Muvico Promised at 321 North

(Crystal Proenza is associate editor of Real Estate Florida.)

PLANTATION, FL-Muvico Entertainment LLC has agreed through a letter of intent to bring a 14-screen theater to 321 North, a $1-billion mixed-use community in development here. Developer US Capital Holdings LLC will lease 70,000 sf on the 35-acre site located at Broward Boulevard and University Drive to the theater for 20 years.

“A top-flight entertainment company such as Muvico is the perfect fit for 321 North,” said Wei Chen, CEO of US Capital. “It offers the community family entertainment in an exciting setting that melds arts, culture and shopping with working and living.”

The new theater is set to feature 3,300 seats and is scheduled to open in October 2010. Muvico has 11 theaters in the state of Florida, all decorated in an architectural theme with amenities such as gaming arcades, VIP areas and child-care facilities. The Plantation theater will feature an interactive gaming lounge called the Digital Den.

The theater will fit into the city’s plans to build a large urban town center, of which 321 North is a part. The project is expected to include 613,500 sf of retail, 474,000 sf of class A office space in two towers, 600 residential units and renovations to an existing building on the property. That existing development includes a largely vacant 650,000-sf retail mall, a 138,000-sf office pavilion and a separately owned Sheraton Suites hotel that just underwent a $15-million renovation.

ADD Inc. is leading the architectural design and development firm for the project. Transwestern is the leasing agent for the office component, while the McGarey Group will be responsible for retail leasing.