-January 14,2020-
Sequoia Mall’s long awaited redevelopment is getting closer with Sears closing in coming weeks.Now the next chapter is unfolding as property owner and developer Dave Paynter flies a preliminary Phase One plan that includes a new Regal Cinema movie theater as well as three new buildings on the 24-acre property.
The plan calls for a new 50,686sf movie complex to be followed by the demolition of the existing Regal theater. That will allow movie goers to never miss a show at the Sequoia Mall.
The new theater will”have the latest technology that Regal has to offer” says Paynter although further details are not yet available. The theatre currently has 12 screens but the screen count for new larger theater is not known.
Once Paynter delivers the new building. Regal will outfit the interior improvements and electronics, he says.
The new cineplex will be welcome in a town where the last movie theater built in Visalia( in Downtown) dates from over 20 years ago.
The new Mooney/Caldwell theater will behind the existing movie theater with other new buildings south of the current mall. The new shopping center will be more open air than it is now.New buildings are 16,600sf,14,500 and 19,000sf with no tenants announced.
Paynter has owned the 1974 era mall property since 2013 knowing that its future would depend on a remake of the layout and tenant mix of a retail center saddled with lots of vacancy but not controlling a key anchor property in Sears. Some months back Paynter fixed that problem by buying the Sears real estate just as Sears was moving towards closure of its retail business here.
The Sears spot is likely to get new anchor that Paynter is working on – another key piece of the puzzle for a property that still has plenty of potential – located on the busiest traffic corner in Tulare County.
Regal is the second largest movie chain in the US. They are a subsidiary of the Cineworld Group, based in the UK. Regal has 7,211 screens in 549 theaters in 42 states as of October 28, 2019 according to their website.
Caption: new theatre would be built behind existing theatre -labeled 1 in this drawing of the existing property.