Centerville movie Megaplex plan advances

FARMINGTON — A proposal for a 14-screen Megaplex, including an IMAX theater, in Centerville got a boost Tuesday.

The Davis County Commission approved an agreement for tax relief for the project, proposed by Legacy Crossing LLC for the area between Legacy Parkway and I-15 along Parrish Lane.

The agreement, one of many with various taxing entities, would allow the developers relief from 30 percent of county taxes.

The 28-acre Legacy Crossing project would be anchored by Megaplex Theatres, owned by the Larry H. Miller Group. It also would contain apartments and 200,000 square feet of retail space. It would be part of a 102-acre area that could have offices, more residential offerings and other commercial operations.

Currently, three-fourths of the 102 acres is undeveloped, with the remainder the site of storage facilities, light manufacturing and construction, according to Kent Sulser, Davis County community and economic development director.

The area provides $120,500 annually to various taxing entities. Should the development become reality, the net tax benefit would total more than $40 million over 15 years, according to Jason Burningham, financial adviser to the Centerville City Redevelopment Agency.

"This is about the middle between The Junction in Ogden and The Gateway in Salt Lake, so it's really kind of an area where demographically there was a need" for a Megaplex, Dan Bridenstine, managing member of development partnership Legacy Crossing LLC, said after the commission meeting. "When the Legacy highway was built, it really cast in bronze the opportunity to develop commercially there. To be sandwiched between two on-off ramps is pretty significant."

Bridenstine said the Megaplex would feature a pair of 515-seat theaters, including the IMAX one.

"It will be the only theater in the state with two jumbo screens," said Bridenstine, who estimated the developer investment for the 28 acres at perhaps $80 million.

Theater construction could begin as soon as July and take about a year to complete. Complete build-out would take five years, Burningham said.

"It's an exciting project," he said. "Some of these projects come with more of a dream, an idea of 'hopefully we'll be able to get something out of the ground.' This particular project is ready to get out off the ground if we (get the agreements in place)."

Most moviegoers living in the south end of Davis County are spending their money at The Gateway, he said, with that area reaping the tax benefits.