Option offered for cineplex
Bow Tie invited across river after Troy deal falls through
COHOES, N.Y. » When Cohoes Mayor Shawn Morse heard that Bow Tie Cinemas’ was pulling out of its proposed project at One Monument Square in downtown Troy last week, he jumped at an opportunity to invite them across the Hudson River.
“As Mayor of the great City of Cohoes, I extend an invitation to Bow Tie Cinemas, to explore the fastest growing city in Upstate New York,” Mores said in a news release. “We are surrounded by a host of opportunity. Cohoes is well-positioned to host a movie theater within our city, be it in our resurging downtown or along the Cohoes Boulevard corridor.”
One Monument Square, which has been vacant since Troy City Hall was demolished in 2011 because of structural damage caused by flooding along the Hudson River in 2006, fell back into city hands after Bow Tie Cinemas abandoned plans it had with Bonacio Development to build a $24 million, 10-screen cineplex on the site. Bow Tie specifically cited legal action filed by Judge Development Corp., which owns buildings on either side of the site and was one of the previous developers to take a crack at the project.
Michael Jacobson, the director of community development in Cohoes, agrees that the Spindle City would welcome the opportunity to have a cinema and that it would fit well into the city’s growing downtown area.
Over the past two years, Morse’s administration has made moves to attract new economic development. This includes bringing in Pioneer Bank to open a branch downtown to the revitalization of the Cohoes Music Hall and the renovation of the Cohoes Hotel into new apartments.
“There’s no question that a quality movie theater can and has been a major boost for economic growth,” Jacobson said “With all that’s happening in our downtown core, yeah, we think a scaled version, so to speak, of a Bow Tie product would absolutely fit perfectly at this point and time.”
City officials said they already have some “shovel-ready sites ready to go” -- in downtown or on the Cohoes Boulevard corridor.
“We’re at the transportation core between Saratoga County, Rensselaer County and Albany
County -- all roads lead to Cohoes,” Morse said, “so we humbly ask that Bow Tie Cinemas come to Cohoes, see what we believe in here, and be part of the growth of our city.”
Morse and Jacobson also said the city of Cohoes used to have its own movie theater
many years ago.
“We had a movie theater downtown at one time and it was terrific and we would love to be able to reintroduce that concept,” Jacobson said, “so when we saw that it wasn’t happening [in Troy], obviously we started talking amongst ourselves and we would love to have Bow Tie come down here and talk to us and see where it goes from there.”
“Our city, who once was
the host of the former Cohoes Movie Theater on Remsen Street, would like to see the return of this cultural amenity to complete our vision of our downtown core,” Morse said. “We are attracted to Bow Tie for a particular reason: the company has a proven track record of working with resurgent communities, building theaters, and becoming true partners with those communities.”