Friday, May 30, 2008

Ridgewood Theatre has $14M pricetag

Once one of the longest-running movie houses in Queens, the 91-year-old Ridgewood Theater, has been placed on the auction block for $14 million just two months after lights dimmed permanently at the historic theater, a spokeswoman for Massey Knakal Realty Services said.

Historic Ridgewood Theatre listed for sale at $14 million

The five-screen theater, at 55-27 Myrtle Ave. in Ridgewood, opened as a vaudeville house in December 1916 and was converted into a movie palace the following year. The Ridgewood survived two world wars, the Great Depression, the golden age of television, video and DVDs, operating as a first-run movie theater continuously since its opening.

But Massey Knakal announced in mid-May that the theater, which closed due to declining business in March, had been placed on the market. The real estate services company is advertising the theater's purchase price at $14 million on its Web site.

According to Massey Knakal's site, the property could be transformed into a hotel or used for residential, retail or commercial purposes.


More info here: Ridgewood Theatre

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Grampa "Al Lewis" must be rolling in his grave. He was at my Ridgewood JHS 93 graduation there. He was a friend of my grandfathers (chef at the Warldorf.
There is a big room with a dome ceiling upstairs.
It will likley become Paki noodles like Jahns

Anonymous said...

Where's that historical group
that wanted it to become a community theater resource?

Out to lunch and out of cash!

That's the way these naive ninnies usually operate.

Anonymous said...

come on ridgewood historical society if there is one, wake up and do something to save this precious theater and how about the
politicians, aren't they aware of the need to save this building.
or probably they don't care.
IT COULD BE AN IMPORTANT THEATER
IN THE FUTURE, WHAT GREAT THINGS COULD BE PRODUCED THERE.

Anonymous said...

You have got to be kidding if you actually think in our day and age that this deteriorated building could actually remain as a theatre and actually make any kind of business. If the locals would have actually valued their neighborhood theatre and attended the showings as opposed to buying the most current pirated DVDs off the streets for less than $5.00, the doors would have been able to remain open. If the perservationists had any real knowledge of what it takes to run a theatre and the high costs of running a theatre, they should have been pushing for the people to attend the theatre when it was open and stop their wet dream about landmarking a building that if it is not developed to generate commerce or jobs for the community it will end up a boarded up eye soar on Myrtle Avenue. Shame on you individuals that obviously have nothing better to do than to argue rubbish. If You are sooo proud and attatched to history, why don't you use your energy to clean up the area and make it possible for a business to operate without the grafitti, vandelism, and destruction of property. Who do you think is actually going to go out their way to go to Ridgewood Queens Myrtle Avenue to see a live show? What will it cost them? Who is your audience? What is going to be your venue? Where is the parking? You have got to be kidding! You can't even get rid of the homeless on the sides of the theatre. I remember when the owners refurbished the the front of the building and the glass displays and they were scratched and vandelized the next night.