Its lack of windows and its large marquee, which casts shadows on the entryway, makes it a poor fit for retail space, he added. With 10,270 square feet on the street level and second floor, as well as 5,000 square feet below ground, the building is too small for a modern theater and would not be able to compete with today’s multiplexes, he said. “I consider myself a steward of this building, and I’m happy that we found someone that will take proper care of it,” he said. Planet Fitness is the best use for the space, Mr. The conversations with Planet Fitness have been going on for more than a year, and a deal was signed last Friday giving Planet Fitness a 15-year lease, with a five-year option to extend. He won that battle in 2011, and since then has flirted with countless tenants, with several deals coming tantalizingly close. The theater’s owner, Albert Bialik, was for years locked in a protracted legal battle with a leaseholder. While the building’s facade cannot be altered, its interior was gutted years ago. During its life, it had been an art house cinema, a home to two national movie chains and a pornography theater. The deal is the culmination of a long, often contentious journey for the Metro, located at 2626 Broadway, between 99th and 100th Streets. It will become the location of a Planet Fitness, a $10-a-month gym. Now, the broken-down, 82-year-old theater is about to be reborn, but not as a cultural institution as many in the neighborhood had wished. But through it all, the Metro has stood vacant, its landmark marquee announcing nothing more than the phone numbers of various real estate brokers hoping to pull in a tenant. ![]() It was supposed to become an Urban Outfitters clothing store, the home of a nonprofit arts education group, an outpost of the revival-style Alamo Drafthouse Cinema chain. Since the Metro Theater showed its last movie in 2005, numerous deals have been announced for the Art Deco gem on the Upper West Side.
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