Real Estat; Big screens proliferate in south Fort Collins

Here’s a question: Can Hollywood film producers possibly keep up?
By the time the summer blockbusters roll out in June 2000, movie goers in Fort Collins will have almost three dozen movie screens to choose from — two-thirds of them with stadium-style seating and high-tech sound systems that have revitalized the movie theater business nationwide.
The new Cinemark complex on the southwest corner of Harmony and Timberline Roads will open in April with 16 screens, with each theater seating between 150 and 400 movie goers.
In mid-July, Carmike Cinemas announced plans to add eight screens with stadium-style seating to its existing complex of 10 screens at Horsetooth Road and Manhattan Avenue. That addition is also scheduled to open next spring.
Easy math says that the number of movie screens now operating on the south side will more than double to 34 in all, 24 of them with the new seating arrangements and sound systems that will make some in the audiences think twice about their investments in home theater systems.
“They’ll fill up,´ said Steve Pfister of Realtec Commercial Real Estate Inc., who represents developers of Harmony Village, where the Cinemark complex is taking shape.
“They just opened 24 screens in one building in Westminster. People are driving by other theaters to stand in line 30 to 40 minutes for seats there. Meanwhile, you’ve got theaters in the same area that are empty.”
Ronn Frank of The Group Inc. Real Estate, who brokered the purchase of 4.5 acres on the west side of the existing Carmike building, said he understands the draw to the new-style theaters.
“I’m not a big movie goer,” Frank said. “One of my daughters lives in Windsor, and they drive to Denver all the time to see movies because of the stadium-style seating.”
The appeal is easy to understand. Most of the new theaters have seats that recline and offer plenty of space for even the longest legs, fancy cup holders and lots of elbow room. Add to that the fact that a viewer in stadium seating could take a seat behind Dennis Rodman and still have an unobstructed view of the screen and you get the picture.
At risk with the opening of two huge theater complexes on Fort Collins’ south side are the existing smaller movie houses, particularly those owned by United Artists Cinemas, now a subsidiary of Wall Street giant Merrill Lynch. United Artists owns The Arbor 4, a four-screen theater in the Wal-Mart Plaza at Harmony Road and Mason Street, and the Foothills Twin Cinema at Foothills Fashion Mall.
United Artists had planned to open the 16-screen complex at Harmony Village but backed out of the deal when a Merrill Lynch buyout binge left too few of its resources for the development of UA Cinemas, Pfister said.
Omaha-based developer Dial Companies “had to come up with a new deal, and that was with Cinemark,” he said.
Frank said the future of smaller movie houses was, at best, uncertain.
“The small ones will close down, I think,” Frank said. “United Artists may pull out of town altogether. The only way they can compete is with multiple screens and stadium seating.”
The new stadium-style complexes in south Fort Collins will have a different look than similar developments in other cities, thanks in part to City Plan, Fort Collins’ regulations covering dos and don’ts of real estate development.
“It’s not going to look like a big cube,” Pfister said of the Cinemark project. “The rooflines will be broken up, and setbacks will give it a different look.”
Cinemark will have complimentary company on the 32-acre Harmony Village site, including as many as four restaurants.
First National Bank already owns its building pad on the site, and Schrader’s Country Store will open under the Conoco label.
Noodles, a Madison, Wis.-based chain, has been signed to open a restaurant that offers a menu of “international noodle dishes,” Pfister said. “It’s quick serve, not fast food.”
Likewise, the quick-serve Rubio’s Baja Grille, which offers what Pfister called a “healthy food” menu of mostly fish burritos, tacos and other Mexican standards, has committed to the site.
Two new, but unnamed, full-service sit-down restaurants will complete the Harmony Village package.

Sales and leases
Base Camp move into a 1,560-square-foot space located at 134 W. Harvard St., #5 in Fort Collins. Brokerage services for the new lease were provided by Michael Ehler of The Group Inc.
Science and Technology Corp. moved into a 1,473-square-foot space located in the upper level of 226 Remington St. in Fort Collins. Brokerage services for the lease were provided by Stephen Stansfield and Michael Ehler.
Scott Shannon has taken a 1400-square-foot office at 2362 E. Prospect Road in Fort Collins. Brokerage services for the new lease were provided by Dan Eckles.
David Uchner renewed his lease of a 1,277-square-foot office located at 1807 Capitol Ave. in Cheyenne. Brokerage services for the new lease were provided by Gale Anderson.
CareMed of Colorado signed a new lease of a 1,000-square-foot office located at 1528 S. Lincoln Ave. in Loveland. Brokerage services for the deal were provided by Chris Say and Kitty Wild.
Harlem Ambassadors moved into a 785-square-foot office situated at 111 S. Meldrum St., #4 in Fort Collins. Ron Kresl handled the brokerage services for the deal.
Concentra Managed Care will occupy a 767-square-foot office located at 1807 Capitol Ave. in Cheyenne. Brokerage services for the new lease were provided by Gale Anderson.
A 750-square-foot office at 2301 Research Blvd., #107 in Fort Collins has been taken over by 6th Dimension Inc. Brokerage services for the new lease were provided by Todd Lund and Steve Kawulok.
Scott Rice renewed its lease of a 720-square-foot office located at 200 W. 17th St. in Cheyenne. Brokerage services for the lease renewal were provided by Gale Anderson.
Western Appraisal moved into a 580-square-foot office situated at 1501 S. Lemay Ave., #205 in Fort Collins. Dave Veldman handled the brokerage services for the deal.
The State of Wyoming signed a new lease for a 580-square-foot office located 1807 Capitol Ave. in Cheyenne. Brokerage services for the lease were handled by Gale Anderson.
Commercial Designs has taken up a new lease at 1520 E. Mulberry St., #240. The deal on office space of 570 square feet, was brokered by Chuck Bowling of The Group.Tom Hacker can be reached at (970) 221-5400, (970) 356-1683, (800) 440-3506 or via e-mail at thacker
@ncbr.com. His fax number is (970) 221-5432.

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