The developer of Hartford’s Front Street entertainment district has swapped out movie theater operators after the original tenant was moving too slow in constructing the anchor of the ambitious development.
“They weren’t moving on a timeframe that we were looking for,” said Peter Christian, H.B. Nitkin director of development and acquisitions.
Spotlight Theatres, Inc. will take over from Cinema Grille in becoming the first tenant at Front Street, which is across from the Connecticut Convention Center and part of the city’s Adriaen’s Landing development project.
The Capital City Economic Development Authority announced in November that Cinema Grill would be building Front Street’s first operation, a movie theater with a full-service dinner menu. Developer H.B. Nitkin had a contract in place with Cinema Grill and construction was supposed to be complete by the middle of this year, Christian said.
Cinema Grill, based in Georgia, had yet to move forward with any construction at the site, and last month H.B. Nitkin decided to end its agreement with them.
H.B. Nitkin signed a lease with Spotlight Theatres last month and is moving forward in the design process now for construction of the movie theater. Construction is expected to begin in the summer for a fall opening of the facility, Christian said.
Spotlight Theatres, which is also based in Georgia, was formed in 2003 by Joseph Paletta, a veteran of the movie theater industry. Like Cinema Grill, the theater has a full-service restaurant option at its facilities.
“We are excited to bring a luxury movie theatre concept to the Hartford community,” Paletta said in a statement. “With the proven success of our concept site that opened in Greensboro, Ga. we know patrons will enjoy a luxurious high-end entertainment experience. We are confident that this entertainment venue will far surpass expectations in terms of technology and service.”
Christian said Front Street has garnered a lot of interest from restaurants and other entertainment venues to move into Front Street, although no new tenants are ready to be announced.
“We really need to have an anchor in place to get restaurants comfortable with going in there,” Christian said.
