posted 04-22-2013 12:09 PM                    

quote: Santa Fe New Mexican

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George R.R. Martin, a Santa Fe resident who authored the celebrated fantasy novels on which the HBO series Game of Thrones is based, has purchased the defunct Jean Cocteau Cinema on Montezuma Avenue in the Santa Fe Railyard.

A newly formed New Mexico limited liability corporation called The Faceless Man closed on the purchase in late February, according to documents filed with the Santa Fe County Clerk.

Martin was unavailable for comment Thursday. His wife, Parris, said the couple would “issue a statement” at some point in the future, but she would not confirm whether they had purchased the property or what they planned to do with it.

The Guild of the Faceless Men is a fictional religious society that worships the Many-Faced God, a god of death in Martin’s series of novels titled A Song of Ice and Fire. (The first book in the series is Game of Thrones.)

Closing documents for the theater were signed in Fairfield County, Conn., the city where former Jean Cocteau owner Trans-Lux is now based.

The building at 418 Montezuma Ave. currently has one tenant, the hair salon Wild Hare. Owner Kristin Taglienti said Martin has been “tidying up” and giving the old building “lots of TLC.”

Taglienti said she was “so excited to know the building was going into very good hands.”

“I love that theater. It’s such a great landmark,” she added. “I was pleasantly shocked and surprised to learn somebody I was already artistically fond of is now going to be my new landlord.”

Taglienti said she had talked to Martin about her lease, and her understanding is that “he is interested in bringing the theater back.”

She didn’t think this week’s news that another movie theater project in the Railyard is moving forward would present any problem for Martin. The board of the nonprofit Santa Fe Railyard Community Corp., which manages the city-owned Railyard property, approved a proposal by the Austin, Texas-based Violet Crown cinema firm to build a multiscreen theater just down the block from the Jean Cocteau.

“There are certain things that are not in competition with one another,” Taglienti said. “This [theater] is like the small village. It will be unique.”

Others who know about the Jean Cocteau’s change in ownership are also excited, she said. They tell her, “Oh, I loved it, and it had the best popcorn.”

Taglienti said she and her clients love Martin’s books. “My husband and I love the [television] series. We watch it religiously. I’m absolutely smitten with his story lines and characters. His whole saga has a really magnetic quality to it.”

Taglienti said she also really likes the idea of a local landlord, and one who is “very, very pleasant. In a word, genuine.”

Once called Collective Fantasy Cinema, the theater opened in the 1970s and has been on the market since at least 2009, according to previous newspaper reports. It has one screen with about 100 seats. After the Jean Cocteau Cinema closed in 2006, the New Mexico Film Museum moved into the space, but, without programming or operating funds, the museum closed in 2010.

Last year, New Mexico Bank and Trust filed a District Court complaint for debt, money due and foreclosure against Trans-Lux for allegedly defaulting on $1,722,985 of a $2 million loan made in 2007.

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quote: George R.R. Martin

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The Jean Cocteau is a small Santa Fe art house, with a single screen and 127 seats. It was built in the early 70s as the Collective Fantasy, became the Cocteau later in that decade, went through several local owners who ran it well, and finally became part of the Trans-Lux chain. They closed it in April, 2006, when they shut down their entire chain of theaters. After that it supposedly became the site of the New Mexico Film Museum, but the museum was never funded and never had any exhibits, so that was more in theory than in practice. Aside from a few special showings for the state film commission, which used to have its offices upstairs, the theater has been dark since 2006.

Before that, however, it was one of the city's nicest film venues. It offered coffee and pastries, and had the best popcorn in town, fresh-popped with real butter and parmesan cheese. I saw a lot of movies at the Cocteau between 1979, when I moved to Santa Fe, and 2006, when it closed. I like the idea of bringing it back, better than ever.

I will not be doing it myself, of course. So please, readers, fans, don't get nuts. I am a novelist and a screenwriter, not a theatre manager, it won't be me standing at the concession stand asking if you want butter on your popcorn. My job remains the same as before: editing anthologies, creating and producing television and writing the occasional script, and... first, foremost, always... completing A SONG OF ICE AND FIRE. This does not change that.

I love movies and old movie theatres, and it broke my heart to drive past the Jean Cocteau for these past seven years and see it sitting there, dark and decaying. Bringing this beloved theatre back to life is my small gesture at giving something back to Santa Fe, the community that has been my home since 1979. Might be that I will lose my shirt... but, hey, I've been very lucky, I have other shirts.

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posted 05-07-2013 07:48 AM                    

quote: Sean Weitzel

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The desire to raze the Winchester trio is being fueled by the success of the upscale Santana Row shopping district directly across the street.

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posted 05-14-2013 06:13 AM                       

quote:

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The concept of dinner and a movie — all in the same spot — is coming to the metro.

Merle Hay Mall owners are expected to announce today that Flix Brewhouse will develop an eight-screen, dine-in theater and brewery in the upper level of the Des Moines mall, in the Younkers wing. It’s set to open in summer 2014.

The move is part of Merle Hay’s continuing effort to compete with newer and trendy malls in the western suburbs. Built in 1959, Merle Hay is the state’s oldest enclosed shopping center.

Elizabeth Holland, chief executive of Merle Hay Mall, said she was looking for a tenant that would bring something new to Iowa, instead of “redividing the same pie in the race to the bottom” of local retail centers.

Dine-in theaters are popular in large cities like Los Angeles, Chicago, Kansas City and New York. Texas-based Flix is unique, said Allan Reagan, company president: “We are the only brew pub with a first-run cinema.”

The mall has other changes in the works:

• The mall will raze the parking deck on the south side of the mall and reconstruct and enlarge the entrance there, which will be the main entry for Flix, Holland said. The total project, including making space for Flix, will cost $12 million.

• MC Sports is getting ready to open a 25,000-square-foot store in the mall near the Kohl’s wing, another major coup for Merle Hay, Holland said. MC Sports took over five storefronts and remodeled them into one store.

The mall has seen a renaissance since its owners completed a major renovation six years ago. The mall reconstructed the main entrance on Merle Hay Road and added outside access to several stores.

That work was done with financial assistance from the city of Des Moines, Holland said. Mall owners received up to $400,000 a year for 15 years as part of a tax-increment financing agreement. She said the mall is asking the city to extend the agreement for four years to help pay for the newest project.

Rich Eychaner, president of Eychaner Properties, owns nearby strip centers including a new one being built on Douglas Avenue. He said Flix will be “a tremendous addition to the neighborhood and will provide an opportunity to bring more people to the Merle Hay area.”

There’s a clustering impact to retail, Eychaner said. “The more retailers that come in, the more that want to come in.”

Mall officials have been working to move retailers and businesses in the bridge area to make room for the new project. The split walking bridge will be removed to make room for Flix. The reconstruction will include enclosing part of the open space between the first and second floors, adding a glass elevator and other renovations.

Some businesses, including women’s clothing stores Deb Shops and Maurices, have yet to be moved from the upper level.

The Red Rock Wildlife Education Center, which often has live animals on display, is moving from a location near Deb Shops and Maurices to a spot near Staples in the next month or two.

The mall’s original theater, Merle Hay Cinema, will close when Flix opens, Holland said.

All the juggling of retailers is part of a puzzle to create big enough spaces to attract major retailers, Holland said.

Flix likes Des Moines because of the absence of competition, Reagan said. In addition, the area has Drake University, is the state capital, houses several large corporations and is home to a Triple-A baseball team.

Triple-A cities “are the towns where real estate is affordable and are overlooked by the competition,” he said.

Flix is based in Round Rock, Texas, near Austin, and has opened one theater so far. Reagan hopes to develop three theater-brew pubs in each of the next five years.

Flix was a good addition to Sky Ridge Plaza in Round Rock when it opened in 2011, said Ashley Chambless, Sky Ridge property manager.

“Flix brings more people to the center and that puts more eyes on the other tenants and merchants,” she said.

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