Residents campaigning for a new cinema outside the building last year

THE final curtain appears to have fallen on the dream of a new cinema in Kentish Town – after a fruitless seven-year search for an operator.

This week, the owners of the former North London Polytechnic building in Prince of Wales Road accepted that their efforts to let out a cinema were unsuccessful – and have applied for the right to find alternative uses for the site.

Developers Vabel took on the project in May 2018 after previous owners ran out of cash.

They completed homes on upper floors and fitted out the ground floor, as required, as a shell for a cinema operator to take on.

The planning permission granted to the previous owner originally called for a screen, a 62-seat auditorium, a café and bar.

But Vabel director Jeremy Spencer told the New Journal this week the time had come to seek a more viable community use for what was once the Poly’s assembly hall and a Pizza Express restaurant.

He said: “We have tried hard to find someone who can run a  cinema here but it has been completely non-existent. There is just no appetite. It is just not a viable space. The market and demand has gone against the project. “Continuous marketing, well beyond the statutory time period, has not yielded any response.”

By asking for a wider use, Mr Spencer hopes a free-to-use community facility could be opened. They are currently in talks with a firm that offers young people free access to studios to create film, podcast and other media. It would also mean a cinema operator could still come in.

He added negotiations are in early stages – but for them to progress a change of use from cinema to a wider offering is vital.

He said: “It needs to be used. The question to ask is how do we now adapt this place to give something of value to the community, and the high street, without stopping it could one day become a cinema.”

The new application reveals that they had negotiations with four cinema operators and one offered  to take on the site and had a contract drawn up. They highlighted viability concerns but saw it as a way to market their company on a wider basis.

Nothing had been agreed when the pandemic struck – and as Covid hit, all interest died away. To compound problems, cinema chain Curzon opened a six-screen complex nearby, further eroding the commercial offering.

In January 2023, Savills took on marketing the site and they say on average, an enquiry was received every fortnight – but as soon as the majority of those enquiring heard of the footprint, they didn’t bother with a viewing.

The application added: “Whilst the marketing agent continues to market for a cinema operator, it is their view that it is unlikely it will generate any further positive demand. It was necessary to expound on the marketing to include not only cinema but culture, leisure or community.”

Mr Spencer said after seven years of fruitless work, he wanted to find a way of using the dead space.

He said: “We painstakingly restored the facade and have gone beyond our planning obligations in terms of providing for a cinema.

“What is sad is we have been targeted by some who think we have been a lazy developer, with graffiti on the building. That is a particularly bitter pill to swallow as we have done everything we could to make a cinema happen.”

Dee Searle, the vice chairman of the Kentish Town Neighbourhood Forum, said: “It is a huge disappointment. We are still debating among our members as to how we respond.

“Personally I am very concerned. The problem is the price – they want £90,000 a year and the tenant would still need to fit it out, and on a  fairly short lease. We have heard the charity interested in taking it on also cannot afford that scale of rent.

“I do not see how asking for a change of use will make a difference if the rent remains the same.”