Apr 15, 2019 2 min read

SOUTH FAYETTE – South Fayette Township’s commissioners are launching a new effort to sell the site where the Star City movie house once stood, aiming to have it sold by the beginning of 2020.

At its Wednesday meeting, the board approved a request for proposals (RFP) for the 8.5-acre site, which the township has owned since 2009 and has twice tried to sell. This time, the township is setting a minimum purchase price of $3 million, with proposals due to the township by June 12.

“I’m hoping this is the last RFP we have to do for this site,” said Commissioner Joseph Horowitz.

In February 2018, the board turned down two bids for the property, one coming in at $2.8 million and the other at $1.5 million. The township opted to hold onto the property, wagering that it will become more desirable as the Newbury Market across Route 50 takes off. The board has expressed a preference that the property be used for some kind of mixed-use development, blending residences, restaurants and shops.

Horizon Properties Group agreed to buy the site for $5 million in 2015, but backed out in 2017. The township purchased the shuttered multiplex and the property around it in 2009, with an eye toward making it a community center. The movie house was torn down two years ago.

Star City Cinemas opened in 2000 on the site of a former steel plant. From the moment it opened, though, it was locked in a fierce competition with the Destinta 20 Theatres multiplex located three miles away in Collier Township, and Star City’s owners threw up the white flag in 2005. It reopened as a second-run, discount theater the following year, but closed for good in 2008.