Panoramic clears hurdle for cinema-to-homes conversion in Berkeley

Panoramic Interests has overcome one hurdle in its quest to gut the back of an Art Deco movie theater in Berkeley and replace it with a 17-story apartment building. 

The San Francisco-based developer won the backing of the city’s Landmark Preservation Commission, which designated the facade of the Regal UA Theatre a historic landmark, but not the back of the building at 2274 Shattuck Avenue, the San Francisco Business Times reported.

In 2022, Panoramic filed plans to redevelop the historic cinema, a block from the UC Berkeley campus, into 239 homes. 

Early this year, a group of 55 residents tried to attach landmark status to the building to protect it from partial demolition. 

The group, Save the UA Berkeley, said the theater was once home to a historic 1,800-seat venue emblematic of early 20th Century architectural and cultural trends. The theater that opened in 1932 as the United Artists Theater became a multiplex theater in the 1970s.

The 91-year-old Regal UA closed in February last year as part of the owner Cineworld’s bankruptcy proceedings, along with 38 other theaters across the country.

Panoramic Interests bought the theater in 2022 for $7 million.

Patrick Kennedy, owner of Panoramic, said that even if the Landmark Preservation Commission had designated the whole building as a historic site it wouldn’t have applied to his project. He said SB 330, which effectively freezes zoning codes at the time of application, would have moved it forward.

“In the current environment, every lender assumes there is a good chance you may get the project back. And if we had to give the project back, and then suddenly it would have a landmark status on it, nothing could be done with it. So it’d be a worthless piece of property,” Kennedy told the Business Journal.

The adaptive reuse project, designed by Trachtenberg Architects of Berkeley, calls for a beige-and-brown apartment tower reminiscent of early-century commercial highrises. Plans call for a partial removal of the Regal building, leaving the historic facade intact near the curb.

The redeveloped theater would include 227 furnished studios, two-bedroom, three-bedroom and four-bedroom apartments, according to the Business Times. The Art Deco lobby will be restored and turned into a Viennese-style cafe and wine bar.

In exchange for a density bonus allowing a larger building than local zoning rules permit, Panoramic would set aside 24 units as affordable for households earning between 30 and 50 percent of area median income.

“It is moving forward, full speed ahead,” Kennedy told the newspaper. “The landmarking of the facade only was something we supported, and we intend to restore it to its former glory.“

Not so fast, says a leader of Save the UA Berkeley.

“This development proposal still has to go through an extensive zoning review process. The city has determined that the project will undergo review under CEQA, which includes protections for historic resources such as this magnificent Art Deco movie theater,” Laura Linden told the Business Times.

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She said the theater is listed on the California Register of Historical Resources and was found eligible for the National Register of Historic Places.

“Because of those designations, the city is obligated to consider its historic value in the CEQA process,” Linden said. “SB 330 does not preempt CEQA.”

Panoramic is behind several other Berkeley apartment projects, including a seven-story, 68-unit apartment building with 1,200 square feet of shops at 1752 Shattuck Avenue, approved early last year.

The developer also won approval for a four-story, 11-unit complex at 2555 College Avenue it expects to complete in August. It’s also working to build a five-story, 13-unit building at 2800 Telegraph Avenue.

— Dana Bartholomew