NJ: 14-Screen Theater Starts Construction

SECAUCUS, NJ-Construction has started for a 14-screen, stadium-style theater operated by Kerasotes ShowPlace Theatres within Hartz Mountain Industries’ Harmon Meadow mixed-use community here. The new location was reported by GlobeSt.com in May, and with the start of construction the Chicago-based Kerasotes is projecting a fall 2009 opening.

The 2,752-seat venue also marks Kerasotes’ initial foray into the New Jersey market, notes COO Dean Kerasotes. The cost of the project hasn’t been released.

The construction start comes as the locally based Hartz takes the wraps off a renovated Plaza Courtyard within Harmon Meadow. The pedestrian walkway surrounded by stores, restaurants, hotels and offices has been redeveloped with a replica of the Chartre Labyrinth, copied from the Notre Dame de Chartres Cathedral outside of Paris.

"Labyrinths have their origin in prehistoric times and offer an opportunity for reflection and recreation, which is what our plaza does for office tenants and visitors," says Emanuel Stern, Hartz’s president and COO.

Harmon Meadow has several other retail openings on the immediate horizon. A Toys ‘R’ Us and Babies ‘R’ Us combo superstore and TJ Maxx are both slated to open in the fall, and a Sports Authority is under construction and on target for a spring 2009 opening. All three are Harmon Meadow’s Mill Creek site.

Source: GlobeSt.