Okolona center will get 10-screen movie complex
Business First of Louisville - by Rachael Kamuf
An investment group that has been leasing an Okolona shopping center since Kmart Corp. closed a store there two years ago now owns the development and is preparing to add more tenants, including a 10-screen movie complex.
Preston Street Group, a partnership made up of five Louisville businessmen, bought the development at 6201 Preston Highway for $2.6 million from the New York trusts that own KIN Properties, which built the center in the 1970s.
"It was a super buy," said Ron Hettinger, a Preston Street partner, of the amount paid for the 22.5-acre site near the intersection of Preston and Forest Drive. "It is a huge piece of property."
Now, Preston Street will form a joint venture with Louisville theater operator Marty Sussman to build a 10-screen complex on the property.
Preston Street partner Bob Metts, who also manages the center, said the partnership will put up about two-thirds of the estimated $3 million construction cost of the 30,000-square-foot theater building. Sussman will invest the remainder, he said.
Sussman could not be reached for comment. Business First initially reported his plan to develop a theater complex on the site in May 1995.
In addition to the movie theaters, the new structure will have space for an Italian Oven restaurant, Hettinger said.
Since taking over management of the shopping center in 1994, Preston Street has subdivided the former Kmart building to accommodate four tenants and has built a new 20,000-square-foot building.
The Preston Street partners estimated the cost of renovating the Kmart space at $800,000 and construction of the free-standing structure at $600,000.
Hettinger and Metts said signing tenants has not been a problem. "We get calls all the time from people wanting to lease space," Hettinger said. "Any ground along Preston is valuable."
Occupying the old Kmart spot are Benjamin's carpet store, Evans Furniture and Carpet, a Stride Rite children's shoe clearance center and Preston Bingo Center.
Aaron's Rental Purchase and a Kentucky Title Loans Inc. office are located in the free-standing addition near the front of the center.
The theater project is not the only new construction planned for the site. Miniwarehouses have been proposed for about three acres behind the main building.
Metts said the Preston Street partners may lease or sell the land to companies that specialize in such developments or may build and manage the project themselves.
Other investors in Preston Street are Neal Harding, C. Kelly Hall and Lawrence Schapin.
Latest News |
Most Viewed Stories |
Most Emailed Stories |
