On city’s far north side, a double feature

A second movie theater complex is coming to Colorado Springs’ far north side.

Portland, Ore.-based Hollywood Theaters, the nation’s eighth-largest theater chain, announced Thursday it will build a 14-screen complex in InterQuest Marketplace, the 135-acre retail, restaurant and hotel project east of Interstate 25 and InterQuest Parkway. Nor’wood Development Group, one of the Springs’ largest commercial and residential developers, is building InterQuest Marketplace.

Construction will start next week, said Fred Veitch, a Nor’wood vice president. Hollywood Theaters said it expects the complex to open in May.

The complex would be the first for Hollywood Theaters in Colorado Springs and would compete with Cinemark, the Dallas chain that dominates the Springs market with multiscreen complexes on the northeast and south sides.

Three years ago, Cinemark said it would build 14 screens in InterQuest Marketplace, but that deal fell through earlier this year. According to Sunshine Development, another Springs real estate firm, Cinemark is headed to Sunshine’s 153-acre Colorado Crossing commercial and residential project across the street, southeast of Colorado Highway 83 and InterQuest Parkway.

The Hollywood Theaters complex would complement restaurants, stores and other services in InterQuest Marketplace, as well as a 306-room Renaissance Hotel and meeting space to be built by Missouri developer John Q. Hammons. Ground will be broken on the hotel Oct. 15, Veitch said.

“It’s not just the one user, it’s the combination of users and the synergism they create,” Veitch said. “When you have a high-quality hotel and 85,000 square feet of meeting space, which will bring people in from out of town, you’ll have one more ingredient with the theater as part of the overall mix.”

It’s a strategy Nor’wood is using at its First & Main Town Center along Powers Boulevard on the city’s northeast side, the mammoth project where Cinemark has one of its two local theater complexes near restaurants, big-box stores and other retailers.

The Hollywood Theaters complex will have state-ofthe-art features including digital theaters, stadium seating, high-back rocking seats, digital surround sound and 3-D technology, according to a company news release.

Scott Hall, senior vice president of real estate and development for Hollywood Theaters, said huge population growth on the Springs’ north side and access from I-25 made InterQuest Marketplace an attractive site.

Officials of Cinemark and Sunshine Development couldn’t be reached for comment.