Theater favored for Monument Square
Developer hopes to open doors by fall 2018
TROY, N.Y. >> A Saratoga Springs company has won the battle among area developers to be the next to take a shot at one of the region’s prime pieces of real estate.
A advisory group established by Mayor Patrick Madden recommended the city accept an $18 million proposal by Bonacio Construction to build a nine-screen Bow Tie Cinemas theater on the riverfront, downtown site of the former city hall in Monument Square. While the two sides must still negotiate a contract that will require City Council approval, both hope to see construction begin by fall and the theater to open within a year.
Madden said Wednesday the project will help the area grow as what he and other city officials call an “18-hour downtown,” attracting an estimated 8,000 to 10,000 theatergoers weekly.
“Their proposal to build a nine-screen cinema will strengthen our city’s growing economic resurgence while further boosting Troy as a regional destination in the Capital District,” Madden said. “With an estimated 10,000 weekly visitors, this exciting project will support our downtown restaurants and small businesses while helping to attract additional investment to our community.”
This latest proposal will be the fourth in six years since City Hall was demolished in 2011 because of damage done to its support structure during flooding along the Hudson River in 2006. The latest of those proposals fell through last summer, when Kirchhoff Properties, a downstate developer, pulled out of a proposed deal to buy the property from the city for $650,000 after two years of changing plans. This sparked a public outcry led by a group of downtown merchants who took the moniker We Care About the Square.
Russ Brooks, a downtown property owner and member of We Care About the Square, was also one of the members of the advisory group that recommended Bonacio’s proposal over a plan for a hotel and restaurant submitted by Troybased Redburn Development. He said that while he favored the theater proposal, the true test will come in negotiating the development agreement for the property, when the general concept presented to the city is refined with specific details, including a formal design for the building.
“I feel, as did the rest of the [advisory] team, that use of this site for a theater will be a great benefit for downtown and all of Troy,” Brooks said.
Council President Carmella Mantello said she is reserving judgment on the proposal because she had yet to be provided details, but added she is looking forward to sitting down with the developer.
“In order to have full transparency for both the council and the public, I will call a City Council Finance Committee meeting and invite the mayor’s proposed developer to make a full presentation with questions and answers from the council,” she said.
Monument Square would be the fourth Bow Tie Cinemas location in the Capitol Region, joining theaters in downtown Schenectady and Saratoga Springs, as well as in Wilton Mall. Bonacio and Bow Tie teamed up previously to open Criterion Cinemas in a former Price Chopper supermarket just off Broadway on Railroad Place.
“Through our previous projects with Bow Tie, we know firsthand the excitement and activity that they bring to a downtown core, and how successfully that energy meshes with downtown residents, restaurants and retailers,” said Larry Novik, director of business development for Bonacio.
As director of development for the city of Schenectady, Steven Strichman, now Troy’s commissioner of planning and economic development, directly witnessed the impact of Bow Tie’s Movieland on that city’s downtown after it opened in 2007. Strichman said he actually went as far as to reach out to the company to suggest the Monument Square location.
“Bonacio’s proposed development will restore the site as a hub of economic activity and contribute to the creation of an 18-hour downtown,” Strichman said.
Strichman said that while the theater will initially be the sole occupant of the 1.6acre parcel, Bonacio will design the building to allow for future expansion to include other residential or commercial options.
The development will also be tied to a proposal by Bonacio and Bow Tie to redevelop the historic American Theater just up River Street from Monument Square, and next door to the Bonacio-owned Dauchy Building. The theater opened in the 1920s, but was screening adult films when it was closed in 2006 after police said patrons were engaging in sex acts in the theater. Bonacio is planning a $3 million renovation of the building that was awarded more than $775,000 in state funding in January through Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s Restore New York Communities Initiative.