Friday, February 15, 2019

Bethesda construction update: The Wilson (Photos)

The Wilson, a Class A office tower that is part of Carr Properties' 7272 Wisconsin Avenue project, is now well above street level on the Wisconsin side. Fox 5 will move its TV station operations to the building when it opens. But the Montgomery County Council delivered a cannonball to the gut of downtown Bethesda businesses by not requiring a replacement cineplex for the Regal Cinemas Bethesda 10 theater that was demolished to make room for this project. This has led to many prominent business closures nearby, as a study showed a mainstream cineplex showing current blockbuster movies attracts an average of 20,000 additional people to an area per weekend.




10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Just keep repeating your incorrect assumption that an urban cinema could draw 20,000 people in a weekend. Perhaps it will come true.

That data was a marketing spin for a large mega screen cinema at a suburban location, surrounded by acres of free parking. 20,000 movie goers in a weekend is an unrealistic assumption for an urban cinema with very expensive structured parking, located in one of the most expenseive places to buy and build in the entire country.

If you think this is wrong, post us all a link to see your source.

Anonymous said...

From the Verge:

Movie theater attendance in the US and Canada in 2017 fell to its lowest point since at least 1992, Bloomberg reports. Box Office Mojo estimates around 1.24 billion tickets were sold, a drop off of 5.8 percent from the previous year. Even with higher ticket prices, domestic revenue also dropped 2.7 percent from last year, from $11.4 billion to $11.1 billion

Robert Dyer said...

10:46: I will repeat it, because I had an actual study that said it, whereas you are just an anonymous troll. Which has more credibility?

10:52: Virtually all chain theaters have converted to recliners and reserved seating, which reduce the number of available seats in each auditorium. Therefore, fewer tickets can be sold than previously. Combined with an overall lower quality of films on average, the claimed drop in seats is hardly indicative of the death of movie theaters.

Anonymous said...

So they're shrinking seats, for whatever reason, and the quality of films is lower. That's a great endorsement there, Dyer.

"I AM BIG! It's the pictures that got small." -Nora Desmond

Anna said...

Your "actual study" had zero correlation to this area. ZERO. NADA.

What exactly is in your "study." How does it correspond to our area?
Can I read it for myself?
Once I do, if I'm incorrect, I'll be happy to admit it and make any needed apologies.

Anonymous said...

"Virtually all chain theaters have converted to recliners and reserved seating, which reduce the number of available seats in each auditorium."

I can see that recliners would take up more space than conventional theater seats, but how does reserved seating change the number of seats available?

And why would theaters not add more seats to make up for these two factors, if demand were still the same?

Robert Dyer said...

10:30: The new seats are larger, and most recline, Saul. You can't fit as many in the same auditorium, Einstein.

9:48: The study was for Towson, a much less-wealthy area. So it is even more relevant on steroids in a high-income area like Bethesda.

6:16: They don't release the same movies every year. My comments only apply to the years you specified, which indeed had a drop in quality films.

Anonymous said...

"The new seats are larger, and most recline, Saul. You can't fit as many in the same auditorium, Einstein."

Well, that's pretty obvious. What's also obvious is that cinemas have not attempted to make up for the reduced number of seats, by building more or larger auditoriums - which indicates that demand has indeed fallen.

"They don't release the same movies every year. My comments only apply to the years you specified, which indeed had a drop in quality films."

You are lamely trying to imply that 2017 was some sort of statistical fluke in terms of movie attendance. The reality is that movie attendance has been falling sharply and consistently in the past 15 years, and is now back to where it was 25 years ago.

https://www.thewrap.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/box-office-attendance-decline-2017.png

"it is even more relevant on steroids"

WTF does this mean? Keep trying to jam that square peg into that round hole.

Anna said...

Towson? No, no, no. How does that correlate to Bethesda? It's full of students and cheap apartments. What are there...2 colleges in Towson? Didn't Marriott turn one of their hotels into student housing? Isn't Black & Decker in towson? or is it admin offices?
Anyway...I just don;t see the similarities.

Anonymous said...

Black & Decker is no longer an independent company - it was acquired by Stanley, headquartered in Connecticut. But they expanded their offices in Towson last year.

Obviously because of that nice multiplex they built there...