“It’s a ghost town”: Blackhawk movie theater shuttered after more than three decades
Danville’s only movie theater has become the latest casualty in Blackhawk Plaza, once an affluent go-to hangout spot.
The decision to close Century Blackhawk Plaza theater was sudden Austin Jeha, assistant manager of the theater told this news organization. After weeks of back-and-forth lease renewal negotiations with the property owners about a rent spike, the popular theater had its last day of operation on Dec. 3 after more than three decades of showing movies.
“They were trying to raise our lease price pretty significantly,” Jeha said in an interview. He said he regional manager attempted to negotiate a compromise, offering to pay more but not as much as the owners were asking. “It was pretty heated. The property managers just did not want to even budge ever so slightly.”
Taking to the neighborhood app Nextdoor to make the announcement, Jeha said he was shocked and heart broken.
“I’ve had the pleasure of serving both the nicest and meanest customers and had the pleasure of having the best colleagues that anyone can work with,” he said.
Comments under his post showed showed that many felt the move was predictable, with some describing the once-thriving shopping area at Camino Tassajara and Blackhawk Road as having gone down hill over the last few years, with many business and restaurant favorites leaving without being replaced.
“It’s a ghost town,” Keith Petersen of Danville wrote in one comment. “I’m surprised that anyone can run a business over there. They need to revamp the plaza, or they’ll tear it down and put homes.”
Jeha agreed, and said in an interview that he began expecting the inevitable soon after Crunch Fitness closed in 2020. “It was actually for similar reasons because the management wanted to have a lease price. And (the gym owners) couldn’t afford it. So they just ended up moving out,” Jeha said.
In 2020, the theater was purchased by Orange County’s Newport Beach-based Ramanujan Group, led by real estate executive Deba Shyam, according to Contra Costa County real estate records.
Many commenters under Jeha’s post speculated the owners might be attempting to force out all businesses in order to build residences.
On Dec. 13, Danville will have the first in a series of public hearings about the town’s 2023-2031 housing element plan and potential sites to accommodate a minimum of 2,241 state-mandated housing units. Residents have speculated the theater and area surrounded by it may become part of this plan.
Representatives of JLL, the company charged with leasing out businesses in the plaza, did not respond to multiple phone calls as of Thursday afternoon.
Alina Bialobrodska, the owner of Alina B., a European fashion boutique and art gallery, said in an interview that she hopes locals will still consider stopping by more often to support the existing small businesses. The boutique is one of the plaza’s first retailers, opening more than 25 years ago.
Despite others blaming the property owners for the status of the plaza, Bialobrodska, remains hopeful that changes to the area may prove to be more of a blessing than a curse.
“It’s a complicated, complex situation, but this is a great community we have here,” she said, adding that more housing closer to the shops would likely mean more foot traffic.
The Danville theater’s shutdown follows the closing of the nearby Regal Crow Canyon in San Ramon in September. But other options still exist for movegoers in the area, such as The LOT Cinema on Bollinger Canyon Road in San Ramon, the Regal Hacienda Crossings 20 & IMAX in Dublin, and the Chabot Cinema in Castro Valley.