Krikorian set to appear before City Council; lawsuit ongoing

While crews work on the landscaping of new buildings at Menifee Town Center, a skeleton of the theater stands in the background.

By Doug Spoon, Editor

The owner of Krikorian Premiere Theatres is scheduled to appear before the Menifee City Council Oct. 20 to discuss the most talked-about commercial project in town.

City Council member Bob Karwin told Menifee 24/7 he urged City staff to move forward with a request made several council meetings ago by Mayor Pro Tem Lesa Sobek for an update on the theater project in Menifee Town Center. As most of the community knows, there has been no construction on the multi-theater entertainment complex for almost a year and a half, with the unfinished buildings standing out as what some residents call an eyesore amid increased development in the rest of the center.

Krikorian has blamed the COVID-19 pandemic and a subsequent loss of funding from investors for the halt in construction. He also cited the lack of new movies being produced during the pandemic. But now, as the movie industry begins marketing a variety of new films and with theaters once again promoting their venues, residents increasingly question Krikorian’s sincerity.

Those residents include Karwin, who said he, like others, has simply run out of patience while waiting for a personal response from Krikorian. Most of the “updates” provided by City staff in recent months have simply repeated Krikorian’s original explanation. Moreover, Krikorian did not respond to an interview request for this news article.

“I got kind of frustrated with this game of telephone we’re playing,” Karwin said. “Gina [economic development director Gina Gonzalez] talks to Krikorian a couple times a week, but we don’t get a definitive response. Finally, I said, ‘We need them to show up here. I want somebody from Krikorian – ideally it would be George – to come here and stand at the podium and tell the people what’s really going on.' ”

City clerk Sarah Manwaring responded to Karwin’s latest inquiry at the Sept. 15 council meeting by reporting that a presentation by Krikorian was planned for the Oct. 20 meeting. Confirmation should come when the meeting agenda is released to the public on Oct. 15.

Karwin, who was elected to the City Council almost a year ago, said he wants to eliminate any public perception that City officials are bowing down to Krikorian for fear of losing the anchor project for Menifee Town Center.

“As the new guy in town, I don’t worry about whether he’s pulling out, because I believe he already has,” Karwin said. “Lay out all your woes and we can fact check them to see if it’s just lip service.”

Those are strong words from a City official on such a high-profile project. If Krikorian does appear at the Oct. 20 council meeting, it could be the most well attended city meeting ever. There’s no doubt that virtually everyone in Menifee wants answers to questions such as these:

-- With the movie industry appearing to rebound from the pandemic, has Krikorian reacquired any of the funding he says is needed to complete the project?

-- What about the other retail space he owns – the unfinished row of wooden structures at the southwest corner of Newport Road and Town Center Drive? Are those also delayed indefinitely by the funding issues?

-- Will Krikorian confirm that the lawsuit in which he is a defendant against multiple contractors will delay the project for several more months, even if he has the funding to continue?

As reported by Menifee 24/7 earlier this year, Showprop Menifee LLC – a company formed by Krikorian in 2015 – was named as a respondent in a complaint filed in November 2020 by Sierra Concrete & Landscaping, stating it was owed for services performed and materials purchased. Krikorian ordered work on the project to be halted in April of that year. A series of cross complaints by Showprop Menifee LLC and filings by additional contractors followed, according to court records.

Some of those complaints have been vacated, but the lawsuit remains active pending a case management conference hearing to assess the status of the case. That hearing has been postponed twice and now is not scheduled until Jan. 20.

Another question for Krikorian would concern the lavish grand opening held in March at LexLive, a venue promoted on Krikorian’s kptmovies.com website as “Lexington, Kentucky’s newest entertainment destination.”

Like the Menifee project, LexLive was planned as a huge entertainment complex, with “three bars, including the Game Day Sports Bar, a bowling alley, an arcade and 10 movie screens in 90,000 square feet of space,” according to an article in the Lexington Herald Leader on March 11.

Also like the Menifee project, the opening of LexLive “was pushed back several times because of various construction delays,” according to the Herald Leader. It’s also interesting to note some of the comments made by Krikorian to reporters the day before the grand opening of LexLive.

“I think people are looking forward to entertainment and want to go back to the movies,” Krikorian was quoted as saying. “Theaters are opening up in New York and will soon in California and other larger metropolitan areas in the next few weeks.”

That was six months ago. Would Krikorian say the same thing to the Menifee City Council? And is Krikorian’s track record in California a reason for concern?

According to the website cinematreasures.org, there are 20 theaters in Southern California that were previously owned by Krikorian and are now either under new ownership or have closed. Those include sites in Redlands, Monrovia, La Habra, San Clemente, Hemet and San Bernardino.

Karwin wants to know if Krikorian remains committed to the Menifee community.

“There are parties interested in purchasing that property if he wanted to move on,” Karwin said. “If it’s true that he has leveraged himself financially and has no solution that will work for him, tell us. At least then we know. And if so, how about selling it off?”