The project developer is movie-theater mogul George Krikorian. The Krikorian Entertainment Complex at the southwest corner of Newport Road and Town Center Road was promised to bring a giant 14-theater cineplex, sports bar, bowling alley, arcade, restaurants and shopping to Menifee. (Toni McAllister/Patch)

These theaters were sold to Regal Cinemas in 1996 after which he started a new chain. This new chain was later sold, one to Cinepolis in 2016 and others to Studio Movie Grill in 2017. Krikorian Premiere Theatres other locations are in Buena Park and Menifee, California.

The city is giving Krikorian options for the giant theater building, despite the public nuisance declaration: he can demolish the existing structure and return the site to its original state, or he can rehabilitate the structure and make all required fixes per the city’s Code Enforcement division. Krikorian could not be reached for comment Friday.

Project construction began in December 2019 and was scheduled to be completed by late 2020. However, after the pandemic hit, Krikorian informed the city that banks and lenders were reluctant to provide financial support for projects like his.