The Planning Commission yesterday approved the plans for the big new movie theater that is going to change everything on Mission Street. Austin-based chain Alamo Drafthouse Cinema is moving forward with its $10 million renovation of the New Mission Theater at 2554 Mission Street (between 21st and 22nd), turning the former single-screen, 2,000 seat space into a five-screen complex with a built-in restaurant and bar. As Alamo’s CEO Tim League revealed last year, his decision to expand here was partly personal — he was born in Berkeley, his parents met here, and his wife used to work in the Bay Area.
The plan, as earlier reported, comes with an attached 114-unit condo project that’s been in the works for many years from local entrepreneur Gus Murad, who purchased the theater and the next door Giant Value with big development plans that have been thwarted up until now.
In the meeting yesterday, as Uptown Almanac notes, Planning Commissioner Kathrin Moore referred to it, confusingly, as a “Gangnam style, swagger style” condo and theater renovation project.
The theater has been dark since 1993, and dates back to 1916. A major renovation by noted architect Timothy Pflueger in 1932 brought the sign and the Art Deco theater that stands today, in some disrepair.
Construction could begin by summer, as the Chron reports, and Alamo Drafthouse will likely open in early 2014.
New Mission Theater renovation OKd [Chron]
New “Gangnam Style, Swagger Style” Alamo Drafthouse and Condo Project Approved [Uptown Almanac]
Earlier: Alamo Drafthouse Cinema Not Likely to Open Before December 2013
See the ‘Before’ Pictures of the New Mission Theater, as Alamo Drafthouse Takes Shape
