Thanks to an abundance of streaming platforms and a pandemic that made consumers more comfortable watching films from their couches, the movie theater industry is suffering right now. Blockbuster movies such as "Top Gun: Maverick" and "Avatar: The Way of Water" weren't enough to save the industry from coming short of its weakest box office projections in 2022.
Thus whenever an owner can sell a theater rather than closing it down, it's cause for celebration. The sale of the AMC Showplace Marion 12 in Marion, Indiana, was recognized as the sale of the year for the Fort Wayne, Indiana, market as part of the 2023 CoStar Impact Awards, judged by real estate professionals familiar with the area.
Ed Burnett of Edb Properties LLC sold the theater to Mitchell Kitay for an undisclosed price in June 2022. The property was built in 2005 and has 36,542 square feet of gross leasable area, according to CoStar data.
AMC Showplace Marion 12 is the only movie theater in Marion, home to Indiana Wesleyan University and its 15,872 students.
About the project: This is the third recorded sale of the theater and the first since 2018, according to CoStar data.
What the judges said: Judge Vince Pfister, president of Complete Appraisal Services, lauded the deal as a "sale of a challenging asset that impacts the local community."
They made it happen: Steve Sagmani, chief executive officer for Exclusive Realty.