ArcLight Cinema Backs Out of Lincoln Square

The separation leaves a bank branch as the only signed tenant for the 1.4-million-sf commercial, residential and hotel development across from Bellevue Square, one of the largest mixed-use construction projects in the nation. Construction of the project halted last summer in response to the sagging economy and has yet to resume.

A representative of ArcLight, a division of Los Angeles-based Pacific Theaters Corporation, did not return a Tuesday phone call seeking comment. According to the documents filed with the county, the movie theater signed a 20-year lease agreement with four five-year extension options for the ground and mezzanine levels of the project's 315,000-sf retail piece, which was originally slated to open as early as last fall. The project also includes high-rise office and residential towers.

The project's majority owner is Lend Lease Real Estate Investments, which local real estate sources say began hunting for equity investors to provide more than $52 million in equity to revive the project. No such deal has been announced. A Lend Lease representative could not immediately be reached for comment.

Construction of Lincoln Square began in 2000. In 2001, when the project was in full swing, Drugstore.com worked out a deal to terminate its 90,000-sf lease there after deciding it would no need the space. When Lend Lease halted construction last year, it said it would redesign the project to be completed in stages, not all at once as originally planned.