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  • AMC Waterfront 22 completes multi-million dollar renovation with upgraded amenities.
  • Seat reduction from 4,200 to 2,300 allows new development.
  • Waterfront complex is 95% occupied with new tenants.

Deeply plush new seats. And less of them. A new bar at which to buy beer, wine and mixed drinks. A complete remodeled lobby and restrooms and updated concessions.

These are the upgrades moviegoers at the AMC Waterfront 22 in Homestead can now experience as AMC Theatres announced it has completed its six-month renovation project at the long-time entertainment anchor at the Waterfront, a project the public company indicated came with a multi-million dollar price tag and followed a lease extension to keep that operation there for another 12 years for a cineplex that has been a destination at the Mon Valley brownfield redevelopment since it opened nearly 25 years ago.

The completion of the upgrades comes with a reduction in the total number of seats from about 4,200 to 2,300, which translates into less parking demand. Marty Sweeney, a senior vice president of acquisitions and asset management for M & J Wilkow, owner of a major portion of the Waterfront, including the cineplex, said the new lease extension with AMC gives about two acres his company expects to begin marketing for new development next year, representing potentially three parcels that could be developed for restaurants, a hotel or new residential development.

The completion of the AMC renovations bring to fruition a lease extension that dates to 2020 that was delayed by the pandemic as M & J Wilkow makes progress elsewhere at the Waterfront as well.  The renovated bar is now under the AMC brand of MacGuffins Bar, offering a full-service selection of alcoholic beverages.

Opal Grand Buffet recently announced it will replace the empty former Rock Bottom brewpub in a 15,000-square-foot space at the Waterfront. Sweeney added the recent deal with Opal, along with a new 9,000-square-foot Running Dish Asian Food Hall and a Good Feet store brings total occupancy at the complex to a healthy 95%.

He added Columbus-based Continental Real Estate Cos., the original developer of the Waterfront, is going vertical with construction on a new 250-unit apartment redevelopment project along a riverfront site at the mixed-use master plan next to a pedestrian bridge walkable to the town center portion of the development.