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Muvico wonders whether the Target next to the Phillies' ball park has enough parking for a 20-screen theater.
By JENNIFER FARRELL, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times, published February 28, 2003
CLEARWATER -- Muvico has a Target in mind for a new 20-screen megaplex with stadium seating in Clearwater.
Literally.
The Fort Lauderdale movie chain is eyeing a soon-to-be-vacant Target store in the Clearwater Collections shopping center near the corner of Drew Street and U.S. 19.
"It's preliminary," developer Greg Sembler said Thursday. "They're just investigating."
Sembler, vice chairman of the Sembler Co., owns much of the land in the half-filled shopping center, which still houses a Tandy Computer Center and a Dollar Tree store.
Target is moving out in October when its new superstore is set to open in the rebuilt Clearwater Mall, which Sembler is also developing.
He said Muvico is studying whether the old Target, which is next to the Philadelphia Phillies' new spring-training ball park, has enough parking available to serve a planned 80,000-square-foot multiplex.
"They would want to do it as soon as possible," he said. "They can't start building until Target is out of there."
A Target spokeswoman declined comment Thursday, and a Muvico representative did not return calls.
Parks and Recreation director Kevin Dunbar said Muvico has asked the city about the feasibility of sharing parking with the sports complex during big-turnout events.
City officials, who have long tried for a theater downtown, said they have mixed feelings about Muvico's plans.
"We obviously feel that a downtown location would be the preferred location," said Economic Development director Reg Owens. "From a development standpoint, I can recognize that a movie theater might choose a location on a more major artery."
Clearwater has been without a first-run movie theater since 2000, when cinemas at the Countryside and Clearwater malls shut down.
The Clearwater Cinema Cafe shows movies for discount prices after they have been screened at first-run theaters. But residents have to leave town to see something new.
City officials acknowledge beggars can't be choosers.
"We don't have a complex like that," Mayor Brian Aungst said. "We desperately need one."
As for a theater downtown, Aungst said the city's options are limited.
"There wasn't a whole lot of space," he said. "Unless we just blew up Harborview."
Owens said new residential development downtown should help spur demand for another theater someday, but it likely would not be a 20-screen megaplex.
"I think that we need a more urban center that might have half that (number of) screens," he said. "I think there's a market for both."
City officials envy the splashy AMC Woodlands 20, a megaplex that opened in March 2000 in Oldsmar with stadium seating and high-quality sound. Weekend crowds have thronged the cinema since it opened.
Muvico, meanwhile, operates a 20-screen multiplex in St. Petersburg's Baywalk, which also was developed by Sembler. The company also runs a 10-screen cinema in Palm Harbor.
On Thursday, Sembler said the Drew Street location is attractive for a megaplex and could someday support a restaurant and sports bar, especially when the dust settles on the new stadium and the nearby U.S. 19 overpass under construction that will carry traffic over Drew Street.
"There's kind of a hole in the market for multiscreen theaters," said Sembler. "We're all waiting for the construction zone to be over."
-- Jennifer Farrell can be reached at 445-4160 or farrell@sptimes.com ">farrell@sptimes.com .