Developers to circle Perth’s famous Cygnet Theatre

Developers are expected to line up for Perth cinema the Cygnet Theatre, after the heritage-listed property was put up for sale.

The cinema, which has been in the same family since it was built almost 80 years ago, was one of the city’s most popular entertainment destinations in the mid-1900s and still runs as a single-screen operation to this day.

While the theatre is currently leased on a month to month basis by an independent operator, the scale of the site on which the building sits is expected to draw major interest from property developers, putting its future as a cinema in doubt.

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Industry sources put the likely price for the historic cinema, at 12-16 Preston St, Como, at more than $10 million.

The auditorium still operates as a cinema today.

The cinema occupies about 2000sqm of the 5060sqm site, which comprises five lots and is zoned ‘Neighbourhood Centre Commercial’, allowing for a commercial or a mixed residential-commercial development.

Built in 1938 and originally known at the Como Theatre, before being renamed as the Cygnet in the 1960s, the heritage-listed cinema would be subject to development approvals, should a developer wish to transform the site.

The Cygnet Theatre occupies 2000sqm of the 5060sqm site.

Burgess Rawson’s Rob Selid and Allied Property Consultants’ Bryan Cousins are co-agents on the sales campaign, with Selid saying there are additional shops on the site that do not have heritage protection.

“It’s 5060sqm. The cinema, which is the heritage-listed part, sits on about 2000sqm, and the balance of the site has another couple shops on it as well,” Selid says.

“It’s not just the cinema, there’s five blocks in total.”