September Update

It’s hard to believe it’s September. The future of the Playhouse has had many moving parts over the past three months, but a plan may finally be taking shape, and we wanted to share some of the details with our terrific supporters: 1) We have incorporated as a non-profit under New York law and have received our federal tax-exempt status so that we are now officially a 501(c)(3) organization: Larchmont Playhouse, Inc. 2) We have had an amazing outpouring of support – more than 500 people have pledged over $600,000 since mid-June, and we’ve received truly outstanding attention from the press, most recently NBC and LMCTV. 3) The two existing offers for the theater (ranging from $1.2-$1.4 million) seem to have been withdrawn so it appears that there is no outstanding offer. 4) Bowtie’s lease ends September 30; after that date the theater will go dark. 5) Two separate developers are now looking to buy the space. If either one comes through, we will follow the lead of the Bedford Playhouse and have the Larchmont Playhouse non-profit be a tenant of a for-profit LLC that will own the building. 7) If we proceed as a tenant, we will most likely hire the Picture House in Pelham to operate the theater (we could separately hire an executive director and head of programming, but there may be efficiencies to working with Pelham). We would still need to raise the funds to buy projectors and renovate the individual theaters. We would pay the Picture House for their costs and would include in our operating agreement an ongoing right to audit revenues and costs, as well as programming control. Any revenues that exceed the payments to Pelham would be reinvested into the renovations needed (e.g., new seats, carpeting, etc.) 8) If no developer buys the space, we will discuss a joint purchase with Pelham Picture House. 9) Separately, we hope a restaurant group will rent out and convert part of the concession space into an appealing restaurant with a clientele both independent of and overlapping with that of the movie theaters -- along the lines of the Nitehawk in NYC. That’s the rough outline of the structure; there’s a lot more detail to be worked out. If you know of any real estate lawyers who can help (particularly on a pro bono basis) please let either of us know. In the meantime, because we still need to raise funds for operating costs and individual theater renovation, please remember to pledge (go to www.larchmontplayhouse.org) and let us know if your employer has a matching program, now that we are a 501(c)(3) organization. Once we know what our financial structure will be, we will launch a campaign to encourage donors to increase and make good on their pledges! Thank you so much for your continued support - we couldn't have come this far without all of you - - this will truly be a community Playhouse! You can reply to this email with any questions or contact Ellen Zuckert at ezuckert@gmail.com, or Betsy Bradley at eleebradley@gmail.com.