New Moorestown Mall Theater Will Be State-of-the-Art

Regal Entertainment Group plans to transform the existing theater at the Moorestown Mall into a state-of-the-art movie-watching venue with the addition of 3D, digital projection screens, and stadium seating with reclining seats.

According to an article on the Wall Street Journal’s MarketWatch website, Regal and mall owner PREIT (Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust) have executed a deal to convert the existing four-screen United Artists theater into a 12-screen Regal Premium Experience (RPX) theater. The RPX—featuring all the aforementioned amenities, as well as surround sound, larger screens and kiosks for automated ticket purchasing—represents Regal’s high-end theater model.

There are currently only 17 RPX theaters in the country, according to Regal’s website.

"Regal's new state-of-the-art theatre at Moorestown Mall will provide moviegoers all of the latest movie amenities in the same convenient location. The addition of our Regal Premium Experience will provide patrons a totally immersive environment with crystal-clear projection and an unsurpassed sound system," Dick Westerling, Regal’s senior vice President of marketing and advertising, stated in the MarketWatch article.

PREIT president Joe Coradino said the skate park at the mall will be removed to accommodate the theater expansion, so the mall’s footprint will not increase.

“Think of it as taking that existing space, and everything is coming down,” he said.

The new theater is expected to be open in time for the 2013 summer movie season, though Coradino said PREIT would “do everything in our power to expedite that.”

As for the other improvements to the mall, he said PREIT is still soliciting and being solicited by a number of restaurants.

“And when I say a number, it takes two hands to count them,” Coradino said. “We’re getting calls from some . I’m talking about restaurants that their other location is only in New York City.”

According to Coradino, the level of interest in the mall has multiplied significantly since the . Before the referendums passed, PREIT had been solicited by perhaps one or two restaurants, he said. Since they passed, the number is more like 12.

PREIT will go before the township planning board on Jan. 19 to seek a parking variance for the theater expansion, according to Tom Ford, director of community development.

Ford said the company needs the variance because parking at the mall is already at capacity.

“The township requires so many gross parking spots per gross square feet of leasable area,” he said.

Not that the mall is anywhere near running out of parking spots, but because theaters “have a different calculation for parking,” PREIT needs the variance to move forward, Ford explained.   

The planning board meeting will be held at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 19, at .