In 2012, Frank Theatres signed a lease with Kingsport Town Center in Kingsport, Tenn for a 12-screen cineplex that would include an IMAX theater. Ground was never broken on the project.
Augusta, Ga.-based Hull Property Group purchased the half million-sq.-ft. property — now known as Fort Henry Mall — from Avison Young after receiving a 10-year tax break from the city of Kingsport to renovate the property.
Frank Theatres, meanwhile, did not receive the incentive deal it had expected from the municipality, stopped paying rent, and never broke ground on the cineplex.
Hull entered into a lawsuit with Frank Theatres in 2016 over non-payment of rent, which allowed the cinema company to exit the mall if it left all its equipment behind. NCG Cinemas took the space, remodeled the theater, and re-opened it in 2017 — minus the IMAX theater.
This week, however, the Kingsport Economic Development Department announced that it had submitted design and development plans to IMAX and expects to win its approval by year’s end. The municipality and Hull hope to begin construction on the theater in January
In addition, Rural King has begun interior demolition of the former JCPenney at Fort Henry Mall and looks forward to open next spring at the property that had lost key tenants that included Aeropostale and Kirkland’s.
Rural King, which sells products for farms and homes, operates sizeable stores that range up to 100,000 sq. ft. in size.