Reading Cinemas will return to its shuttered Wellington complex, news heralded as a “win-win” for the city.
The construction of the cinema in the Courtenay Place complex had not been used since it closed due to earthquake considerations in 2019.
New owners, Primeproperty Group (Prime), recently announced their intention to lease the site back to Reading Cinemas once earthquake strengthening is completed.
Prime bought the Wellington assets from Reading Cinemas for $38 million, according to board details.
Mayor Tory Whanau had already struck a deal between Wellington City Council and Reading Cinemas to expand the complex, one of his most sensible priorities.
But last year the council announced it had scrapped a $32 million plan to buy the land and lease it back to the company.
That led to it going up for sale in July.
Even if the council had invested $32 million to buy the land beneath the site, Reading would still have had to spend around $70 million to redevelop the complex, according to Wellington councilor Tim Brown.
“The good thing about Prime coming in is that Prime has got substantial resources – it’s got a great deal of expertise – it’s done refurbishments of this nature before so it feels like a bit of a win-win for everybody,” Brown said.
Head of Trinity Hospitality Group Jeremy Smith said he hoped the cinema chain’s return to the location would attract a greater variety of people back to the city’s entertainment district.
“Having that balance between cinemas, retail and hospitality – it’s going to be wonderful for the street – because you bring other people in at other times of the day and that’s what Courtenay Place wants to revitalize, is that the street is busy from the end of the day, through dinner to the live music scene late into the night,” Smith said.
The disruption to the council’s Golden Mile allocation remains a “potential issue” for a network that desperately needs the holiday district to come back to life, he said.
“It’s going to disrupt the whole street for a long time.
“Personally, I would prefer that the Golden Mile not move forward and that we explore others to revitalize Courtenay Place, which would also speed up the whole process,” Smith said.
Whanau said he welcomed Primeproperty taking over the site. Stating that the final touch of the transfer of the Golden Mile would ultimately allow for advantages for companies in the region.
“The council’s Golden Mile allocation will begin this year. In the first phase of the allocation, we will revitalize Courtenay Place and bring new life and energy to our city centre.
“Businesses will gain benefits, especially from the influx of consumers who will be attracted to the domain once the revitalization is complete,” Whanau said.
Jon Justice, shift manager at The Ballroom, said he hopes the resort’s reopening fits the tone of the Strip and sends a few more consumers between shows.
“It’s 40 meters of unused facade that is very busy in front of it; graffiti appears; other people avoid it because of that,” Justice said.
Film-maker and reviewer Graeme Tuckett said local cinemas had stepped up to fill the gap left by the closure of the multiplex in 2019.
He hoped that Reading would invest enough in the complex to set it apart from other offerings in the capital.
“As well as the mighty Embassy [Theatre], you also have the Light House, the Roxy, the [Penthouse Cinema & Cafe], all with incredible paintings and Wellington moviegoers have been able to get a price ticket whenever they want.
“But I think if [Reading Cinemas] spent the money and put an IMAX screen there, they would make a ton of friends,” Tuckett said.
The timing of the reopening is impeccable, he said, now that the film industry has almost fully recovered from three straight brutal years of the pandemic.
Primeproperty’s purchase of the site also included the adjoining carpark properties.
Primeproperty Group lead executive Eyal Aharoni said that in addition to major earthquake reinforcement, the site’s advertising domain would be expanded to offer new shopping and dining features, as well as a number of cinemas, as when the complex closed in 2019. .
“This site has a wonderful prospect of providing Wellington with a much-needed cinema and grocery complex with generous parking. Together with Reading Cinemas Courtenay Central Limited, we will ensure that Wellington residents have access to a world-class cinema experience, while “The new retail and hospitality offerings will help revitalize the region,” Aharoni said.
Aharoni said work was expected to take about 18 months and with the goal of opening during 2026.
They said the redevelopment of the site would be managed by the group’s in-house team, in partnership with local engineering firms and builders and would provide employment opportunities for the region during the construction phase and in the longer term once the facility opened for business.
“While specific sustainable features are still being designed, PPG is committed to ensuring that the refurbishment is as environmentally responsible as possible. One key benefit will be the reduction in traffic as the complex will bring retail offerings that are currently only available in the Hutt Valley and Porirua to Wellington, thus reducing the need for residents to travel outside the city,” Aharoni said.
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