Photo: RNZ
The Wellington Film Society says central Wellington is lacking a multiplex.
On Saturday, the Reading Cinema site in the centre of Wellington was listed on One Roof.
It has been vacant since a potential earthquake risk was identified in 2019.
The Wellington City Council had worked on a $32 million deal with Reading International to buy the land and lease it back to them, but that was axed in April.
In 2017, Paramount Cinema, also on Courtenay Place, closed after 100 years.
In the 1970s, there were 14 cinemas in central Wellington. But Wellington Film Society president Harry Evans said now, there were only two.
"We're lacking a multiplex in the city, I would definitely say," he said.
"We're well served by some small, great cinemas, but we actually only have two in the central city."
He said Wellington was a city of film, the heart of Whānau Mārama: New Zealand International Film Festival and the Wellington Film Society had between 500 and 600 members who went to the Embassy Theatre every Monday night.
"I just think it's a shame that we don't have a large place where people can come together and enjoy seeing films in a crowd, which is really the best way to see them."
Who will buy the Reading Cinema site?
Wellington Chamber of Commerce chief executive Simon Arcus told Morning Report it was a real opportunity to revitalise central Wellington.
The Courtenay Place property has 1.5 hectares of freehold land on the capital's sought-after Golden Mile.
"Of course, the public sector cuts hit a bit hard on the economy, so there's a period of softness in Wellington - a little bit in the doldrums, but I think something like this would have a huge impact in turning around the feel in the city," he said.
He said, properly done, it would be an anchor building that would give other investors confidence to do more around it.
"It is a superb site, with potential harbour views and tucked between Tākina, the Convention Centre., and Te Pāpā, so a really, really important spot for Wellington to get the development there right."
Earlier, property developer and philanthropist Sir Mark Dunajtschik had offered to buy the land, then gift the freehold title for the land back to the citizens of Wellington in 50 years' time.
Dunajtschik declined to comment as he said he had received no response from Reading International.
