THE MALDEN ADVOCATE–Friday, October 9, 2020 Page 11 Revere says goodbye to Hollywood Showcase Cinemas to become city’s second Amazon distribution site By The Advocate National Amusements, Inc. has entered into an agreement for the sale of its Showcase Cinemas site on Squire Road to Northbridge Partners, a Massachusetts-based investment firm. Northbridge Partners reportedly has plans to lease the site to Amazon, a well-known, multinational e-commerce retailer. According to their attorney, Gerry D’Ambrosio, Northbridge Partners plans to build a stateof-the-art, last-mile delivery station at the Squire Road site that will effectively function as an extension of Amazon’s new facility housed at the former Necco factory in the City of Revere. The plan is for the existing movie theatre building to be razed and replaced with a new, multi-million dollar facility, which will result in a smaller building footprint than the current movie theatre footprint and a reduced traffic flow. The city expects to see increased tax revenue from the project.D’Ambrosio estimates that, “the tax for the new building will likely be three times what it is now, and that City auto excise tax revenue will also jump as Amazon will register their vehicles there as well.This will only help keep the residential tax rate lower.”Additionally, the new distribution facility will likely bring hundreds of new jobs to the city.Overall, D’Ambrosio said, “the proposed facility will result in incredibly valuable economic growth for the City, not only in job creation, but also in increased tax revenue and permit fees.” “We are working closely with engineering and other consultants to design a plan for the facility that is in line with the city’s as-of-right zoning and which will result in a modern, well-designed building,” said D’Ambrosio They are also actively seeking the input of city of officials to develop a cohesive plan that is mindful of the concerns of and potential impacts to the city. The sale and transfer of property will likely go on record by this year’s end.Construction on the new facility will likely start in early 2021. “National Amusements, Inc. can confirm that it has signed an agreement for the potential sale of our Showcase Cinemas de Lux Revere site to Northbridge Partners, a Massachusetts-based developer.Showcase Cinemas is deeply committed to our Massachusetts and U.S. theatrical exhibition business,” said National Amusement officials in a written statement. “We have been a business leader in the Revere community for more than a half century. As part of looking towards the future, we continue to focus on the development, design and evolution of the theatrical experience through the opening of our new Showcase Cinema de Lux at Hanover Crossing in 2021. We also are diligently looking at potential new sites for future Showcase Cinemas locations, including in the Revere area.” Developer and investor NorthBridge Partners has spent the last 15 years focusing on lastmile industrial properties in major markets in the Northeast US. The vertically integrated firm has been successful in its core strategy, targeting small-to-midsized industrial properties with a value-add components such as asset repositioning, modernizing, tenant relocations, building expansions, or ground-up development. Since 2015, it has invested in 30 properties totaling $450 million in value. The emergence of next-day and sameday delivery have underscored the firm’s acquisition philosophy: delivery time has an impact on consumer purchases. Northbridge has seen companies seek industrial assets close to major metros to achieve those delivery goals and cut transportation costs. LAST PICTURE SHOW: An aerial view above of the Showcase Cinema site in Revere and a photo of the parking lot below. According to Amazon, the appearance of the building will be in line with that of the Amazon LastMile Distribution facilities and will be similar to this rendering. North Shore Hispanic Association Announces Virtual Fundraiser Honoring Hispanic Americans Making A Difference T he ongoing COVID-19 crisis has disrupted daily life and many events in 2020. Unfortunately, this included both our annual fundraiser which was originally scheduled for this past spring and our annual Hispanic Heritage Month Festival which was to be held in September 2020. Hispanic Heritage Month is the period from September 15 - October 15 in the United States which pays tribute to the generations of Hispanic and Latino Americans who have positively influenced and enriched our nation and society. With that in mind, we are pleased to announce we are hosting a virtual event on Friday, November 6th, 2020 beginning at 7:00PM. This event will serve as both a fundraiser for our scholarship awards and to honor four remarkable Hispanic Americans making a difference right here in Malden! Zayda Ortiz, community activist; José Palma, co-founder of Comite TPS Massachusetts; Jenna Robey, Malden Public School Teacher; and Miguel Vargas; founder and director of Bajucol. Be sure to check our website www.northshorehispanicassociation.org for the link to join the event. We will be hosting an engaging and entertaining event with both live performances, words from the honorees and our keynote speaker Christian White the “One Day at a Time Dad!” To sponsor this event, please contact Gladys Rivera Rogers, President northshorehispanicassociation@gmail.com
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