Delray Beach residents are one step closer to being able to catch a flick in an upscale movie theater downtown.
Before a packed house of proponents and opponents of the proposed luxury theater, commissioners signed off on plans early Wednesday to add the theater to the former site of the library and chamber of commerce, between Southeast Fourth and Fifth avenues, just south of Atlantic Avenue.
The project will bring a 529-seat, eight-screen theater, plus nearly 43,000 square feet of office space, 7,300 square feet of shops and a parking garage. iPic officials expect moviegoers to be able to catch blockbuster hits in 2017.
The location also is set to become iPic’s headquarters and add about 400 jobs.
“iPic is a unique moviegoing experience,” said iPic founder Hamid Hashemi. “It’s a social destination.”
The vote came after iPic officials made a presentation on their own screens at City Hall that featured video clips and information about what the iPic-goer can expect. That experience includes a reclining chair, pillow, blanket and a waiter who will refill buckets of popcorn.
Hashemi added iPic has been rolling out mixology classes and gaming for kids in the theater as a way to create more uses for space than just a place to watch movies.
To make the project a reality, commissioners signed off on allowing a movie theater downtown, permission to build higher than city rules allow and the city agreed to give a 16-foot, north-south alley to iPic.
“Every downtown needs diversity, employment and things to do,” said Mayor Cary Glickstein. “We are kind of like a two-leg stool. We don’t need more condos and apartments or restaurants and bars. We need more things to do.”
Dozens of residents loved the idea of being able to walk to a movie theater.
“We should be able to say yes to something that’s different for downtown Delray that isn’t retail, restaurants or residential,” said resident Jestena Boughton, who owns the downtown Colony Hotel. “It’s going to be great for Delray.”
Cathy Barstow, director of Blue Gallery, a downtown art gallery, agreed the project will complement downtown.
“I think it will be terrific for downtown Delray Beach,” she told commissioners. “The presence downtown will enhance the character.”
For others, the number of jobs the project will bring was something that sparked support.
“Many of the residents who live here need those jobs,” said resident Chuck Ridley.
Several tweaks were made to the project to address parking and traffic flow concerns, the presentation showed.
Hashemi said he would add more parking spaces than originally proposed. The total number of parking spaces will equal 336. And of those parking spaces, 90 will be open to the public.
Some still weren’t sold on the idea that extra parking and changes to the valet would alleviate traffic in an already congested downtown.
The project also will feature several public plazas and a living green wall on one of the building’s facades.
The idea to bring a theater downtown has been in the works since the city’s Community Redevelopment Agency board selected the project to be built at the proposed located in August 2013.
The project still needs several city approvals, including a site plan that address the building’s appearance and traffic flow, before it can begin construction.
mgottesman@tribpub.com, 561-243-6544 or Twitter @marisagottesman
iPic by the numbers
iPic officials expect moviegoers in Delray Beach to be able to catch blockbuster hits in 2017. The theater would feature:
Eight movie screens
529 theater seats
43,000 square feet of office space
7,300 square feet of shops
336-space parking garage
221 office jobs
208 theater personnel jobs
