ORLANDO, Fla. — Development on a new movie theater has been permanently stopped after the company filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy, according to a news release.
Alamo Drafthouse Cinema had already started construction on its Orlando location in early 2020. It was expected to be completed by the end of last year, before the pandemic dealt a hard blow to the movie theater industry.
The theater chain was supposed to open its Orlando location last year at Vineland Pointe, the 450,000-square-foot retail shopping center at the intersection of I-4 and Daryl Carter Parkway.
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The dine-in theater was to include a full-service bar and restaurant and almost 950 luxury recliners across 10 screens. It would have marked the company’s first Florida location.
Alamo Drafthouse plans to sell most of its assets to affiliates of Altamont Capital and Fortress Investment Group under Chapter 11 bankruptcy, which allows Alamo Drafthouse to continue operating while its managers and advisers work on repaying creditors.
“The transaction will provide the company with much-needed incremental financing to stabilize the business during the pandemic, which has had an unprecedented and outsized impact upon the movie theater and dining industries,” the company said in a statement. “More importantly, it will position Alamo Drafthouse to return to growth and continue executing on its long-term strategic vision.”
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The Austin-based company has more than 40 theaters nationwide, including some in the Dallas-Fort Worth area and Kansas City, Missouri. Most of the company’s theaters closed last March but reopened in late summer 2020 with a detailed pandemic protocol plan.
Under the restructuring agreement, the Alamo Drafthouse Ritz in downtown Austin, along with theaters in New Braunfels and Kansas City, Missouri, will close permanently. All other theaters that are currently open will continue operating following local pandemic guidelines.
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The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Cox Media Group
