Villa's fate in grocer's hands

The grocer in your neighborhood is now the owner of one of Salt Lake County's oldest movie theaters.

Harmons Grocery stores confirmed Wednesday that it has purchased the Villa Theatre property, 3092 S. Highland Drive. The purchase was for "investment purposes," said Dama Barbour, Harmons' vice president of real estate and government affairs.

"Harmons has a real estate department and is always looking for pieces of property that look like good investments," Barbour said. "How can you argue with that site as an investment?"

Harmons eventually will look to resell the property, but Barbour said that "right now we don't have any immediate plans."

The current operator of the theater, Carmike Cinemas, was given the opportunity to lease the theater, Barbour said. Carmike declined, citing the venue's unprofitability.

Representatives from Carmike did not respond to repeated requests for interviews.

Several prospective buyers already have approached Harmons regarding the theater property, which is located on a bustling stretch of Highland Drive. Other interested parties include the Utah Heritage Foundation.

The Utah Historic Preservation Office confirmed that the Villa qualifies as a historic building, said Kirk Huffaker, assistant director of the heritage foundation. As such, financial incentives like federal tax credits are available for renovation or rehabilitation of the building. The designation does not, however, prevent its owners from demolishing the building.

Huffaker met with Barber Wednesday and said he believes the company is willing to look at all of its options before deciding the Villa's fate.

"She seemed open to the idea of sitting down and discussing possibilities," Huffaker said. "That's a great first step for us. It doesn't solve any issues at hand, but they let me know that they weren't planning to tear the building down immediately and that they were willing to talk about some ideas — either about what the theater could be used for, or about putting together a business plan to continue operating it as a theater."

Jeff Dougherty, planning and development director for Salt Lake County, said the Villa property's zoning permit allows for a broad array of uses, including department stores, car lots and banks. However, he said, any new use will be subject to public input.

"Most of (what the Villa is zoned for) is 'strip mall' kinds of stuff, but it also allows for car lots and things like that, that we probably wouldn't be interested in putting there, because they are not consonant with the surrounding uses," he said.

A buyer likely will be required to go through public hearings at the community council level before the matter goes before the planning commission. Even if the new owner wanted to re-open the Villa, Dougherty said it is likely the owner will have to go through the process anyway, to bring the structure up to current county standards.

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