Sketch Plans Unveiled For Shuttered Barn Plaza Cinema In Doylestown

DOYLESTOWN TOWNSHIP, PA — New restaurant and retail uses are coming to the Barn Plaza according to the Brixmor Property Group, which unveiled sketch plans this week for the redevelopment of the former Regal Cinema site.

Brixmor plans to demolish the former theater and its decorative silos on Route 611 and replace them with three new multi-tenant mixed-use buildings that will bring 50,000 square feet of new restaurant and retail space to the Route 611 shopping center.

Regal closed its Barn Plaza cinema location in early 2023 after the nationwide movie theater chain declared bankruptcy and began shutting down operations nationwide. The closure of the movie theater left the shopping center without one of its major anchors.

“We’re going to be looking to come in very soon for site plan approval. We’re very excited about it and we think it’s really going to solidify the property and make it sustainable,” William Greimel, vice president of redevelopment for Brixmor told township planners this week.

“I can’t say who the new tenants are, but we have a great lineup that all go along with Whole Foods,” said Greimel.

The former Regal Cinema at the Barn Plaza. (Jeff Werner/Patch)

The cinema has been closed since early 2023. (Jeff Werner/Patch)

According to Greimel, Building B, located at the south end of the cinema site and closest to the existing shopping center, will add 9,600 square feet of new restaurant uses to the site, including a major bar and grill and a well-known burger establishment. Both will include outdoor dining areas.

The middle building, measuring about 28,000-square-feet, will include several “prominent tenants” that will complement the Whole Foods Market, which opened its doors earlier this month, said Greimel.

And the third building will be home to a drive-through coffee shop and two new retail tenants, said Greimel.

In addition to the new construction, Greimel said Brixmor will be implementing and meeting all stormwater management, environmental, and pedestrian requirements under the township’s subdivision and land development ordinances.

To enhance traffic flow with the new construction, the plan adds a new access point to the shopping center - a right turn in and right turn out only traffic movement - on Route 611 at the northern end of the former cinema site.

Enhancements are also planned to facilitate the safe flow of pedestrians between the existing shopping center and the redeveloped cinema site. And new sidewalks are planned along the shopping center frontage from the Dunkin to the end of the former cinema site.

“We’re hoping to get through the approvals and get started either late this year or early next year,” said Greimel. “We have enough inertia that we can complete all the buildings at the same time as far as our lease-up requirements and our financing of the project.”

The redevelopment of the former cinema site is part of a broader multi-million-dollar project that included a major upgrade to the facade of the shopping center and the construction of a new Whole Foods store and a new Barnes & Noble store at the former site of Marshall's and Home Goods.

The new Barnes & Noble store opened in early September 2024 and the new Whole Foods store opened earlier this month.

The Barn Plaza is also home to a Kohl’s Department, Gerhard’s Appliances, Douglas Jewelers, Piccolo Trattoria, Honeygrow, Pure Barre, Mattress Firm, Club Pilates, among others.