A member of Windsor City Council believes there are opportunities for the SilverCity property if a new tenant can not be found.
The movie theatre is at the corner of Provincial Road and Walker Road in Ward 9, which is represented by Kieran McKenzie, who thinks there is a potential for residential development in that area if another commercial opportunity is not found.
Cineplex has announced it will not renew its lease for the property, due to expire at the end of 2022.
The site is owned by by Mikhail Holdings, which is now exploring other options for the building but if one isn't found, it will be demolished due the high operating costs and taxes on a vacant building.
McKenzie says perhaps a developer will come forward with a proposal for a residential development, given the housing crisis.
"But if someone were to come along and bring forward a proposal for housing, given the context, I think it would it would be a very interesting thing for council to look at, in terms of repurposing and rezoning that land for that type of use," he says.
McKenzie says the land is zoned for commercial-retail and if another investor wanted to pursue it in that respect, they're open for business.
"There are a number of different options that we can consider as a municipality with respect to how that land could be used moving forward. It would depend on the proposals that would come from people in the community and potential investors to bring them forward, and to open that up to consideration for council," he says.
McKenzie says there is an opportunity for something new in that space given the significant amount of investment and development in the southeast portion of Windsor.
"That's going to create other opportunities in the market for potential customers to be in close proximity to a commercial retail space, a space that's currently zoned for commercial-retail," he says. "One of the things that drives investment decisions is population density and close proximity."
According to a statement provided to AM800 News, Cineplex says "this type of decision is not taken lightly but recalibration within a market is part of our ongoing strategic analysis of our theatre performance and is unrelated to our temporary closures in Ontario or COVID-19 and its impact on our business."
The statement goes on to say, "based on pre-pandemic attendance levels, it was clear that movie-lovers in Windsor were gravitating towards the newer amenities at our nearby Cineplex Odeon Devonshire Mall Cinemas location."