Hope on Van Ness as art houses open
2 movie theaters signal revival on S.F. corridor
“It’s been a long haul to get to back to this point for the theatrical business.” Landmark President Paul Serwitz
While most movie theaters have reopened from their pandemic shutdowns, there’s a reason San Francisco Mayor London Breed declared last Friday as Opera Plaza Cinema Day.
It not only marked the day the Landmark theater reopened, but also the success of a multi-organizational campaign to save it from permanent closure.
The Opera Plaza joins the CGV San Francisco 14, a new theater that opened in September, in welcoming back moviegoers along Van Ness Avenue.
Together, they represent the continued rebirth of the Van Ness corridor, a 2-mile stretch that has been challenged not just by the pandemic, but the city’s years-long Van Ness Improvement Project to beautify the street and make it more efficient for public transportation.
Entertainment is a big part of the reawakening.
“When we talk about economic recovery, when we talk about a future, our arts and film and our entertainment and live music — all of that is what makes us San Francisco,” Kate Sofis, the city’s director of the Office of Economic and Workforce Development, said during a reopening celebration at the Opera Plaza on Wednesday.
“To have these jewels, these points of light, such as this theater we’re standing in, these are not just places and facilities where we can come and take in movies. These are the anchors of what makes us San Francisco.”
Marlayne Morgan, co-founder of the Van Ness Corridor Coalition, said the two theaters provide a vital extension of Van Ness’ arts scene, which includes Davies Symphony Hall, the Opera House and Herbst Theatre.
“We’re trying to hold on to whatever arts space we can,” Mor
gan told The Chronicle in a recent phone interview. “We supported both (theater projects) in writing and at the Planning Commission. The owner of the Opera Plaza really tried to turn it into office space. We won that one. We didn’t have to fight as hard” on the CGV.
The origin stories of the two theaters, which are just three blocks apart, couldn’t be more different.
The Opera Plaza, at 601 Van Ness Ave., opened in 1984 and was targeted for permanent closure before the pandemic, with property owner Pacific Union Development Co. seeking a business that would increase revenue. The nonprofit San Francisco Neighborhood Theater Foundation — which owns the Vogue Theatre, helped save the Balboa Theater and has provided assistance to other classic theaters in the city — and local groups such as the Van Ness Corridor Coalition worked with Landmark and the property owner to make the aging theater more economically viable.
The solution: a $1.2 million renovation, designed by RaelArchitecture(s) of New York and funded by a donation drive spearheaded by First Republic Bank chairman, founder and Co-CEO Jim Herbert. The Theater Foundation took over the lease, while Landmark will continue to operate the theater. Other major donors include Herbert’s wife, Cecilia, board chair of Blackrock’s iShares Exchange Traded Funds; venture capitalist Arthur Rock, and the children of the late real estate magnate and philanthropist Russell Flynn, who committed to the project but died before donating the money.
“It’s been a long haul to get back to this point for the theatrical business and the industry,” Landmark President Paul Serwitz said at the Opera Plaza event. “The reopening of this theater represents the last opening of a Landmark theater during the pandemic, and it’s the only one that has been renovated.”
The CGV San Francisco 14 at 1000 Van Ness Ave. is a multimillion-dollar, state-ofthe-art rebuild by one of the largest cinema chains in the world. CJ CGV, a South Korean company that is the fifthlargest movie chain globally, is looking to expand its footprint in the United States. The CGV San Francisco 14, which took over the space vacated by AMC in February 2019, is the chain’s third U.S. cinema.
AMC converted the space in the 1921 Don Lee Building into a theater in 1998; CGV’s emergence kept it as a theater when potential buyers had other plans.
“We’ll be doing a lot of first-run movies,” said Michael Spring, general manager of the CGV San Francisco 14. “But our company was behind the film ‘Parasite,’ which won the Academy Award for best picture a couple of years back. The idea is we want to bring in more of that type of film — art and foreign. There’s a big market here for Korean films, and Chinese and Vietnamese films as well.”
Spring said the plan is to reserve the top of floor of the multilevel space, which holds screens 10 to 14, as a 21-andolder area that will feature a wine and beer bar. That area will screen edgy, eclectic arthouse and foreign fare. But those screens are not yet in operation; only screens 1 through 9, on lower floors, are showing movies currently. They include an Imax screen and the immersive 4DX technology, developed by CJ. The 4DX technology features synchronized motion seats — the seats actually have seat belts — and environmental effects such as water, wind, fog, scent and snow.
Spring said the CGV has treated its first few months as a soft opening, with eventual plans for a public seating area on one of the lower floors. Those seats and the bar area are now empty; Spring said some of the furnishings and other parts for the theater are “sitting in a shipping container out at sea.” He estimated that the top floor will be in operation by February.
The Opera Plaza also has a small bar connected to the concession stand. Revenue from alcohol sales has become a big part of the theatrical exhibition business. Both theaters, though, are waiting on alcohol permits.
Opera Plaza general manager Chris Hatfield said the theater has brought back eight of its 10 pre-pandemic employees and expects the staff to increase to as many as 12. Spring said the CGV has begun with 20 full-time employees and estimates a full roster of 40 to 50 when the theater is operating at full capacity.
Just when that might happen is uncertain. Still, theater attendance is increasing; Serwitz said the past five weeks for Landmark’s theaters have been the best since the pandemic began. Domestic box office totals are also picking up. The theaters expect to be helped by the scheduled March completion of the Van Ness Improvement Project, which has torn up parts of Van Ness Avenue for the past few years.
“What’s particularly exciting about this location is how many different neighborhoods it can serve,” said Alfonso Felder, who co-founded the San Francisco Neighborhood Theater Foundation in 2002 with fellow Giants executive Jack Bair. “It’s in such a central spot, and so many neighborhoods around it that are full of people that are going to appreciate having a great cinema within walking distance of their homes.”