The Hudson Valley Mall is set to lose another major tenant this summer when Regal Cinemas shuts its doors. But the mall’s owners say they are in talks with another theater operator to take over and upgrade the 12-screen cinema.
John Mulherin, vice president for government relations at Hull Property Group, confirmed Monday the Regal Cinemas had announced plans to shut down its Hudson Valley Mall franchise as of Aug. 31. A theater has operated at the site since the mall opened in 1981. Mulherin said talks were ongoing with another theater operator about taking over the space but, citing the negotiations, declined to name the operator.
Mulherin, however, said the company would offer first-run films. He added that the company was also discussing interior and exterior renovations of the theater as part of the deal.
“The market is fabulous,” said Mulherin of the theater’s potential. “There’s no reason why people should have to go to New Paltz or Albany to see a movie.”
The departure of the theater chain is the latest twist in Hull Property Group’s efforts to revive the long-struggling retail center on Ulster Avenue. The Augusta, Ga.-based company bought the back in January 2017 for a fire-sale price of $8.1 million. Last August, the company negotiated a deal with the Town of Ulster and the Kingston City School District to lower the assessed value of the property by 90 percent; it had previously been valued, for taxing purposes, at $66 million. The deal also called for the town and the school district to refund $1.4 million in taxes already collected on the property over a five-year period.
Following the tax deal, the company put $1 million into interior renovations at the mall. Changes included new lighting, placing carpets over worn tile and replacing vacant storefronts with walls bearing murals highlighting local history. The company also evicted a number of tenants who, they believed, did not fit in with their vision for the mall. In an interview with the Kingston Times last year, Hull Property Group owner Jim Hull said that upgrading and “luxurizing” the theater was high their list of priorities as they sought to bring the mall back to profitability.
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Another one bites the dust: Sears to close Hudson Valley Mall store
wow, i was not expecting this! sears obviously was going to close. maybe best buy next? geez, this death watch is depressing!
maybe a consequence of too much netflix and chill?
I blame the expanding Number of Commercials and Previews. For a “7PM” show you would get 25-30 minutes of pre-show crap. No thank you! When you pay for a ticket you shouldn’t be forced to watch commercials (HBO, etc.)
bruno f. Is entirely correct. And the pre show crap is often at increased volume to boot !
The last movie I went to was War For the Planet of the Apes in 2017.
Not surprised… many residents cannot afford to see movies there. Too expensive.
plus most residents are too old and out-of-shape to have enough energy to leave the house after dark. that’s why they like streaming!
Bummer! Now I’ll have to drive to Poughkeepsie and deal with crowds 🙁
I hope we get stadium seating if a new company moves in.
Red Hook is closer, and tickets are half the cost almost.
One thing is clear: Poughkeepsie is the new center for brick & mortar commerce for this region. Kingston used to be a sort of little brother. But with all these closings, it’s clear it no longer really is. There will probably be more closings in the next year or two: Best Buy, Barnes & Noble, Dick’s, the smaller stores inside the mall. None of those stores will close in Poughkeepsie/Wappingers, though.
What’s next for the mall? I hope they tear it down and start over. Who likes malls anyway? No natural light. They won’t even let kids hang out there anymore. Tear it down and put something else up there with that great view of the Catskills.
The following towns have movie theaters: Woodstock, Saugerties, New Paltz, Rosendale, Rhinebeck, Red Hook, Hudson, Millerton. All are smaller than Kingston! Kingston will have a movie theater of some kind. But likely it won’t be aiming to be top notch for sound quality, comfort, etc.
They should put a small aquarium in that mall. It would bring tourists and maybe some other businesses. The via aquarium is nice and always busy. People travel to go there so why wouldn’t they travel to Kingston to go there.
Blame the previews? Obviously a bunch of out-of-touch people. Every theater everywhere has those, and guess what, they are doing fine. It’s just the mall, and malls in general, are dying. They were an American fad. A recreation of an urban meeting space for the Suburban population. Downtown’s are coming back because that is our natural inclination. We used to meet at the mall back in the 80s because it was more than just the place for shops, it was a social Gathering point. Either we’re not as social or we’re Gathering elsewhere. I’m going with not as social.
I hear IBM is moving in
Dear Hull Properties,
This is not your average re-skin a mall template. Please pay attention and read.
The only existing footprint of the property you should keep is the wing that’s home to
Target, Dick’s and Best Buy. Take the opportunity of the theater leaving to do what needs
to be done – the hard work.
Bulldoze the entire mall building except for the previously mentioned wing.
Then a new movie theatre operator builds a new 10-seat theatre that is 2019-ready.
This would ultimately stand as a free-standing adjacent to a public plaza adjacent to
the T-BB-D Wing.
The exterior of T-BB- D would have reconfigured parking, new landscaping and lighting,
best-case new exterior materials, planted tree-medians throughout the parking lot to
reduce run-off and soften the harsh parking field.
On the cleared land, adjacent to the Movie Theatre would be a new, smaller indoor-outdoor retail
street that would house new retailers to the market and relocated mall tenants in a better mix.
There would also be less of a massive parking field, you would look at developing two office outparcels
that are designed for todays professional or medical fields. Fully wired, tech-ready.
Finally, on the Southwestern end of the site, the ring road would be removed, the site better designed
and four – six residential buildings would be built, green space, etc.
New logo, new branding, new approach.
It is working in similar towns.
But it can’t be a new indoor carpet band aid.
That’s not going to work.
Regal leaving shouldn’t surprise anyone. Why on earth would anyone in the area go there and pay double what you pay at smaller theaters just a few more minutes away? I’d much rather drive an extra 5 minutes to pay $6 instead of $12.
$6.00 for a bottle of water? No thanks. I’d rather support the small theatre in New Paltz or Rosendale.
Regal Cinema will not be missed.