Realty Income reels in movie house with leaseback deal

The leaseback deal comes as LA developers continue to build movie theaters despite the streaming onslaught

Realty Income CEO Summit Roy and the theater (Credit: Google Maps)
Realty Income CEO Summit Roy and the theater (Credit: Google Maps)

Just in time for summer, some action on the silver screen.

Realty Income Corporation has acquired a movie theater in La Verne as part of a larger leaseback deal with Cineworld Group, The Real Deal has learned.

The real estate investment trust paid $20.9 million for the Edwards La Verne 12 on Foothill Boulevard. The 14-screen theater spans almost 412,000 square feet, and is part of the Edwards Theatres chain. Tennessee-based Edwards is a unit of Cineworld, which acquired Regal Entertainment Group for $3.6 billion in 2017.

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Last month, Cineworld announced it would sell 17 multiscreen theaters for $287 million and lease them back, according to Reuters.

San Diego-based Realty Income has more than 5,800 real estate properties around the country. It recently picked up its sixth Chicago-area grocery store for $41 million. The firm did not respond to requests for comment.

Despite the struggles in the movie theater industry from the streaming media onslaught, those properties are still in demand in Los Angeles. Two big major projects, Crossroads Hollywood and Frank Gehry’s The Grand, include significant space for movie theaters.

La Verne is a small city near the eastern border of Los Angeles County, about 33 miles east from Downtown L.A. Median home prices there were $635,000 there at the beginning of the year.