4th Avenue Theatre is for sale, and its owner expects to wait a while

Structure is grand and distinguished but lacks parking

By ANNE AURAND
Anchorage Daily News

Published: December 18, 2005
Last Modified: December 22, 2005 at 01:57 PM

One of downtown Anchorage's landmark buildings, the 4th Avenue Theatre, is for sale. The owner of the city's premier Art Deco structure says he is aiming the sale at the tourist industry and churches.

Owner Robert Gottstein is not disclosing a price -- he said he will negotiate that with interested buyers -- but the city assessed the building at $1.36 million this year.

Gottstein said he is selling the 40,000-square-foot former movie theater because it needs someone who can fill it more frequently than he can.

He's been renting out the old theater area of the building for catered banquets, concerts, parties and special events. That could continue with a new owner, Gottsein said, as could renting the upstairs office space. Or someone could buy and occupy the whole place, he said.

He expects the sale to take some time, he said.

Commercial real estate broker Larry Norene, who grew up in Anchorage, said lots of old-timers "would drool over owning it if we could think of something to do with it."

Norene remembers watching movies there when he was in high school.

"There's some history," he said.

Maybe it could be used as an IMAX theater, he offered. But relying on income from a short tourism season might be a tough investment for a potential buyer, he said. That's the kind of thing someone would do "out of love" for the place -- probably what Gottstein did, he said. Financially, he said, it would make more sense for someone to buy it who wants to use it.

Rod Hancock, a co-owner of Bear Tooth theater pub, said before he and his partner opened their business in Spenard, they would have loved to move into a place like the 4th Avenue Theatre. Renovated historic theaters in the Lower 48 have made a killing as theater pubs and eateries, he said.

"That was what we were hoping for," he said. "We don't have that old theater feel" at the Bear Tooth, he said. He said the 4th Avenue Theatre is a "lovely place and fits our concept for sure. You could do live shows, movies, food. It has a kitchen."

But he's probably not going to buy it, he said. The problem, he said, is parking -- there isn't any.

Architect Larry Cash could see it become a meeting facility, a church, a live theater or a dinner theater, he said. None of those things would have to thwart its historic value, he said.

"It's one of the older buildings of distinction," Cash said. "It's cool-looking."

The former theater space and balcony consume about 17,000 square feet -- a little less than half -- of the total building space, Gottstein said. There's about 3,800 square feet of office space on the third floor. The largest floor is the basement, Gottstein said.

When industrialist Cap Lathrop developed it as one of a chain of movie theaters, he intended to create a bowling alley in the basement. He later realized that the noise from the bowling alley would drown out theater sounds, Gottstein said.

Design work started in the 1940s, but construction stalled when the war demanded raw materials go to defense needs, according to the book "Buildings of Alaska" by Alison K. Hoagland. When it opened in 1947, the movie theater seated 960 people.

Seattle theater architects designed the elegant building featuring curving designs, recently refinished marble floors, walnut woodwork and three sets of floor-to-ceiling murals that depict wildlife, natural beauty and commercial and industrial growth in Alaska.

Besides the movie theater, Lathrop housed his radio and television stations and offices in the building, and KTUU-Channel 2 remained in the basement until 1994. A penthouse apartment was built in 1960 on the top floor, making it a four-story building.

After Lathrop died, his company owned the building until a theater company took it over. The theater closed in the 1980s. In 1991, Gottstein acquired it from the bank after a foreclosure.

Gottstein, who was born and raised here and has a background in real estate and from the family that co-founded the Carrs grocery chain, remembered how the Fourth Avenue looked in its prime. He restored the theater.

He says the building, which survived the 1964 earthquake without any damage, is a solid structure, up to code and in good shape -- except it's going to need a new roof, and the carpet is more than 10 years old. But it comes with a full kitchen and a liquor license, he said.

"It's very big and unique, and only certain groups will be interested, frankly," said the city's real estate director, Robin Ward.

Gottstein approached the city to see if it could use the building last week, she said. Ward said the city has been looking for a downtown library site and might consider leasing some part of the building for a library branch from whoever buys the building.

The building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, which recognizes the historic importance of the property and says it is worthy of preservation, said Judy Bittner, a state historic preservation officer at the Office of History and Archaeology.

The designation does not apply any remodeling or development restrictions on the property, however. It would take an owner-approved protection easement on the building, or a local law, to require that, Bittner said. There don't appear to be any such restrictions on the building, she said.

The historic designation does make the owner eligible for federal tax credits for some kinds of rehabilitation work. Gottstein took advantage of that program when he revamped parts of the theater.

Daily News reporter Anne Aurand can be reached at aaurand@adn.com or 257-4591.