Airway Heights Village Centre Cinemas up for sale

AIRWAY HEIGHTS - The theater frequently used around the West Plains is up for sale, Windermere senior commercial broker Chris Bornhoft confirmed last week. Village Centre Cinemas off Sunset Highway is on the market with an assessed value of $5.3 million.

The property is listed on North Sound Commercial's website courtesy of Windemere Real Estate Manito, the information on which Bornhoft confirmed is accurate.

"It was put on the market about a week and a half ago," Bornhoft said in a Nov. 30 interview.

Theater ownership of VCC Airway Heights LLC doesn't think a theater is the most financially viable business to run in the current climate.

"We think it can be re-purposed to something more profitable," co-owner Duane Brelsford said.

He added that there is a 5% admissions tax on the theater, which is a tax most local businesses don't have to pay, meaning local business competitors are avoiding a tax Village Centre Cinemas ownership, VCC Airway Heights LLC, isn't.

"It's not on an even playing field," Brelsford said. "Being down for 8-10 months due to the pandemic while still paying property tax didn't help."

Brelsford said there's "many things" ownership feels the property could be re-purposed to. The website lists several possibilities, including "a car dealership, warehouse, retail center, church or many other possible uses." Keeping the property as a theater under new ownership is also a possibility, but may be unlikely given the current economic state.

The point of sale, snack bar and projector equipment is also for sale.

The 29,170 square-foot, two-story theater, which was built in 2009, has a parking lot with 387 spaces. It lies in a developing area of the city by the new roundabout at Deer Heights Road. At the corner lies Dutch Brothers Coffee. To the west is a new commercial development currently undergoing construction, and to the slight northeast, construction on North40 Outfitters continues.

But, local residents will have to find a new theater to frequent their favorite flicks...at least when restrictions on theaters ease.

Drew Lawson can be reached at drew@cheneyfreepress.com.