by Jim Harrington
With the Palo Alto Square's days now apparently numbered, its operators are now pinning their hopes on building a new movie complex at Stanford Shopping Center.
Steve Gilula, president of Landmark Theatres, said his company has come to a tentative agreement with Stanford Shopping Center in which the two sides will work together to develop a theater.
Larry Horton, director of government and community affairs for mall owners Stanford University, said that "there has been serious discussions (about a theater) and we are very positive."
But the plans hinge on whether the shopping center will be allowed to expand, a decision that may ultimately rest with the voters of Palo Alto. The expansion, backed by Stanford University, is an integral part of the school's Sand Hill Road plans, which are currently being debated by the Palo Alto City Council.
Since a movie theater is deemed a conditional use occupancy, the plans also hinge on a separate city approval process due to commercial zoning regulations, said Bill Phillips, Stanford Management Company's managing director for real estate. These regulations would not apply, Phillips said, if the center wanted to add something such as another men's apparel store.
Gilula said that Palo Alto needs a quality movie complex to fill what he calls "a basic shortage of screens that exist now in the Palo Alto area." And, he said, the reprieve of the Palo Alto Square should give his company time to work with shopping center officials. The Square had been set to close in February, but was saved at the last minute. Now, it will probably stay open for a year or longer.
"It gives us time to hopefully pursue our biggest goal: to get screens in the Stanford Shopping Center," said Gilula. Since Landmark is not able to pay as much rent as other tenants, Gilula said that the shopping center is willing to make them a viable deal. That means, he said, paying "probably half or even less" in rent compared to what other stores at the center pay. The tradeoff would be that a Landmark complex would draw hundreds of people to the mall for movies. Many of those people would then drift into the mall and spend money.
"One nice thing about movie theaters is that they bring people into shopping centers at off-peak periods," said Horton, who adds that adding a cinema to the mall would be a community service. "Our indications are that there is strong community interest."
Gilula is certain that Landmark could construct something that would fit the Palo Alto area.
"We would build a theater that is right for the shopping center, that is right for the community," he said. The Palo Alto Square was all set to close after the last show of "Shine" on President's Day. Gilula announced Jan. 27 that the theater, which opened in 1971, was finished. The theater was set to be dismantled and the moving vans had been ordered. Free popcorn, sodas and movie posters were to be handed out on that last day.
The theater was not closing due to lack of business, in fact it's Landmark's flagship on the Peninsula. The Square was a victim of soaring rent prices, and Equity Properties, which manages the complex at El Camino Real and Page Mill Road, decided not to renew the theater's lease.
It was simply a business decision, Gilula explained, since Equity could likely get at least three times as much rent as Landmark was paying if the space were used for something besides a theater.
But City Council member Gary Fazzino took the initiative to try and see if anything could be done to stop the closure. He asked Palo Alto Economic Resources Director Carol Jansen to find out. Jansen conducted a conference call with Equity representatives in Chicago and Los Angeles at 2 p.m. the Friday before the theater was to close, and about two hours later she got a ring back saying that the Square would be allowed to remain open "indefinitely."
Even if "indefinitely" turns out to mean permanently, Gilula says that Landmark still wants a home in the Stanford Shopping Center.
"Absolutely, unequivocally, we need the Stanford (Shopping Center) theater whether or not the Palo Alto Square stays open," he said.
Landmark wants to build a state-of-the-art multiplex at the shopping center. Distancing his proposed structure from the mainstream multi-screen theaters, Gilula calls what Landmark would operate at the shopping center a "miniplex." It would have between five and nine screens, and seating in each auditorium would range from 300 down to about 100.
The smaller auditoriums would allow Landmark to show films that don't attract big audiences but have artistic merit. They would also give Landmark the flexibility to move a movie from a big to a small theater once audiences begin to thin out but there's still demand.
Gilula said that many films don't play Palo Alto or Menlo Park simply because there isn't enough room. The A-list includes such recent films as Woody Allen's "Everyone Says I Love You," the re-issue of Alfred Hitchcock's "Vertigo," Meryl Streep in "Marvin's Room," and the critically-acclaimed "Sling Blade."
"There is a tremendous wealth of film that is available," he said. "It's just difficult to squeeze it in. . . . We can do a better job and provide better overall service to the community with a new state-of-the-art theater."
The state-of-the-art theaters that Landmark has opened recently have drawn rave reviews from members of their communities. Its nine-screen complex in Cambridge, Mass., was completed in late 1995 and was featured in the 1996 "Best of Boston" issue of Boston magazine. The short entry reads: "An award-winning design, coupled with a great sound system and a short-person-friendly seating arrangement--plus free parking!--make this new theater a movie-goer's delight."
Closer to home, Landmark's Embarcadero Center Cinema opened in 1995 in San Francisco. It was featured a year later in San Francisco Business Times. "Movie house grabs starring role at Embarcadero Center," read the headline, which was followed by the lead: "Embarcadero Center managers and merchants have rave reviews for Landmark Theatre's Embarcadero Center Cinema."
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