Business & Tech
Group Wants Real Estate Mogul to Turn Over Control of Ioka
The historic downtown Exeter theater is in limbo.
A nonprofit group that raised money for the restoration of the historic Ioka building in downtown Exeter wants the owner to turn over control of the former theater.
Alan Lewis, the real estate mogul who bought the Ioka for about double its assessed value at a 2011 auction, is trying to sell it off.
Lewis was in talks with the Exeter Theater Company to have the nonprofit group reopen the Ioka as a community theater, but he changed his mind earlier this year and put it on the market. The group said it has raised "hundreds of thousands" of dollars for a restoration.
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Lewis paid $600,000 for the Ioka, which was built in 1915.
Lewis took out an ad this week in the Exeter News-Letter newspaper, saying he was lowering the price of the Ioka down to $400,000.
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Lewis operates the Kensington Investment Company, which bills itself as a "socially and environmentally responsible real estate development and investment company." The company has several real estate holdings in Boston, Mass.
For decades, the Ioka screened films and was a venue for various performances. Before it was sold to Lewis, the building was used as a Zumba studio.
At Mr. Lewis' request, we recently submitted a proposal that contained the following points:
-- The mission of the Exeter Theater Company (“ETC”) is to preserve and operate the historic IOKA Theater as a vital community resource for entertainment and education and a regional arts magnet.
-- ETC has provided significant input regarding the efforts needed to historically preserve the IOKA Theater in the architectural and business plans submitted to the Lewis Family in 2012. Those plans have been validated by financial, architectural, legal, artistic, and construction professionals donating thousands of hours of pro bono time to this effort. We estimate that these efforts have saved the Lewis Family thousands of dollars in feasibility studies.
-- ETC is willing to implement those plans submitted in 2012, however the ETC will need to have clear ownership of the IOKA.
-- ETC is obligated to honor its mission, therefore the ETC is not prepared to propose any use of the IOKA other than as a theater.
-- ETC will place $100,000 in a maintenance reserve account to be used solely for the stabilization and repair of the IOKA Theater and for the funding of ongoing expenses. Those efforts will begin immediately upon transfer of ownership to the ETC.
-- ETC will use the remainder of its current funds to initiate an aggressive fundraising campaign including hiring and paying for the services of an experienced, professional fundraising adviser.
-- ETC will phase-in theater operations of the IOKA in the timeliest and most cost effective means possible to generate revenue and build anticipation, excitement and financial support within the greater Exeter community.
-- ETC intends to return donors' contributions this summer and begin to wind up our affairs unless we have some reason to believe that there is some opportunity for the ETC to fulfill its mission of restoring and reopening the IOKA Theater.
-- The restoration of the IOKA Theater is a long-term project that will require patience and commitment - restoring the Music Hall in Portsmouth took 18 years.
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