Theaters, he explains, are concerned with "marquis identity,"whereas stores are "frontage oriented," seeking space to show theirwares. When these cinemas fail, they take everything with them;they gut the places so no other theater can come in and take theirmarket share."

Mendelson notes that "these are really great spaces," but arehard to adapt to other purposes given the physical requirements ofthe special use. "There's degradation in the floors, the columnsare irregularly placed, there's stadium seating, etc." He saysbusinesses that might be a good fit for the unusual space, such asa gym, generally cannot afford the high rent. He explains, "In manycases the rent is higher for movie theater space because of theinvestment they had to make for the special conditions."

Standalones, he says, are easier to market to new retail tenantsthan those in "entertainment centers." "Most cinema property beingreclaimed is really in secondary locations," he adds. "You're goingto see a lot of big box retail space continuing to come onto themarket in general, so moving these theater spaces ill become thatmuch more difficult in many cases. These spaces will be returned tomarket through downsizing, cutbacks and restructuring of retailchains looking to unload space."