ArcLight backs out of second Santa Monica location

A plan to bring Santa Monica its second ArcLight movie theater and its first giant IMAX screen have fizzled, reports the Santa Monica Lookout. The negotiations between developer Macerich G3 and the city dissolved after the developer “pulled out over issues of profitability,” the Lookout says.

Part of the reason why the developer thought the new theater complex would not be profitable is that about two years ago, another Arclight opened less than a half mile away, at the Santa Monica Place shopping center.

The proposed ArcLight was planned for Fourth Street near Arizona, on a site now occupied the 325-spot Parking Structure 3.

The new ArcLight would have held as many as 16 screens, including Santa Monica's first IMAX screen, in a four-story complex.

Though the ArcLight project is not moving forward, Jason Harris, the city of Santa Monica’s economic development manager, told the Lookout that city planners are going to revisit the movie theater project in the fall with the City Council and see if the project could be revived with another movie theater.

• Hopes on Hold for Arclight Movie Theater in Downtown Santa Monica [Santa Monica Lookout]
• Santa Monica Getting Two Arclights With at Least One With Imax [Curbed LA]