Publicity photo supplied by iPic Entertainment illustrates waiter service in the pricier section of the company's theaters. iPic announced its multiplex in the Seaport will open next year.
An eight-screen multiplex boasting reclining leather seats with blankets and pillows, and waiters delivering food and cocktails at the push of a button is coming to the South Street Seaport.
iPic Entertainment, a national theater chain based in Boca Raton, Fla., announced last month that it had signed a lease with Seaport developer Howard Hughes Corp. for the 505-seat theater complex in the Fulton Market Building at Fulton and Front streets. iPic said the three-level venue will occupy 40,000 square feet and include a gastropub, bar and food stand.
Moviegoers will have two ticket options, one for regular “Premium” seats and the other for the more expensive, “Premium Plus” seats. “Premium Plus” comes with the recliners, on-call food-and-beverage service and free popcorn. (Ticket prices at other iPic theaters range up to $18 for the cheaper seats and up to $29 for the more expensive ones.)
The multiplex, with auditoriums ranging from 44 to 143 seats, is slated to open in the second half of 2015.
In a phone interview, iPic CEO Hamid Hashemi called the Seaport “just the right kind of market for us.”
“Developers are putting a lot of capital in the area,” he said.
The movie complex is part of Hughes Corp.’s redevelopment of the Seaport, which includes a new $200-million mall on Pier 17 and a proposed 50-story residential tower.
A Hughes representative was not available for comment by press time.
Hashemi said the Seaport venue will be the first of four multiplexes that the company plans to open in Manhattan.
“People of all ages like the concept, even the kids,” he said. “When the kids come, they love having M&Ms in a martini glass.”