Palace Cinemas has unveiled plans to launch a six-screen cinema complex in the exclusive Sydney suburb of Double Bay in 2012-13.
It is the third new complex the independent cinema chain plans to open over the next 24 months alongside the Green Square Town Centre development, just south of the Sydney CBD, and the Canberra-based Palace Electric Cinema, which will be part of sustainable new development NewActon Nishi.
“Palace has been looking for some time for the perfect location to expand our operations in eastern Sydney,” Palace Cinemas managing director and founder Antonio Zeccola said in a statement.
“The community really felt the loss when the much loved cinemas on New South Head Road closed several years ago and I’m sure they will be delighted with the news that Palace will bring the very best in high-end cinema experience to Double Bay.”
The Double Bay cinema will open on Cross Street within a new development at the former Stamford Plaza Hotel site, which closed in March 2009. The development has been designed by architectural firm PTW and includes residences, a public plaza and retail space.
Zeccola said the design of the new development will have bay windows, wintergardens and set-back terraces containing plants and small trees which will meld into the tree canopy above.
Palace Cinemas currently comprises 85 screens and 20 locations nationally. It runs three current Sydney locations: the Verona Cinema at Paddington (four screens), the Norton Street Cinema in Leichhardt (four screens) and the Chauvel Cinema in Paddington (two screens).
In July 2010, Palace announced plans to expand the Verona to a seven-screen venue although that has yet to occur. In an email, Zeccola said the group is "trying to find a way to make it work within the budget – construction is proving prohibitively expensive at the moment".