For those hoping that the multiplex in the centre of Ealing was set to open soon, the following news item will not be encouraging. https://www.standard.co.uk/business/cineworld-bankruptcy-filings-afloat-picturehouse-cinema-chapter-11-b1073312.html There is of course the possibility that the Picturehouse chain may be hived off as a going concern but whether the new owner would want to take on the planned expansion is another question.
Gordon Southwell ● 389d26 Comments
Bell and his cohort of self-serving underachievers had almost ten years before the pandemic to resolve this, at a time of record low interest rates. More interested with securing lucrative snouts in the trough funded roles and attending MIPIM than actually serving the communities who elected them.
N V Brooks ● 380d
Except this goes back nearly 20 years and the warnings to be prudent and then ignored, again and again.
Raymond Havelock ● 380d
At times, just try to see the wood for the trees through those very jaded spectacles.
James Putland ● 381d
And perhaps if you read the article, and have any grasp of the past 5 years, business and economics, you would understand this is in many ways uncontrollable.
All property developers' web sites and marketing materials will always suggest scarcity and imply that only a few units remain. We can't take that as any guide. There are only 13 sales reported so far in the development on the Land Registry's web site. Even allowing for slow registration of sales the scheme would take years to sell out at this rate and interest rates have risen significantly since these sales were recorded.
Gordon Southwell ● 381d
'Why would having an overseas landlord make the person living in the flat less likely to want to have a cinema nearby?'They have one nearby: five minutes away at Ealing Project.
Susan Kelly ● 387d
.. according to the sales websites. All 2 and 3 bed apartments have sold.
N V Brooks ● 387d
IIRC it was almost completely sold with only a few 'units' remaining.
This seems to me unlikely. Generally out of central London assets are bought by middle income people in the Far East looking for yield for their pensions as there is little state provision in many of these countries. They may sometimes do so to provide a place for their children to stay when being educated in this country but most will want to get a tenant in. There have been little if any capital gains in flats in London for over a decade and you need to factor in concerns about sterling on top of that. However, London rents appear to be going up which is boosting yields. I don't know if any of the Filmworks development has been bought by foreign investors or even how many has been sold so far. It doesn't give the impression of being a particularly bustling place to live and I haven't been past at night to see how many lights are on. If sales are poor then the cinema could provide a much needed boost.
Gordon Southwell ● 387d
I would suggest that ot matters mot one jot to the investors like the Chinese 2ealth funds buying swathes of these properties, if there is a cinema. Rental income is a bonus but capital increase is key, although London is no.l9nger the first choice location
You do realise that although the properties may be sold to investors in the Far East they will be lived in by err... people who live in Ealing. The housing select committee looked into the matter a few years ago and found that the vacancy levels of foreign owned flats was the same as those for domestically owned ones. The people who buy these flats are looking for a yield and therefore are keen to get people in - which would be easier if the cinema was operating.
Mark Evans ● 387d
Because they can let it without the expectation of that amenity The apartments are currently being actively marketed on Singaporean, Hong Kong and Kuala Lumpur property websites.
Indeed the film studios link was milked heavily by the devisors and the marketing.But the 'Cinema' remains a shell.A similar scenario exists in Brentford with the Ballymore premise of a superior cinema now down to a 50" screen in a shop window.Again a lot of silence and smoke and mirrors with developers, councillors and officers/executives. All of course, long gone when the *%!* happens.
Raymond Havelock ● 387d
Why would having an overseas landlord make the person living in the flat less likely to want to have a cinema nearby?
It is my understanding that although many of the flats have sold, that they have sold as 'investment rental' properties so amenities, such as a cinema, as a secondary consideration to, all too often, overseas landlords.
Possibly but that might create difficulties for the developer which has sold flats on the basis that there would be a cinema and themed the blocks by naming them after film stars as well as calling the development 'Filmworks'. They could apply for a change of use but it would be very embarrassing as well as raising possible legal difficulties. I doubt they will.
The shell of a building which can house a cinema has been built, nothing more. It has no fixtures and fittings and I am sure that it could be repurposed.
This ignores a key fact. A cinema has been built.It is not within the power of the council to force a company to show films in it.
If you have followed this from the beginning where local groups including the Ealing Civic Society pressed strongly and managed to get the cinema facade preserved and incorporated into the redevelopment ( which was also to have included the Walpole Cinema entrance to return as the Bond St Entrance - but quietly dropped.The wall of silence from the key councillors/cabinet members and planning was protracted as was the deferring of questions.It all started out very open but the previous administration pushed aside local input and kept most in the dark.That arrogance and contempt for the community at large and those who are robust enough to make the effort has purveyed ever since.It was always on the skids since changes started and the dropping of the Walpole facade is, in hindsight, a rather telling marker of the real intent.Not much point having two landmark cinema facades if there's not going to be a cinema of any magnitude.Some in authority must have known and that responsibility stops at the top.
Suggesting just that. Whether due to 'economy with the truth' (plenty of examples of that, sheer incompetence in not getting contractual commitments, or being riden over roughshod by developers. Bell presided over a dozen years of self-serving lack of delivery.
N V Brooks ● 388d
I hear old Bell is now peddling snake oil for a living, or rather is a ‘consultant’! Given the hash he made of everything he touched in Ealing the best advice he could give would be to steer clear of him.The problem with the Picturehouse development was that the cinema was the last thing to be signed off, almost as an afterthought to the rest of the building works. There was clearly a demand for a cinema in central Ealing, as evidenced by the Ealing Project, but too many other interests were in the way.I wonder how long the site will be left unoccupied? Not the easiest of spaces to repurpose.
Simon Hayes ● 388d
Are you suggesting that when he pledged the cinema would open he was aware that was untrue? That seems very unlikely to me - what would he have to gain?Slightly concerned that Ealing Picturehouse appears to be offering founder memberships given that nobody can really know if it is going to reopen or even if it does that it will actually be a Picturehouse. The offer is mentioned on their Twitter account but not on the web site. I'd avoid it for now.
Mark Evans ● 388d
Just another chapter in the litany of lies from Dear Leader Julian.
This has been more wobbly than the cinemas old facade when propped up.The long delays, the constant changes in design, the rather short business plan plus the reduction in parking nearby ( some of which killed off the viability of the old cinema) was an indication that all was not really well and that the sole objective was to demolish the site and then make changes to suit. It's been shambolic from day one and sad but the sceptics were so right and shows how wrong planners and politicians of all sides were in dismissing what were quite pertinent questions and concerns.But that's nothing new nor learned from, and not just in Ealing
Raymond Havelock ● 388d
Share prices are zilch. Ealing PictureHouse can forget about a cinema as I have been saying here for I don’t know how long.
Bettina Margaret Thwaite ● 389d
I would have thought that keeping the existing 24 sites open would take priority over expansion and opening any new sites.Shareholders funds have been totally wiped out and craters would probably not be willing to, potentially. expand indebtedness.
N V Brooks ● 389d