Historic Theater to House Stores

A buyer is proceeding with plans to purchase the Art Deco building that houses the Bijou Cinemas, the oldest surviving art movie house in the South Bay and one of the oldest buildings in Hermosa Beach.

Westwood-based developers C.I.M. Group and Federal Realty Investment Trust are buying the building for about $1.1 million. The new owners plan to redevelop the 73-year-old structure as a retail space for upscale chain shops while keeping the theater intact.

Owned by Avi Shemesch, C.I.M. Group is in the business of renovating and redeveloping old buildings. C.I.M. officials said the firm has renovated the building that will house the Pottery Barn in Old Pasadena and several shops on the Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica. It is planning to bring new retailers to the old JCPenney site on the Promenade.

The Bijou, which opened in 1923 as a vaudeville playhouse, closed last December because the owner, Joe Naughton, said he could not afford to do a seismic overhaul. The state had set a Jan. 1 deadline for the work, but none of the estimated $1 million in repairs had been made.

Hundreds of residents rallied to save the troubled twin theaters. The City Council passed a moratorium to prevent anyone from tearing the building down and adopted an ordinance that gave the three-story structure historical status.