A theater that has sat dark on the Balboa Peninsula for decades has finally changed hands. The historic Balboa Theater at 707 E. Balboa Blvd. was sold to a local private real estate investor who plans to restore the building, with the deal closing Oct. 23.
The sale was announced by Coastal Commercial, according to MyNewsLA.com, which reported that the buyer was not identified in connection with the deal. Coastal Commercial represented the seller, described as a local family office, while Christian Emerson of The Oppenheim Group represented the buyer. The theater sits on a roughly 5,200-square-foot lot in Balboa Village on the Balboa Peninsula.
Emerson told the outlet that the buyer has a history of restoring historic landmarks in California, adding that the goal now is to bring the Balboa Theater back as a working theater with an elevated restoration. Coastal Commercial President Nathan Holthouser said the building is entering a new chapter, while cautioning that historic theaters can be challenging properties to own and restore. He noted that people who take on such projects often do so out of a genuine passion for contributing to their communities.
A Deed That Locks In Its Purpose
Whatever shape the restoration ultimately takes, the property comes with strings attached. The sale includes a deed restriction requiring the property to be used for theatrical, cultural, event-related or performing arts purposes, while allowing for ancillary commercial uses, per the same report. That provision effectively guarantees the building cannot simply become retail space or housing, even as the specifics of any design, budget or timeline for the current restoration have not been disclosed.
From Silent-Era Movie House to Cult Film Haunt
The Balboa Theater's story stretches back nearly a century. It opened in 1928 as the Ritz Theater and operated for decades as a neighborhood movie house before being converted into an adult theater in the 1970s. It later found a second life screening alternative and cult films, including midnight showings of “The Rocky Horror Picture Show,” before going dark — a closure MyNewsLA.com dates to 1991, though the Los Angeles Times has reported the theater closed in 1992.
Newport Beach eventually took ownership of the building, and the city's long search for a path forward has produced more than one false start. In 2016, the City Council voted 6-0 to sell the theater to Costa Mesa-based Lab Holding LLC for $1 million, with the developer's plans calling for restoring the theater's original architecture, including the marquee, alongside a street-facing cafe, a small live-music stage and a second stage for private events, according to the Los Angeles Times. That 2016 proposal reportedly would not have included showing films, and city appraisals at the time valued the theater at $890,000 in its existing condition, with an estimated post-renovation value of about $1.6 million against a projected $2 million remodel cost.
A 2018 Plan That Never Got Off The Ground
A follow-up proposal surfaced in 2018, envisioning a performing arts and special events space with facade reconstruction, a rooftop deck and a cafe with outdoor seating, reimagined with 264 seats, the Los Angeles Times reported. That plan stalled when the item was tabled at a Newport Beach Planning Commission meeting after city staff requested a postponement. Neither the 2016 nor the 2018 proposal reflects what the theater's current owner ultimately intends to build, and no construction timeline has been established for the newly closed sale.
Still, the deal marks the first concrete step toward reviving the building in years, with ownership now resting in private hands committed, at least publicly, to restoration rather than redevelopment. For a stretch of Balboa Village that has watched the marquee stay dark since the theater's last film screenings, that alone counts as movement after a long stall.
