As part of its recently announced five-year, $ 250 million expansion plan, United Artists Theatre Circuit has closed a deal to build a sprawling 14-screen, 50,000-square-foot multiplex in Washington Township, N.J.
Christmas present
UATC will break ground this week on the complex, which will be built at an estimated cost of $ 8 million and is expected to be open by Christmas 1994. According to company officials, the multiplex will have two 500-seat auditoriums , in addition to two others that seat 400.
All will be state-of-the-art with Dolby stereo systems.
The move by UATC, which included purchase of the land, was viewed by distributors as a continued sign that the Philadelphia-New Jersey area is showing an upturn in patronage, although it had been a declining market for a number of years. Part of that renewal comes from UATC's addition of 36 screens in Philadelphia during the last two years.
Philly plans
"The Philadelphia market is very important to us," said UATC's VP of real estate and development, Hal Cleveland. The company plans to build a nine-screen multiplex in northeast Philadelphia that is set to open in spring 1995. "We think it is very important to go forward in this market in particular. We're working on other deals in this area."
Last month, UATC announced plans to add up to 90 theaters and 900 screens in major metropolitan markets through 1998. The $ 50 million-per-year plan includes seven new theater locations with an additional 93 screens this year, as well as 25 new theaters and 237 screens to open in 1995.
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