This article was written by our news partners, the Jacksonville Business Journal.
A former Kmart may become Jacksonville’s newest cinematic destination after Five Points movie theater Sun-Ray Cinema announced Saturday that they’re looking to expand to a second location on San Jose Boulevard.
The recent announcement came complete with a proposed floor-plan for a five-theater layout, complete with a kitchen and concession stand.
“We’re on the path to a second Sun-Ray, even if we don’t know exactly how long the travel time is,” Sun-Ray Cinema announced on its Facebook page. “What we’ve learned is to keep moving forward, picking up what we find along the way.”
The property, located in Mandarin at 9600 San Jose Boulevard, is the site of a now-closed Kmart store. Sun-Ray Cinema will enter a long term lease with Ash Properties subsidiary Atlantic Mini Storage of America Inc., who purchased the 106,000-square-foot property for $4.3 million in 2015.
Sun-Ray will not be the only tenant on the property, and the exact amount of square footage that the movie theater will occupy has yet to be determined, according to Margie Seaman, president of Seaman Realty and Management Co., who is representing Sun-Ray in the lease. Seaman was able to clarify that the current plans for the new movie theater account for 600 seats between the five theaters.
“It’s a game changing event for Mandarin,” Seaman said, adding that the owners had previously looked for locations closer to the beaches. “There are very few development tracts in Mandarin, precious few. What you do see is extreme amounts of renovation; what that tells me is that people are planning to stay.”
Tim Massett and Shana David-Massett, co-owners of Sun-Ray Cinema, were not immediately available for comment.