Plans for an entertainment complex on the Boulevard near The Diamond that include a 12-theater multiplex and two restaurants are those of Bow Tie Partners, a real-estate development and entertainment company with principal offices in Manhattan and Aspen, Colo.
Style reported April 26 that a Maryland-based commercial consultant was floating the plans for an undisclosed purchaser and developer.
The proposed project is called Boulevard Square and will be located at the former Brooks Transfer site — 1301 N. Boulevard and 1001 Myers St. — the home of Richmond Steel. The intersection is a stone’s throw from The Diamond.
Fred T. Mayers Jr., vice president of Richmond Steel Inc., acknowledges that the company is moving but declines to give specifics or name the purchasers. He does say he’s aware of plans for a cinema, though.
“Our plan for this project is to develop, build and operate the first major entertainment center in Richmond,” Bow Tie states in an e-mail obtained by Style and prepared by Williams Mullen, attorneys for the developers.
As proposed, the 12- to 14-screen cinema will feature first-run movies, wood-backed seats with leather arm rests, original art, and a wine bar and café. It also will create special community-centered programs for families and “movies and mimosas” featuring classic films with cheap admission.
A call to Bow Tie Partners was not returned by press time. Charles B. Moss Jr. and his son, Ben, are Bow Tie Partners. They are descendants of famous vaudevillian B.S. Moss and Charles B. Moss Sr., a radio and television producer and movie-theater owner. In 1998 the father-and-son duo refurbished its headquarters, the Bow Tie Building, on Broadway in Times Square. Bow Tie Partners specializes in redevelopment of historic and architecturally significant properties, while its affiliate, Bow Tie Cinemas, owns and operates a string of luxury movie houses.
In May 2005 Bow Tie Partners bought a 2-acre block downtown from Richmond Times-Dispatch owners Media General for $3.1 million. The parcel, bounded by Main, Cary, Third and Fourth streets, was previously the paper’s distribution center. Preliminary plans for the site included retail and residential space and a movie cinema. S
