Movie show chain sells Ronnie’s Plaza buying middle

ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. — Marcus Theatres has offered the Ronnie’s Plaza buying middle in south St. Louis County, whereas retaining possession of the movie show actual property that anchors the strip mall.

Milwaukee-based Marcus Theatres, a division of publicly traded Marcus Corp. (NYSE: MCS), offered the buying middle, anchored by Ronnie’s Cinema, to Brentwood-based Savoy Properties in a deal that closed Dec. 27 for an undisclosed value, the businesses mentioned. Marcus acquired the property in 2016 when it purchased St. Louis-based Wehrenberg Theatres. Ronnie’s Plaza, at 5320 S. Lindbergh Blvd., had an appraised worth of $9 million final 12 months, down from $11.2 million in 2020, based on St. Louis County data.

Constructed on the web site of Ronnie’s Drive-In, which Wehrenberg opened within the Nineteen Forties and demolished within the Eighties to make manner for the buying middle and movie show, Ronnie’s Cinema is among the most worthwhile of Marcus’ 85 theaters nationwide, the corporate mentioned. The theater persistently ranks as one of many firm’s prime three for gross sales, mentioned Marcus Senior Vice President of Actual Property Katie Falvey. 

“It’s been a vacation spot locally there for thus a few years, so now we have completely no motivation to promote the theater. However the buying middle is completely different,” Falvey instructed the Enterprise Journal this week. “At Marcus we’ve been in enterprise for 85 years, and over all these many years we’ve acquired fairly a little bit of actual property, and we all the time simply make selections on what to do with our numerous actual property holdings primarily based on timing and market dynamics. It appeared that the time was proper to separate the plaza property from the theater and unload the plaza.” 

Whereas Marcus owns buying facilities in different cities, Ronnie’s Plaza was the corporate’s solely actual property in St. Louis exterior of its film theaters, a Marcus spokesperson mentioned. The corporate owns about half its 9 theater buildings in St. Louis. 

Learn the total story on the St. Louis Enterprise Journal web site.