New York’s iconic Ziegfeld Theatre will close within weeks, landlords Fisher Brothers and Core Ziegfeld LLC announced Wednesday.
According to the New York Post, the theater will be used as a high-end event space when it reopens in fall 2017. The rechristened Ziegfeld Ballroom will host galas and corporate events after a renovation.
First opened in 1969, the theater has been reportedly losing $1 million a year. The Fisher Brothers real estate company notified Cablevision, which held the lease on the theater, that it had a new tenant for the location on Wednesday.
Cablevision issued a statement Wednesday on behalf of the theater, stating that “the owners of the Ziegfeld Theatre notified us that they have a tenant for the location, and therefore, we will be exiting our lease in the coming weeks to accommodate the new tenant. We wish the owners of the Ziegfeld Theatre the best of luck with the future of the establishment and with the new tenant that they have selected.”
Third-party company Bow Tie Cinemas has been operating the Ziegfeld Theatre since 2013. That year, Bow Tie purchased Cablevision’s 41-theater Clearview Cinemas chain and agreed, as part of the deal, to take over management of the historic Ziegfeld.
One of New York’s most ornate movie houses, the Ziegfeld has been a regular home for major movie premieres, having recently hosted events for “The Big Short,” “The Hateful Eight” and “Joy.”
European telecom company Altice reached an agreement last year to purchase Cablevision for $10 billion. That deal is pending regulator approval.
The Ziegfeld opened in 1969. It replaced the original Broadway theater of the same name.