September 12, 2021 | www.santansun.com
Relentlessly local coverage of Southern Chandler
An edition of the East Valley Tribune
Lease bouys city’s hopes for downtown theater BY KEN SAIN Staff Writer
The City of Chandler’s hopes to turn a major downtown intersection into an entertainment hub may not be dead yet, but thanks to the pandemic, they initially seemed to have suffered a blow. City officials expressed concern about the future of Flix Brewhouse’s theater at Chandler Boulevard and Arizona Avenue during a City Council meeting late last month. At the time Council agreed to the theater’s sale to AZ Management and Investment, LLC.
Flix and CEO Allan Reagan filed for bankruptcy last October and court documents show they owe more than $70 million to creditors, mainly banks. “We would prefer it remain a movie theater,” city Cultural Development Director Kim Moyers told Council at the time. “We want some sort of entertainment use. Downtown has a lot of great restaurants to go to.” It looks like Moyers got her wish. On Sept. 7 – two weeks after the Chandler Council meeting – the global real estate services firm Cushman & Wakefield announced that AZ Man-
agement & Investments, which bought the movie house for approximately $7.1 million, has leased it to LOOK Dine-In Cinemas Monrovia. Cushman & Wakefield’s Eric Wichterman, Brent Mallonee, Mike Coover and Chris Hollenbeck represented DT Chandler in the transaction and found the new cinema tenant for the buyer. Eric Wichterman, Cushman executive managing director, shared Moyers' vision, stating, “Our mission was to pair this state-of-the-art, special-use theater and brewery building with a qualified new ownership that would either
occupy the facility or an investor that believes in the future of the cinema industry.” LOOK Dine-in Cinemas is based in Monrovia, California, and was formed just two months ago by Brian Schulz, the founder of another high-end eat-in cinema chain called Studio Movie Grill. Last October, Studio Movie Grill, which owned 33 movie houses, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The Dallas-based company, according to reports, had received a $75 million investment two See
FLIX on page 12
The blast obliterated several businesses in a Chandler strip mall. (Pablo Robles/Staff Photographer)
This map shows the path of lines that will give Intel’s Ocotillo campus the electricity it needs for its $20 billion expansion. (City of Chandler)
S. Chandler braces for massive SRP project BY KEN SAIN Staff Writer
As anyone who has done a major home remodeling project knows, before things get better, they have to get worse. South Chandler residents who live near the Intel campus are bracing for that reality. Salt River Project recently held some online open houses so residents near the manufacturing facility on Old Priest and Ocotillo roads could ask questions and give their feedback.
Intel wants to expand its Ocotillo campus and plans to invest $20 billion to do so. That will bring in thousands of high-paid tech jobs to the area and Intel claims will lead to about 15,000 other support jobs. But to do all that, the tech giant will need a lot more power. “Intel is currently served by an existing substation, but the load requirement of what they’re going to need is so significant the 69 KV (kilovolt they See
SRP on page 10
TAKE YOUR HOME FROM Drab TO
Chandler blast a ‘game changer’ for 4 men BY KEN SAIN Staff Writer
Life was heading in the right direction for the Ryan brothers until an explosion Aug. 26 knocked it onto a new, rockier course. “This was their livelihood, they worked 24/7 to get this thing going, and it was actually a very profitable year,” said Paul Ryan, their father. “Now it’s gone.” Chandler Police say an unintentional natural gas leak ignited by an “independent ignition source” caused a massive blast that ripped the roof off of a portion of Chandler Sunset Plaza at Ray and Rural roads. Four people were injured, all are expected to survive.
Brothers Andrew and Dillon Ryan ran Platinum Printing together. A longtime friend, Parker Milldebrandt, was an employee. The fourth person injured was 58-year-old Glenn Jordan, who worked at All-American Eyeglass Repair shop a few suites down from the printers. All four suffered major burns. “The boys had a pretty good following from through the years they’ve had the business,” Paul Ryan said. “You knew the two boys, once you met them, you’d fall in love with them.” GoFundMe pages have been set up for all four men to help them in their recovery, which Paul Ryan said will take a while.
F E AT U R E STO R I E S
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CUSD students' achievement test results.. . . . . . . .NEWS . . . . . . . . .Page 18 Acupuncture clinic opens in S. Chandler.. . . . . . . . .BUSINESS . . . . . Page 31
Joel Terrill NMLS #255385
602.430.0835 | joelterrill.com
Chandler car raffle helps kids with cancer .. . . . . . .NEIGHBORS . . Page 39 Chandler artist's work on display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .ARTS . . . . . . . . . Page 42
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BLAST on page 4
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