The Reading Cinemas building on Courtenay Place in Wellington in April 2020, when it had already been closed for about a year after being deemed earthquake prone. Photo: CC 4.0 BY-SA / Tom Ackroyd
The head of a Wellington hospitality group says plans to reopen the shuttered Reading Cinemas complex in Courtenay Place will put an end to the limbo that has hamstrung business in the central city.
New owners Primeproperty Group - who announced the purchase of the site last week - say they intend to lease the site back to Reading Cinemas once earthquake strengthening is completed.
Wellington mayor Tory Whanau had previously made it a priority for the council to come up with a deal between it and Reading Cinemas to develop the cinema complex which was shut in 2019.
Last year the council announced it had given up on the $32 million plan to buy the land under the property and lease it back to the cinema company.
That led to it going up for sale in July.
Trinity Group's Jeremy Smith said reopening the cinemas at the site would bring a greater variety of people back into the area.
"Having that balance between cinemas, retail and hospitality - it's going to be great for the street - because you're bringing people in at different times of the day and that's what Courtenay Place needs to revitalise is the street to be busy from the late afternoon through the dining into the late night live music scene," Smith said.
Smith said the Council's Golden Mile project remained a potential "spanner in the works" for a community desperate to see the party district come alive again.
"That's going to disrupt the whole street for potentially a long time. Personally, I'd prefer the Golden Mile doesn't go ahead and we look at other alternatives of revitalising Courtenay Place and that will speed up the entire process as well," Smith said.
Mayor Tory Whanau said she welcomed Primeproperty taking over the site and said the completion of the Golden Mile project would ultimately be beneficial to business in the area.
"The Council's Golden Mile project will kick off this year. In the first stage of the project, we will revitalise Courtenay Place and bring new life and energy to the heart of our city.
"Businesses will significantly benefit from the influx of customers that will be attracted to the area once the revitalisation is complete," Whanau said.
