Econsult Solutions Principal and Sr. Vice President, Peter Angelides, testified before the Meeting of the Committee on Financial Hardship of the Philadelphia Historical Commission on the exhaustive review of potential reuse of space of the Boyd Theater that ESI completed.
Dr. Angelides detailed multiple proposals such as turning the space into a restaurant, a megaplex, a theater for touring plays such as Chicago or Jersey Boys as well as ESI’s methodology. Unfortunately, ESI was unable to find a scenario in which the space could be again profitable.
Taken from the testimony:
“Mr. Angelides explained that the first three reuse scenarios they considered, Broadway-style theater, concert/live performance venue, and single-screen cinema, are entertainment reuses similar to the original use. The other two are retail and restaurant/cinema reuses. He displayed a Powerpoint slide that summarized the estimates of redevelopment costs and incentives for the five potential reuses. He explained that, to make financial sense, the redevelopment costs minus the incentives, or net costs, must be less than the value of the building after the renovation. He stated that the net cost varies from $29.8 to $44.9 million for the five schemes.