ArcLight Santa Monica

395 Santa Monica Place #300 Santa Monica, CA 90401  | map |

Opened: November 2015. It's on the 3rd floor of the 4th and Colorado corner of the mall. Thanks to W.E. O'Neill, the contractor for the project, for this 2015 photo as well as the many others appearing here that appear on a page about the project on their website. 

Architects: SMS Architects, Jerde Architectural Design. The mall itself dates from 1980, originally a design by Frank Gehry.

Screens: 12

Seating: 1,428. The largest two houses, #1 and #7, each held about 260. Both were Atmos equipped.

Website: www.arclightcinemas.com -- now with just the logo on an otherwise blank page. 

The W.T. O'Neil website comments on the project: 

"Located in the heart of Santa Monica, next to the Civic Center and with access to the Santa Monica Pier, this challenging project includes the construction of a new 40,000 SF, 12-screen, 1,500-seat movie theater above an existing, fully operational Bloomingdale’s department store located on the third floor of Santa Monica Place Shopping Center.

"As a part of the construction, the existing roof and third-floor structure of the shopping center were removed, and a new 25’ taller structure was erected. Beginning with preconstruction, the entire project was modeled in BIM, ensuring that the structural design aligned with the schedule, phasing, coordination of all logistics, and provided clash detection.

"With many factors to consider, full coordination with significant trade partners was vital to the project’s success, from the street activity of such a prominent location, street closure coordination for the tower crane and material transport, to full communication with all local establishments and city ordinances directly affiliated or affected by the construction. This LEED Gold Certified project adds to the ever-evolving urban fabric of the City of Santa Monica. It is a public, revenue-building attraction and business in the County of Los Angeles."

Closing: The theatre closed in March 2020 due to Covid restrictions. On April 12, 2021 Pacific Theatres announced that none of their theatres would be reopening. See the Cinerama Dome page for links to many news stories about that announcement. Several had noted that this Santa Monica location was considered as one that was "underperforming."

Variety's April 30, 2021 story "Santa Monica Mall Owner Moves to Evict Arclight Theater" notes that Macerich, the mall's owners, had served Pacific with notice on April 13 that they needed to pay $368,841.60 in rent within seven days or forfeit the premises. The total back rent demanded in a February 25 suit was $1.9 million. 

Macerich was also the landlord at Pacific's Lakewood location, a venue evidently in trouble even before the Covid shutdown. Pacific had paid no rent for either location since April 2020. $1.5 million was past due on the Lakewood location. The article also discussed the issues at the Culver City ArcLight, where the landlord there, OliverMcMillan, was looking for $2.7 million in back rent. 

Status: It's currently vacant.

Interior views:

Inside the entrance doors. It's a 2015 photo from the website of the contractor, W.E. O'Neill.

 

 

 

The bar. It was out of the frame to the left in the previous shot. Photo: W.E. O'Neill - 2015

 

 

 

The conventional snackbar, down beyond the liquor bar. Photo: W.E. O'Neill - 2015

The big clock and ticketing kiosks. It's a photo from Theodore C. on Yelp. 

 

 

 

Another angle on the ticketing area on the north side of the lobby. Photo: W.E. O'Neill - 2015

 

A wide-angle deep view into the lobby with ticketing on the left, bars on the right. Photo: W.E. O'Neill 

 

The deep end of the inner lobby. Photo: W.E. O'Neill - 2015

 

 

Looking back to the main lobby. Photo: W.E. O'Neill - 2015 

 

A look at auditorium #7 from the website of Meyer Sound, who supplied the speakers and amps for this house. The capacity here is about 260. It's one of two houses in the complex that were equipped for Dolby Atmos.

 

Another auditorium, slightly smaller than #7. Photo: W.E. O'Neill 

The rear of one of the smallest auditoria -- with a projector in a backwall box. Photo: W.E. O'Neill 

More exterior views:

An entrance view from the website of Vivian, a provider of food service equipment. 

 

 

 

Another 2015 look at the entrance, on the 3rd floor of the mall. It's one of many photos of the project on the W.E. O'Neill website.

 

 

A view from 4th St. Photo: W.E. O'Neill - 2015

 

 

The Colorado Ave. side of the building. Photo: W.E. O'Neill - 2015

Looking south on 4th toward Colorado with the ArcLight perched atop Bloomingdales. Photo: Google Maps - 2017

 

 

A photo by Alexi Rosenfeld/Getty Images that appeared with Variety's April 30, 2021 story "Santa Monica Mall Owner Moves to Evict Arclight Theater." 

 

 

Still dead in December 2024. Photo: Bill Counter 

More information:  See the Cinema Treasures page on the complex. Lots of comments and photos can be seen on Yelp.

An August 2017 Curbed L.A. story "ArcLight backs out..." discusses a second location in Santa Monica on 4th St. near Arizona that will not go forward. The site is currently the location of Parking Structure #3.

Curbed L.A. had an October 2013 story about the beginnings of the ArcLight project in Santa Monica. Santa Monica Daily Press was also on the story. The Santa Monica Lookout had additional background information.

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