Live Nation plans to sell the Philadelphia, PA-based venue, Boyd Theatre, to ARCWheeler, a Philadelphia real estate investor and developer. The project will include a historic rehabilitation of the theater, development of a 250-room Kimpton Monaco Hotel, and development of two restaurants located on different levels of the building. ARCWheeler also plans to enter into a booking agreement with Live Nation to provide live entertainment at the venue.
“The rehabilitation of the Boyd Theatre represents a revitalization of Chestnut Street, which will bring much needed jobs and commerce to the area,” said Hal Wheeler, principal of ARCWheeler, in a statement. “The unique concept of this project will offer one-of-a-kind entertainment and hospitality that 20 will complement the current cultural options Philadelphia already offers. The programs and environment of the Boyd Theatre will be unlike any other in the country.”
Once fully renovated, Boyd Theatre will host 50 to 60 live acts per year similar to the light musical entertainment currently booked in Atlantic City venues. The venue will also host comedy and lecture events, films, first run movies and movie premiers and have the ability to offer a supper club format where patrons can take in a cabaret style show while seated at individual tables enjoying a meal. The main theater will seat 2,500 and will have the flexibility to reduce its capacity for smaller, more intimate gatherings of 250 or less and will be available for private or corporate events.
The Boyd Theatre made headlines earlier this year when the National Trust for Historic Preservation listed the theater as one of the 11 Most Endangered Sites in America. In August, the Philadelphia Historical Commission, responding to a nomination submitted by the Preservation Alliance for Greater Philadelphia, added the Boyd Theatre to the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places, designating the theater as a local historic landmark.
