A rendering of “The Sunnyside”, formerly called “QB38” at 38-01 Queens Blvd. (Courtesy of Curbcut)
Nov. 16, 2017 By Nathaly Pesantez
Sunnyside will be without a movie theater no more, as Regal Cinemas has signed on to take up part of an ongoing development on Queens Boulevard.
The movie theater chain will be occupying the first two floors of the commercial tower currently under construction at 38-01 Queens Blvd.
Of the 145,000 square-feet planned for the building, developed by Curbcut Urban Partners and dubbed “The Sunnyside”, the Regal Entertainment Group will take up 38,000 square-feet of it to bring a theater to the area, according to Benjamin Malinsky, vice president of Curbcut.
The entertainment group will provide a theater to a neighborhood that hasn’t seen one since the shuttering of Sunnyside Center Cinemas in 2015, which opened in the late 1940s.
The former Sunnyside Center Cinemas (Photo: Queens Post)
News of a new theater on Queens Boulevard first began to trickle earlier this year, when David Koptiev, owner of Platinum Realty and partners with Curbcut, spoke about ongoing talks to bring a major movie theater chain to the building, but did not reveal which company due to the confidential nature of the deal.
“There aren’t really any movie theaters in the Queens Boulevard corridor,” Koptiev told the Sunnyside Post earlier this year . “There’s a huge gap between Long Island City and Rego Park without a theater, so it would be a good addition to the area.”
There is no word yet on how many screening rooms will be available, a decision that will be made by Regal Entertainment Group, said Malinsky.
Just about every national movie theater chain was involved in talks with leasing the space, Malinsky added.
38-01 Queens Blvd, pre-demolition. (Photo: Queens Post)
The Sunnyside, formerly called the QB38, will be officially listed as a 12-story building due to the theater’s mezzanine levels counting as floors, Malinsky said. In all, the theater will take up the first 60 feet in length, or the chunkier base, of the building, while the slimmer, remaining portion up top will likely be taken up by medical spaces, as preferred by the developers.
“It’s basically a four-story movie theater and an eight-story building on top,” Malinsky said.
Regal Cinemas has used up a large portion of the retail space, but a 1,500 square-foot corner on 38th Street and Queens Boulevard has yet to be leased, and may be taken up by a national food chain. About four to five companies are involved in talks with the developers about occupying the space.
The building, which also includes enclosed parking for about 100 cars and outdoor terraces, began construction this summer, and is expected to open around mid to late 2019.
The news was first reported by the Commercial Observer.
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38 Comments
Well as long as they sweep up the property and empty popcorn boxes, wrappers, containers don’t end up blowing up the street. The McDonald’s people don’t sweep, the Cube Smart people don’t sweep. Myself and some of the neighbors all got ticketed. We get the garbage blown up the avenue.
Maybe we can see a movie for less than $10???
Maybe we can see a movie for less than $10, or is that asking for too much?
It will be nice to have another theater option but too bad it wasn’t AMC that agreed to move in there. Regal isn’t bad but you pay the same price as other theatres and still get the same ole seats though. If you want something a little nicer it’s the RPX which still is nothing amazing. Most AMC now have the nice reclining seats for the same price. Would’ve been nice to have that style. But like I said it will be nice to finally have an option there.
Yes el loco. You can take your husband out for the holidays in 2020.
Good idea Mary. Nice night out. A movie and a classy dinner with a piano bar. Nice date night.
What a bunch of cranky pants!
Go out and get some fresh air and ☀️
Good. DAZIES and a movie.
great news. Hope they show good old fashion movies like the olden times … loved jerasic park when it was on the silver screen.
Glad they are bringing a theater to the neighborhood, but this is way too ginormous. Our quaint neighborhood is getting overshawdowed. I miss our mom and pops.
This is very cool and absolutely great news for Sunnyside. Just what the neighborhood needs – it will be a great addition for all the new comers in LIC and the long time residents who no longer have to go into Manhattan or Astoria to see a movie. I’m really pleased the way this neighborhood is developing.
I hope it is built and opened before X men 12, Spider-Man 17, Wonder Woman 15 are released. It will be great to see original movies in Sunnyside instead of going over to Astoria. Simply MARVELous .
How long before di Blasio turns it into a homeless shelter?
D’Blasio won live with it and move on already!
Barry is gone and Hillary NOT 45, live with that Brunflakster.
oh thank gawd. i cant stand taking the mta on the weekend, so this works out perfectly.
More n More Density on Queens Blvd
What about …
The Electrical Grid
The Sewer System
The Gas Lines
The Water Supply
Can that Grid Collapse ?
Yeah, new state-of-the-art movie theatre. Everything’s going to shit.
Go back to j.h.
It’s very convenient for the homeless living across the Blvd at the motel that JVB put up there now they really won’t ever go look for a job. Way to go Jimmy the weasel.
You too.
Does anyone remember when they had the last midnight show of The Rocky Horror Picture Show at the Center Movie theater? I think they did it two times a week? I remember last going there and seeing it around 1981 or so. The followers would dress up in costumes and try and reenact some of the scenes on the stage. Does anybody remember the funny old lady that worked in the ticket booth outside? She was real nice and worked there for as long as I can remember. I actually remember the movie theater when it was a single, one movie at a time place. I think it got split into a double movie theater sometime around 1980? Last movie that I saw there was Kramer versus Kramer (guess I’m an old senior now) That was a cool place and part of great Sunnyside history. There was a great burger place next door called PJ Horgans. Does anyone remember the Woolworths that was on Greenpoint Avenue?
No go away
Fake El loco. Can’t even spell El loco right.
El loco and Bruno are jacked up on poweraide. Lowercase on the L in Loco is real El loco.
Yes! I remember Woolworths and still miss it. I also saw Kramer vs. Kramer at the Center theater along w/lots of other movies. Was sad to see it go. I went to one of those midnight showings of the Rocky Horror Show & remember how the fans/followers dressed up like the characters. I wasn’t that impressed w/the movie.
I was dressed similarly to the Dustin Hoffman character in Kramer vs Kramer when I saw it, as were many of the other men in the audience. That’s how we rolled back in the 70s.
great stupid ditty shitty. Now its ruined.
I remember when that block of stores anchored by the theater on the QB end that ran from next to 43-24 43rd St up to the corner was being built–right after the war broke out. Because I didn’t have to cross any streets to get there, I started going solo to Saturday afternoon shows at a very early age.
The first occupant of the space next to what is now 43-24 43rd St was the original site of the Sunnyside post office. Then, there was a Firestone store that occupied an “L”-shaped space between the post office and the theatre. The space on the corner was originally a luncheonette. I grew up in the building at 42nd St & 43rd Ave. Moved away in 1955 at age 20.
As I have written on previous posts, Sunnyside was a great place where to grow up. As long ago as it was, I still have fond memories of my youth there
(PS-150, JHS-125 and LIC HS).
check out this website
https://www.sunnysidestories.website/
I remember it all. Thanks for mentioning them all. They are missed by many.
El Loco and Bruno used to work as Ushers in the Center Movie Theater back in the day. They got hit with eggs and tomatoes while working the midnight showing of the Rocky Horror Picture Show. I hope this new theater show the premiere of the Oran Juice Jones trilogy which is now in production a t Silvercup Studios.
No one but you thinks that this stupid crap is clever. Stop wasting bandwidth with this tedious drivel and move to another neighborhood.
Totally agree. This person is a complete moron and not funny. No one is laughing except your little sister.
Hey Mr Lower Case L, get back in the kitchen at Alpha Donuts. When Bablu sneaks back in he’s going to take back his Uber Camry from you.
Shut the F*** up with your stupid trivial comments
I teach middle school. Your humor is beneath even that. It’s idiotic drivel.
Get some new material. It beyond lame…like a really bad inside joke that been recycled so much no one even knows what the gag was originally.