Tru Investments aims to save part of San Jose theater in redevelopment

Tru Investments wants to bulldoze all but the neon sign and marquee of a Streamline Moderne moviehouse and back it with a 62-unit apartment complex in San Jose.

The locally based developer has filed preliminary plans to redevelop the 75-year-old Burbank Theater into a five-story apartment building at 552 South Bascom Avenue, the San Jose Mercury News reported.

Preservationists want to save the landmark-eligible cinema, built in 1949 for double features and closed in 2000 as an adult moviehouse, from demolition.

Tru Investments bought the dilapidated property at auction in 2022 for $1.6 million.

Last summer, the firm listed in state business records as led by Hung Tran and Fred Meyer tried to shop it for $3 million to a developer who could turn it into a mixed-use building with ground-floor stores and homes above, according to the San Jose Spotlight.

Tru’s plan calls for a triangular white and turquoise building with ground-floor shops and the soaring Burbank Cinema sign at its leading edge, according to the Mercury News. The five-story complex would contain 62 studio, one-bedroom and two-bedroom apartments.

Preservationists worry much of the theater structure would be razed as a result of the new proposal.

“The preliminary plans filed with the city show everything but the marquee and sign tower being demolished, including the historic theater and lobby spaces,” Ben Leech, executive director of the Preservation Action Council of San Jose, told the Mercury News.

“We appreciate that the proposal saves the iconic sign, but we’re not yet convinced that this is the best or only viable reuse for the site.”

The nearly 500-seat theater, designed by Cantin & Cantin, opened in 1949 in what was then an unincorporated area of San Jose. The Oakland-based father-son team also designed or remodeled such Bay Area moviehouses as the Fox Oakland Theatre.  

But in its latter years, the theater shifted away from mainstream films to pornographic movies.

In 1991, a neighborhood group launched a campaign to shut the theater over concerns about on-site sexual activity. In 2000, the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office forced the theater to close its doors.

Since then, entrepreneurs have proposed a revival of film showings, a mosque, and most recently, a dance, drama and fitness studio, according to the Mercury News.

“While it may have once been seen as a nuisance, today the theater is widely loved by the surrounding community,” the Preservation Action Council stated in a post on its website. “Residents see it as an important landmark, and the sign, in particular, has become an iconic symbol of Burbank.”

— Dana Bartholomew

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