Silver Screen signs agreement to operate cinema in Europlex
The Pulawska street location, formerly home of the Kino Moskwa cinema, will be the first Silver Screen location in the capital, and also its first Polish multiplex that is not being developed by its sister company Portico Development.
"Silver Screen as a cinema company also looks for third-party leases," said Sean Bobbitt, financial director at both Portico Development and Silver Screen.
Three other Silver Screen locations under development in Poland - in Gdynia, Wroclaw and Gdansk - are being built by Portico Development. Bobbitt said that about 30% of all 15 to 20 planned Silver Screen cinemas to be developed in Poland would be leased from third-party developers.
Silver Screen expects to invest a total of about $200 million in multiplex development throughout the country. (See related story, page S2)
Silver Screen has signed only a letter of intent and not a final contract with Kinomax, the Polish-Austrian developer of the Europlex site, but hopes to start operating the cinema when the building opens in September.
"There is no lease contract in place," said Simon Trappes-Lomax, a partner with Jones Lang Wootton, which is representing Kinomax in the deal.
Europlex, which will boast 22,500 square meters of office and retail space, will have a two-level, underground movie theater with a so far undisclosed number of screens and a smaller 1,059 seating capacity. It will also offer underground parking for about 200 cars, said Jerzy Olsienkiewicz, Kinomax president.
Europlex was initially slated as a $39 million investment, but the costs are expected to be higher because of a landslide that occurred at the construction site last March, Olsienkiewicz said. He would not detail the extra costs.
Kinomax decided to outsource management of the multiplex because it "is a specific business, which needs somebody who knows the movie business and who will manage the cinema so it brings a profit," Olsienkiewicz said.
Both Jones Lang Wootton and Silver Screen professed confidence that Europlex will be a successful cinema site.
"It's a fantastic location," Trappes-Lomax said.
"Kino Moskwa was always a popular cinema," said Bobbitt, who added that Europlex fits with Silver Screen's strategy of putting its cinemas in city centers rather than the suburban shopping malls targeted by some other multiplex operators. "That is not our strategy at all," Bobbitt said.
Some multiplex competitors question, however, if what they believe will be a five to seven screen multiplex is large enough to be competitive in the long run. Hoyts Cinemas of Australia, which is planning to have 10 cinemas in Poland, wasn't interested in Europlex because of its small size, said Sven Ettrich, who manages Hoyts' expansion in Poland.
"It is too small a development, it won't be competitive in the future," said Ettrich. He added that Hoyts wants its multiplexes to have at least 10 screens.
"Silver Screen as a cinema company also looks for third-party leases," said Sean Bobbitt, financial director at both Portico Development and Silver Screen.
Three other Silver Screen locations under development in Poland - in Gdynia, Wroclaw and Gdansk - are being built by Portico Development. Bobbitt said that about 30% of all 15 to 20 planned Silver Screen cinemas to be developed in Poland would be leased from third-party developers.
Silver Screen expects to invest a total of about $200 million in multiplex development throughout the country. (See related story, page S2)
Silver Screen has signed only a letter of intent and not a final contract with Kinomax, the Polish-Austrian developer of the Europlex site, but hopes to start operating the cinema when the building opens in September.
"There is no lease contract in place," said Simon Trappes-Lomax, a partner with Jones Lang Wootton, which is representing Kinomax in the deal.
Europlex, which will boast 22,500 square meters of office and retail space, will have a two-level, underground movie theater with a so far undisclosed number of screens and a smaller 1,059 seating capacity. It will also offer underground parking for about 200 cars, said Jerzy Olsienkiewicz, Kinomax president.
Europlex was initially slated as a $39 million investment, but the costs are expected to be higher because of a landslide that occurred at the construction site last March, Olsienkiewicz said. He would not detail the extra costs.
Kinomax decided to outsource management of the multiplex because it "is a specific business, which needs somebody who knows the movie business and who will manage the cinema so it brings a profit," Olsienkiewicz said.
Both Jones Lang Wootton and Silver Screen professed confidence that Europlex will be a successful cinema site.
"It's a fantastic location," Trappes-Lomax said.
"Kino Moskwa was always a popular cinema," said Bobbitt, who added that Europlex fits with Silver Screen's strategy of putting its cinemas in city centers rather than the suburban shopping malls targeted by some other multiplex operators. "That is not our strategy at all," Bobbitt said.
Some multiplex competitors question, however, if what they believe will be a five to seven screen multiplex is large enough to be competitive in the long run. Hoyts Cinemas of Australia, which is planning to have 10 cinemas in Poland, wasn't interested in Europlex because of its small size, said Sven Ettrich, who manages Hoyts' expansion in Poland.
"It is too small a development, it won't be competitive in the future," said Ettrich. He added that Hoyts wants its multiplexes to have at least 10 screens.
