Pavilion To Go Residential, Will Still Have A Movie Theater

Just five months after the owner of the building that houses the Pavilion movie theater told us there were no immediate plans in place to develop the space into a residential project, it turns out they’ll be doing just that — but we should still have a place to see flicks when that change comes along.

Permits filed today with the Department of Buildings show plans to convert the theater into a six-story residential building with 24 apartments. According to The Real Deal, developer Hidrock Realty plans on leaving the building in tact and renovating the insides to make the conversion, retaining a “sophisticated” movie theater in the new space’s 8,000 square feet of commercial area — which, at least as it appears in the DOB plans, would only be on the ground floor.

Expect the art-deco appearance of the theater to remain, and perhaps be expanded upon. DNAinfo notes that Morris Adjmi Architects will be designing the space, and that they’ll work to “refurbish historic elements on the building’s exterior.”

A new theater may be welcome news for number of local residents, who for years have complained about the sad state of the Pavilion, from the heat being busted to rumors of bedbugs. Still, the theater has a few years left on its lease, as Hidrock Realty CEO Abraham Hidary explained to us in December of 2014 when speculation of a condo conversion was raised.

“It’s very unlikely something would happen in a month, but it could be sooner than eight years,” he said at the time. Sooner, indeed!

Hidrock also owns the adjacent building at 192 Prospect Park West, which has been vacant for years, but was, a while back for those who remember, the restaurant Circles. Hidary said in December that, if it were to happen, they would ideally tackle renovation of 192 PPW and the Pavilion simultaneously, and Gothamist reports that it will indeed be part of the new residential project.

Because the theater is located in the Park Slope Historic District, the project will need clearance from the Landmarks Commission; if approved, the developer tells Gothamist they hope to get to work by the end of this year.