Cinépolis theater planned for Steelpointe Harbor

A rendering of the Cinépolis theater planned for Steelpointe Harbor.

With Steelpointe Harbor construction underway, developer Bridgeport Landing Development LLC announced Cinépolis USA is the newest tenant to sign on to the waterfront project.

The Bridgeport theater will be the California-based company’s first Connecticut cinema. At 50,000 square feet, the hybrid theater will house two types of auditoriums, Cinépolis Luxury Cinemas and Cinépolis. The theater”™s five luxury auditoriums will offer guests fully reclining leather seats and in-theater waiter service and dining with full bar. The seven other auditoriums will have food and a bar in the lobby area.

“Steelpointe Harbor is the perfect project to launch one of our first theaters in the Northeast,” Neil Baron, Cinépolis USA”™s vice president of real estate, said in a statement. “We take much pride in selecting the best locations when we introduce our theater concept to new markets. The combination of great demographics, beautiful design, mix of uses and prime waterfront made Steelpointe Harbor extremely desirable to us.”

Steelpointe Harbor, on the Steel Point peninsula, is a 2 million-square-foot waterfront development with plans for retail, restaurants and entertainment, two hotels, 1,100 mid- and high-rise residential units, 30,000 square feet of office space and a 200-slip, full-service, deep-water marina.

The $50 million first phase of Steelpointe Harbor, which includes Bass Pro Shops, Starbucks, Chipotle and T-Mobile, is in progress and will open this year. Construction on the Cinépolis theater and other components of the second phase will begin in 2016, with an anticipated opening in 2017.

“Steelpointe Harbor will create thousands of jobs and add millions to our tax rolls,” Bridgeport Mayor Bill Finch said in a statement. “It’s the largest economic development project in Bridgeport since the Industrial Revolution. We’re thrilled to have Cinépolis USA join several other top-notch companies at the Steelpointe Harbor waterfront development.”

The concept for development on Steel Point, named for Bridgeport Steel Works, which was on the property, began in the 1980s but was stalled due economic downfalls and corruption scandals.

Bridgeport Landing Development is a subsidiary of The RCI Group, based in Miami Beach, Fla.