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Matthew Chalanick, owner of The Real Estate Agency in Auburn, is listing the Schine for sale Friday, he told Ë®¹ûÅÉAV. The agency has a contract with the city to list all the properties it acquires.

The theater does not have a price attached, Chalanick said. Instead, his agency will hold an open offer period through the end of September.

"This will allow people to get their ducks in a row," he said. "Hopefully that's enough time to get a lot of exposure and get as many offers as we can, and take a look at what's going to be best for the city."

The buyer must plan to rehabilitate the 1938 art deco theater for use as a performing arts venue, Chalanick said. That and financing the project will be two of the top criteria the city considers before selecting a buyer, he added. Estimates of the cost of the project have ranged from $6 million to $12 million. The theater's 2025 market value is $284,000, according to Cayuga County property records.

Financing should include plans to apply for grants, Chalanick said. The buyer will have available a $1 million Restore NY state grant awarded to the city in 2018. However, they will not have a separate $1.2 million state grant to the theater's previous owner, Schines Theater LLC, in 2017. City Manager Jenny Haines told Ë®¹ûÅÉAV the state has informed the city that grant is no longer available. 

The city secured a court order this spring to take possession of the theater from the LLC and its principal, East Syracuse developer Bryan Bowers, after several years of stalled progress on its rehabilitation and sparse communication about it with officials. Bowers, who bought the theater for $15,000 from previous owner the Cayuga County Arts Council in 2018, did not contest the city's legal action. 

Bowers blamed the lack of progress on the economic climate created by COVID-19. Chalanick, however, said the pandemic "changed the real estate dynamic everywhere" by raising interest in properties like the Schine. He has received many inquiries about the theater even before listing it, he continued, as "investors are chomping at the bit to get their hands on something like that."

Along with the $1 million grant, another opportunity available to potential buyers of the Schine will be the Masonic Temple next door at 10 South St. The Real Estate Agency has that property, which it called "one of the oldest and most historic buildings in Auburn," for $430,000. While the two properties don't have to sell together, Chalanick sees an opportunity for synergy there.

"The Schine can't be turned into housing, but if someone wanted to do housing for the Schine, they could do it there," he said.

Given the Schine's history, Chalanick said he's excited to start showing it to potential buyers — and to be part of the potential culmination of its decades-long rehabilitation project.

"The city has a renewed dedication to get this to the finish line," he said. "We're excited to hopefully, finally see it come to fruition, and to be part of that is a big deal to us as a local company."