit vacant, retail insiders and Downtown residents alike questioned whether the deal was dead. 

Apparently, it’s not. In The Real Deal’s investigation into the slowdown at the Bloc, we found that many previously announced tenants had not actually signed leases. Ratkovich’s announcement indicated Alamo has now officially signed on.

“With the addition of Alamo Drafthouse and our positive leasing momentum, space will soon be a scarce commodity at the Bloc,” Ratkovich President Wayne Ratkovich said in a statement.

The opening, however, is delayed again. Alamo Drafthouse announced this week it will finally open its location at the southwest corner of the project in 2018, the L.A. Downtown News reported.

The theater will offer guests 12 screens and hold up to 560 seats. Alamo is known for showing a mix of independent, foreign and mainstream films, as well as allowing guests to dine and drink inside the theater. It’s also famous for its strict no talking and texting policy. [DTN] — Subrina Hudson