Two developers' plans to build large-scale entertainment complexes in the city of Kyle are on schedule and expected to open in summer 2014, officials from both companies said.
Schulman Theaters and Texas Cinema, the two companies planning the projects, have proposed similar ideas for developments that would both include movie theater auditoriums, arcade games, bowling, a restaurant and more.
"They're two really big projects that are, from what they proposed, very similar," Kyle Economic Development Director Diana Blank said in July. "I think one of them could be very strongly supported and be very successful. Two of them? I don't know if that would work."
The city of Kyle, which had a population of 28,016 in 2010, according to the U.S. Census, has never had a movie theater. In the city's 2008 strategic plan, a recommendation was made to bring to the city an "entertainment attraction to position Kyle as a destination within Hays County."
Schulman Theaters, the first company to announce its intentions to build a complex in Kyle, is planning to construct a 68,000-square-foot entertainment center near Kyle Parkway and I-35. The Schulman project was announced after City Council approved a tax incentive package that could save the developer $1.1 million in sales and property taxes over 15 years.
Blank said the development deal had been in the works since 2007. Mark Schulman, vice president of Schulman Theaters, attributed the timespan to his company's desire to put "all its ducks in a row."
"We put a lot of time, energy and effort into every project we do," Schulman said. "That's why we don't just drop [stores] everywhere. It's a good opportunity and a great place to be able to do business."
Schulman also brought an economic development incentive proposal to the Hays County Commissioners Court, but Precinct 2 Commissioner Mark Jones said the county has made a practice of not incentivizing retail developments like the movie theater unless they bring high-wage jobs or rehabilitate existing buildings.
"If those retail stores do their homework and have the right product, with as many rooftops as we have, they should not need any incentives," Jones said.
Jones cited Ampersand Art Supply, which the county attracted to Buda using a tax incentive package, as an example of a retail business that rehabilitated an existing building whose value was depreciating.
"This court has really taken a position that we're not going to incentivize retail," he said.
Texas Cinema is building their 75,000-square-foot project at Kyle Town Center near Kohler's Crossing and I-35.
Mitchell Roberts, president of development for Texas Cinema, said his project does not include any sort of tax incentives. Roberts said the Texas Cinema project will include laser tag, bowling, arcade games and movie theater auditoriums in regular and large formats.
"We're moving as quickly as possible," he said. "As anyone knows, when two developers announce, it's a race. We're focusing on our project and moving along as quickly as we can."
