Final negotiations are underway for a Loveland church to purchase the Metrolux Dine-In Theatres in downtown Loveland in a transaction that, at least for now, will have the building hosting religious services as well as continuing as a first-run movie house.
The building would not be used as a homeless shelter or 24-hour prayer center, as some social-media rumors have contended.
“We have no plans for either,” said the Rev. Ryan Howell of Crossroads Church, which is buying the building, in an email to BizWest. “We have no experience and are not experts in offering direct services to the unhoused or those facing food insecurity. We have always been and will continue to support our partners (who are experts and have experience offering dignified and direct services to the unhoused and food-insecure folks) in ways that promote the flourishing of everyone in our community.”
The 7-year-old, seven-screen film center at 285 E. Third St. that is part of downtown Loveland’s Foundry mixed-use center was listed for sale for $4.5 million last fall amid struggling attendance numbers.
“Our conversations with the theatre group are grounded in the hope to work with them amidst their very real economical challenges and for it to continue as a first run movie theatre in the immediate future,” Howell wrote.
Crossroads, which averages around 250 adults and children for Sunday morning services at its 5420 N. Taft Ave. building, plans to move to the Foundry building and sell its current facility to Lafayette-based Flatirons Church. Representatives of that church have not returned calls seeking comment.
The movie house was constructed in 2018 and opened in August 2019 along with the rest of The Foundry, a $76 million public-private partnership led by the city, local developer Brinkman Construction LLC and investors Baukol Capital Partners and Colmena Group.
The City of Loveland approved a series of financial and public support measures to help fund and facilitate the development of The Foundry. The incentives included a $258 million package approved in 2016, the approval of new debt for the project, and funding for public improvements such as the plaza and parking garage. The goal was to revitalize the downtown area through the creation of new housing, retail, restaurants and public spaces.
Concerns have been expressed by some city and Downtown Development Authority officials that funding for the parking garage would be imperiled because, as a nonprofit entity, a church does not pay property taxes.
“The DDA’s concern is that removing this property from the tax rolls would torpedo the financing arrangement that pays off the parking garage debt and then require the city to make up the difference with general fund monies better spent elsewhere and/or sue a developer no longer invested in the project,” DDA board member Jon-Mark Patterson wrote in a Facebook post.
However, Howell wrote to BizWest that, “as far as I know, the city will still receive taxes from theatre ticket sales.”
Added Nathan Klein of LC Real Estate Group, which is brokering the sale, “It behooves them to keep the theatre operating” to generate those funds to meet the incentives. … As long as they meet the requirements, that’s not going to change.”
Patterson told BizWest that a 50-cent surcharge from every movie ticket sold there helps subsidize the project.
“We’ve had a couple of conversations with the church,” said Sean Hawkins, executive director of the Loveland Downtown District. “There’s not really a firm plan yet beyond just wanting to work with the church and the pastor.
“The fact is that the theater’s not performed well,” Hawkins said. “The city has helped subsidize the theater, and I’m not sure the theater would be there without that subsidy. I’ve taken my kids there, and we’ve sat through some of those kid movies by ourselves.”
Patterson said losing revenue “could be a disaster for the city. Anything that creates a financial crisis downtown, we need to call attention to.
“I don’t think the city can or should get in the way of a private business deal,” he said, “but the city needs to know that if the financing model blows up, it’s a problem.”
Loveland mayor Patrick McFall agreed.
“It’s a private-party business,” he said. “As long as it fits in the zoning qualifications, they have every right to run it as they see fit.”
Howell wrote that the church’s “greatest desire is to work with the City and the Downtown Development Authority for the flourishing of our entire community. Our priority is to be good and generous neighbors and to support the revitalization of downtown and the vision of the Foundry.”
Movies currently showing at the 24,000-square-foot Metrolux Dine-In Theatres are “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie,” “Project Hail Mary,” “You, Me & Tuscany,” “The Drama” and “Beast.”
Metropolitan Theatres Corp. also operates MetroLux 12 Theatres at the Promenade Shops at Centerra, where it opened Northern Colorado’s first IMAX theater in February 2023.
The downtown theater building includes seven fully built auditoriums with 551 recliner seats, a full-service bar, a 1,200-square-foot commercial kitchen, concession areas and extensive back-of-house support spaces such as walk-in coolers, freezer and storage.
The purchase package includes the leasehold interest of the adjacent office building at 320 N. Cleveland Ave., which is leased from the City of Loveland and has no payment obligations through April 2027 with two five-year options through April 2037. That 6,150-square-foot brick building is subleased to Level Engineering LLC for $14.75 per square foot through next month.
