Published in the March 22, 2017 edition
By MAUREEN DOHERTY
LYNNFIELD— Some might say it’s like watching “Groundhog Day” while others will say it’s about keeping competitive in the cut-throat world of maintaining market share in an ever-changing landscape.
But the end result is the same. Once again, the voters at Lynnfield’s Annual Town Meeting will be asked to approve a proposal for a movie theater at MarketStreet.
The news came Monday afternoon upon the submission of a petition article on the final day warrant articles could be certified by the Town Clerk and forwarded to the Lynnfield Board of Selectmen prior to the board’s meeting Monday night, at which the warrant for the April 24 Town Meeting would be voted to be closed.
National Development Managing Partner Ted Tye submitted the petition article requesting that the town allow a “Town Center Theater” in the PVDD zoning district that governs all things MarketStreet.
Given the late submittal and the fact that Selectman Dick Dalton was unable to attend the March 20 meeting due to a scheduling conflict, the board did not get into a lengthy discussion about Tye’s request.
Selectmen Chairman Phil Crawford explained that Tye would be allowed to outline the petition request but the board had scheduled a separate meeting for Tuesday, April 4 at 7 p.m. at the Al Merritt Center, 600 Market St., when a full presentation would be made to the board. The public will also be invited to engage in a discussion on the proposal at that meeting.
Tye admitted that he and his team have a lot to accomplish in a short time and have set up a website to describe the proposal in detail at YesOnMarketStreetTheatre.com, which was due to be launched yesterday.
It’s all about “experiential retail”
“I hope this is something the town will find is an exciting announcement. We’ve been discussing it a long time. I’ve been consistent for 10 years saying having a theater at MarketStreet is both the right thing for the center and is really important for the center and its future success,” Tye told the board.
“Why now?” Tye asked rhetorically. The answer: Because of the rapid changes in the retail market.
“It is changing incredibly quickly in large part to e-commerce. Our promise from the beginning is to make this a high-end, very successful center. We want to be ‘best in class’ at MarketStreet,” Tye said. Not to change with the times would be akin to “invite failure” to the center, he said.
Current trends indicate the best way to ensure the continued success of MarketStreet is to “give our guests a reason to keep coming back” by incorporating “experiential retail,” Tye said.
Experiential retail is the reason behind activities offered at MarketStreet such as skating, bowling, painting, yoga, spinning, community entertainment and charitable events, which in turn attract “high end tenants,” he said.
“We are not asking to increase the size of MarketStreet,” he said, as it will still remain within the promised 475,000 square foot total footprint.
The theater is proposed to be a one-story building with eight screens occupying not more than 39,000 square feet and less than 800 seats. It would be located next to Gaslight.
Tye also added that a planned two-story above-grade parking garage located beside California Pizza Kitchen, which is allowed under the original agreement, will be built.
