ArcLight owner to demolish Chatsworth theater for industrial makeover

The former Pacific Theater location in Chatsworth is set to be demolished and turned into an industrial complex.

Decurion Corporation, the owner of movie theater chain Pacific Theater and Arclight Cinemas, has filed a permit application to build a three-building industrial campus at 9201 North Winnetka Avenue, according to paperwork filed with Los Angeles City Planning. Plans for the development call for the demolition of the existing 140,000-square-foot structure on the site and the construction of an assemblage totaling 273,500 square feet.

The redevelopment plan comes just months after Decurion announced it would close down Pacific Theater and ArcLight Cinema locations. During the course of the pandemic, Decurion shuttered around 300 theater locations across California.

“This was not the outcome anyone wanted, but despite a huge effort that exhausted all potential options, the company does not have a viable way forward,” the company said in a statement in April.

Deadline Hollywood reported at the time that Decurion handed back the keys to their landlords on most of their Pacific and ArcLight locations. The tactic was said to be Decurion’s way of renegotiating their leases, giving their landlords the option of continuing to do business with them or finding a new tenant. At the time, IndieWire also reported that a new ArcLight location in Culver City owed $181,900 in back rent.

Decurion is branching out to an asset class that has performed well during the pandemic. According to a report from Kidder Matthews, average industrial rents in Los Angeles rose $1.14 per square foot during the third quarter. The figure represents a 3.6 percent hike from the previous quarter and an 8.6 percent increase on a year-on-year basis. Landlords expect prices to continue going up, with many leases coming packaged with annual four percent increases.