Muvico has sold its Egyptian 24 multiplex cinema in Arundel Mills to Cinemark, along with 3 other theatres in its upscale, modern movie palace chain. The Arundel Mills theatre is one of the top-grossing theaters in the nation. The Muvico chain has built some of the most opulent modern multiplex movie houses in the country, and in better economic years, they have been highly successful. But Muvico sold the 4 theatres in a bid to stave off bankruptcy as a result of the economic downturn.
But Florida-based Muvico ran into trouble as the recession hit the credit markets. The company said it would use the proceeds of the sale to retire a $55 million debt to iStar Financial.
The Miami Herald and other Florida newspapers have reported that the company has been in default since October and is in danger of being taken over by iStar. The other three Muvico theatres included in the sale are in Florida.
The worst economic conditions since the great depression have caused numerous other corporations in all kinds of industries to go bankrupt. It seems like every day, we hear about a major bank in trouble, the entire Detroit auto industry ready to go down the tubes, or some other such impending economic disaster.
Outside the banking and auto industries, other corporations that have recently failed include Nortel Networks, CompUSA, The Sharper Image, Shoe Pavilion, Linens 'n' Things, Mervyns, Circuit City, Levitz Furniture, Lenox, Lillian Vernon, Mattress Discounters, Gottschalks, Trump Entertainment Resorts, and Waterford Wedgewood, to name just a few.
The historic Senator Theatre in Baltimore recently closed its doors and stopped showing first-run films for the first time in 70 years, but if you read the Baltimore Sun, you might gather that this particular business failure exists in a void that isolates it completely from disastrous economic conditions. Other businesses have failed because the housing bubble burst, the credit industry collapsed, and Wall Street's ponzi scheme was finally revealed. Not The Senator. That one business failure is all Tom Kiefaber's fault...at least if you read the Baltimore Sun.
This, in spite of the fact that the Maryland Daily Record has reported that Kiefaber stopped making payments on The Senator's mortgage in October, exactly the same month that Muvico, one of the biggest and most powerful movie chains in the country, started having problems. So, was there really nothing wrong with the economy in the past few months that might have affected The Senator? Was it really all Kiefaber's fault?
There is a bizarre local reaction of scorn and aggression toward Tom Kiefaber, now that his heroic efforts to preserve The Senator over more than 20 years (and plan for its future as a multi-purpose entertainment community asset) have finally left him bankrupt. It begins to resemble something out of the Salem witch trials or Nathaniel Hawthorne's early American novel, "The Scarlet Letter." By blaming Tom for something that is the result of economic conditions beyond his control, city officials and the Baltimore Sun have incited some kind of weird mob scene, with the villagers lighting torches and closing in on the imagined villain, who has actually done nothing wrong. In Kiefaber's case, he has in fact done a lot right for the community by sacrificing so much to keep The Senator available as a community resource.
If there was anything remotely funny about it, it would remind me of this:
Unfortunately, this isn't Monty Python. It's real life, and Tom Kiefaber's family, while going through what must already be some of the hardest circumstances a family can face, is also being subjected to public scorn and ridicule directed at their most publicly visible family member. If this is the thanks that Baltimore gives to the family that has preserved The Senator for all of us, what kind of illogical, vindictive mob have we become?
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Comments: 13
They put a $600K loan guarantee on The Senator's mortgage with First Mariner Bank, but the city will ONLY ever have to pay out any of that money if, after a likely bankruptcy court proceeding, the bank can't get it out of Kiefaber. Not one dime of that money was an actual investment in The Senator, and in fact, it hasn't even been spent by the city. It's just money that they will owe if Kiefaber can't make arrangements to pay it. There's also a lot of other collateral on that loan, too, such as The Senator itself, Tom's house, and another residential property he was holding for possible future use in another potential business venture. The city will likely NEVER have to pay this money.
The last time the city put any money into The Senator, it was a $180K grant to fix the air conditioning, and that was in the last century!
The only time he's had help with keeping The Senator recently was in 2007, and that came from private donations voluntarily made by members of the public, so if you didn't want to help The Senator out at that point, you didn't have to.
What's also little known is that the city and state put $5 MILLION in grants into private enterprise redevelopment just across the street at Belvedere Square.
So there's a perception vs. reality thing going on here. $5 MILLION into Belvedere Square. Not a dime into The Senator this century. THAT'S the reality.
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Have a Great & Powerful YEAR W/J!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Meanwhile, the city has gotten FAR MORE out of The Senator than they have put into it. It's a vital part of the economic engine of the York/Belvedere area. It helps the other businesses in the area make money, by bringing foot traffic in. Those businesses pay taxes. When Belvedere Square was closed, The Senator was the only thing that kept that area looking like it had some life in it, and most of Tom Kiefaber's debts carry over from that time, because Belvedere Square has a reciprocal relationship with The Senator, and when one is hurting, it hurts the other one too. People going to one business in the area often go to others, particularly when you're talking about dinner and a movie, or a movie and shopping, or whatever.
sometimes, the mob is created via a common victim.
as in..nothing else. just somebody pointing and yelling, "let's GET him!"
during times of exceptional tension, it's only logical for it to be EASIER.
to point that finger, i mean.
certain keywords are involved, too--Tom's equation has to do with money, and a (seeming) waste thereof...
...what more do many NEED, y'know?
personally: no pointing, no pelting with stones. picking up pennies, planting for yield, et cetera.
hopefully, i won't look up one day to see fingers leveled at ME.