Former King Cinema in Lisbon is back on sale for €1.7 million

A source from the General Inspectorate of Cultural Activities (IGAC) told Lusa last week that the Ministry of Culture received a request in May to disaffect the cinematographic activity of the former Cinema King, but had not yet issued an opinion due to a lack of information from the owner.

"Having analyzed the application in question and found that it lacked several additional elements and clarifications, information was requested from the applicant, and a response to the notification made by IGAC is still awaited," explained the same source.

In an online advertisement published by a real estate agency, the former Cinema King, which closed its doors in 2013, is presented as "a large commercial space in the heart of Alvalade", with "enormous potential for multiple uses --- clinics, office centers, gyms, educational, cultural or technological spaces, among others".

With a sale price of 1.7 million euros, the space has a gross area of 2,211 square meters spread over three floors, and in the images provided in the advertisement, it is possible to see the empty interior of one of the cinema rooms, without the chairs.

The announcement does not explicitly state that the space can once again show cinema, but according to current law (decree-law 23/2014), the demolition of cinema venues, or their use for activities other than cinema, requires authorization from the government's Culture department.

The authorization is issued by the Ministry of Culture, based on opinions from IGAC.

Cinema King had been operated since the 1990s by producer and exhibitor Paulo Branco, who decided to close its doors in 2013 because he considered the income to be "unbearable".

The former cinema space was previously up for sale, but the sale never materialized. In 2014, shortly after its closure, an attempt was made to sell it at auction, but it was canceled by the insolvency administrator and a committee of creditors.

The facilities were owned by Sociedade Imobiliária Olívia, which went into insolvency proceedings, and, at the time, some banks were among the debt creditors.

Cinema King had three rooms to show mainly independent films, and it also housed a bookstore and cafeteria.

In this cinema, before being named King, there was originally the Vox Cinema - a single room, in the auditorium, with more than 500 seats, opened in April 1969, which closed in January 1985.

Still in the 1980s, for a short period, it hosted live concerts, mainly by Portuguese bands, under the name Espaço Voxmania.

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