)NorthPark, AMC plan 18-screen theater
Mall also will add outdoor plaza, restaurants
06/08/2000
By Maria Halkias / The Dallas Morning News
NorthPark Center said Wednesday that it has an agreement with AMC Theaters to open an 18-screen complex in 2002 that will be surrounded by an outdoor plaza with restaurants, fountains and lush landscaping.
The theater and courtyard area are the final pieces of an expansion project that NorthPark's owners have been putting together since the mid-1990s. Included in the mall's redevelopment is a Foley's store that is under construction and will open in October. A previously announced Nordstrom and space for smaller shops at the northwest end of the mall also are scheduled to open in 2002.
The 35-year-old mall has lacked entertainment options since General Cinema closed its NorthPark Cinemas 1&2 two years ago. The AMC theaters and additional restaurants are a key part of the expansion, said David Haemisegger of NorthPark Management Co.
Plans are for "a lavish exterior courtyard that surrounds the theaters with several restaurants, fountains, lush landscaping and a special-events performance area," Mr. Haemisegger said.
The expansion will add 600,000 square feet to NorthPark's existing 1.5 million square feet, which will make it the largest mall in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. It had held that spot until 1996, when the Galleria swelled to 1.8 million square feet with the addition of Texas' first Nordstrom store.
The AMC Theaters will have more than 3,600 seats, including high-backed loveseats with retractable cup-holder arm rests, as well as a cafe and wine bar.
All of the new construction will retain the mall's signature design features - white brick and cast stone walls and polished concrete and limestone tile-accented floors, NorthPark said in a news release.
The mall beefed up its dining offerings in late 1998 when three restaurants opened: Corner Bakery, Maggiano's Little Italy and P.F. Chang's China Bistro.
With the expansion, more restaurants are planned on the north end of the mall, where the theater will be built. The free-standing theater complex will be surrounded by four or five full-service restaurants, Mr. Haemisegger said.
NorthPark Center is locally owned by Mr. Haemisegger and his wife, Nancy A. Nasher, whose father, Raymond A. Nasher, built the mall in 1964.
Mr. Haemisegger and Ms. Nasher have been planning the mall's expansion since the mid-1990s, but they've encountered several delays.
For example, when Foley's first announced it was building a store at NorthPark, it was scheduled to open in late 1997. Protracted negotiations with General Cinema, which operated NorthPark Cinemas 1 & 2, caused construction delays.
Eventually, General Cinema closed the theaters in 1998, deciding to focus its expansion on markets other than Dallas, so Foley's plans started moving again. General Cinema's decision also freed NorthPark's managers to seek another theater operator.
"General Cinema has decided to concentrate on other parts of the country, but five years ago they were still thinking they might expand here," Mr. Haemisegger said.
Another necessary step for moving expansion plans forward was buying the land under the mall, he said, which happened late last year. The Nasher family partnerships that own the mall bought the land underneath it from the Hillcrest Foundation, a Dallas-based philanthropic organization that mostly supports education causes.
"It wasn't ever their [Hillcrest Foundation's] mission to be in the real-estate business," Mr. Haemisegger said. But as owner of the land, the foundation had to agree to proposed plans. "We couldn't do anything without their cooperation."
After the land was acquired, the entire property, including the existing buildings, was refinanced with $162 million in new loans from a bank group including Bank One, Guaranty Federal, Compass Bank and Comerica Bank.
Besides the movie complex, none of the new shops and restaurants in the expansion have been named, Mr. Haemisegger said.
Next week, Sephora, a popular new cosmetics chain from Paris, will open a 21,000-square-foot store at NorthPark. The first Sephora store in Texas opened last year at the Galleria. And this weekend, NorthPark will open The Walking Co., a specialty retailer that sells footwear and accessories for walkers and hikers.
A perfect example of "Film done RIGHT!"
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John P. Pytlak, Senior Technical Specialist
Worldwide Technical Services, Entertainment Imaging
Eastman Kodak Company
Research Labs, Building 69, Room 7419
Rochester, New York, 14650-1922 USA
Tel: 716-477-5325 Fax: 716-722-7243
E-Mail: john.pytlak@kodak.com
May construction bricks fall on the Nasher's heads and knock some sense of decensy into them.
(Glad you liked the FilmGuard presentation of Titanic, John. We ran that film twice to tweek the sound just right too. )
Its demise makes a sad statement about today's cinemas.
David Hitt
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John P. Pytlak, Senior Technical Specialist
Worldwide Technical Services, Entertainment Imaging
Eastman Kodak Company
Research Labs, Building 69, Room 7419
Rochester, New York, 14650-1922 USA
Tel: 716-477-5325 Fax: 716-722-7243
E-Mail: john.pytlak@kodak.com
(Ron knew better than to tell a Kodak man he was using an unreleased product on the film. When he was radioed that you arrived, he removed the cleaners and put them in a cabinet. It was called P5 at the time, but nonetheless it was virtually the same mix currently on the market less a minor refinement. Your card did make it on his business card wall, so we always had you there smiling at us. )
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The man with the magic hands.