The vacant Empire Theater on West Portal Avenue, empty since the pandemic, is being converted into a nine-story building with 64 rental units. The developer bought the property in 2021 for $2.5 million. It's unclear whether the historic theater space from the 1920s will be restored for public use.
An historic theater in West Portal is being converted into new housing. The Empire Theater on West Portal Avenue has been vacant since during the pandemic when Cinemark left the location, and a developer has just filed preliminary permits to convert the theater into a 9-story apartment complex that would bring 64 rental units to the market. Housing would be on top of retail on the ground floor, and there'd be a deck overlooking West Portal Avenue. And the best part of it all, they're working with Handel Architects, one of the premier residential architects who have built high-end buildings all over San Francisco. The developer purchased the property in 2021 for $2.5 million, and it's still an open question whether the theater itself will be restored and reopened. The theater originally opened as the Portal Theater in the 1920s before it became known as the Empire Theater in the 1930s. It'd be great to see something with this much history reopen to the public. Let me know what you think in the comments and follow me for more San Francisco real estate. [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]
