New operator of Marin County’s Larkspur Landing theater plans modernization, more screens

Plans are underway to bring the movies back to Larkspur Landing.

Tucked away but in the middle of a major transit hub along Highway 101 and across from the Marin Country Mart shopping center, the theater at the 1.57-acre site at 500 Larkspur Landing Circle was quietly closed in September when its lease was up.

David Corkill, owner of Petaluma-based Cinema West Inc., has entered into a long-term lease with property owners Syufy Enterprises, a San Rafael company. Corkill said after Cinemark vacated the Larkspur Landing theater, Syufy Enterprises representatives asked if he would be interested in running the theater.

Corkill filed an application with the city for an interior remodel, with plans to open this year, he said.

"It's a great location, but the amenities there were lacking," Corkill said of the theater. "People in southern Marin would like a nice movie theater to attend that is properly improved, and that's what we intend to do."

At the time it closed, a Cinemark spokesperson said the closure is "normal course of business and the result of the careful and ongoing review" of its theaters.

City planners were eyeing the property for its potential as a residential redevelopment opportunity, Elise Semonian, the city's director of community development, said. The property was included in the city's draft housing element sites inventory, a list of properties that were deemed suitable for residential development.

The inventory was part of the city's 2023-2031 housing element. The document, mandated by the state, requires the city to show it can accommodate 979 new residences during that eight-year cycle.

Originally, the theater site had been sized up to accommodate up to 54 new residences, and over 200 if it was redeveloped in conjunction with neighboring addresses 700, 900 and 1100 Larkspur Landing Circle.

"We have removed the site from the draft housing element inventory since it is unlikely to be developed with housing in the next eight years," Semonian said.

Because the draft inventory provided a significant buffer, identifying potential for more than 2,000 residences, removing the theater from the list will have no impact, Semonian said.

Corkill's Cinema West operates several movie houses, including the Boulevard 14 Cinema in Petaluma, Fairfax Theatre, and previously the Tiburon Playhouse. Corkill operated the Tiburon theater for 30 years before it became a casualty of the COVID-19 pandemic in September 2020, he said. The three-screen Tiburon theater at 40 Main St. has since reopened under the management of Cinelounge.

At Larkspur Landing, Corkill has plans to repurpose the interior space to accommodate five screens, instead of four. The old theater seating will be replaced with luxury, electric recliners, he said.

"They will be much better spaced to allow for more elbow room, which is what is desired today," Corkill said.

"There certainly is a retraction in terms of the number of movie theaters," Corkill said. "But movie theaters that are well located with modern amenities are still serving a purpose."

Semonian said the theater application is under staff review. The theater use will provide local entertainment for residents, she said.

"Reopening of the theater should contribute to the economic health of our restaurant and retail businesses in the Larkspur Landing area," Semonian said.

"It's wonderful news," Julie Erlwein Cervetto, executive director of the Larkspur Chamber of Commerce, said of the theater plan.

"I thought Cinemark closing was a real loss," she said. "We received a lot of feedback from people in that community that they were not happy, because that meant they had to go to Tiburon, to Northgate or Novato. I think we'll have a lot of happy people. We're thrilled."