The Hot Docs iconic Ted Rogers Cinema is officially on the market, once again bringing the organization’s financial struggles to light.
After two years of operating deficits and the cancellation of its summer programming this year, the Bloor Street West cinema last month announced its building would go up for sale.
On Tuesday, the commercial real estate group CBRE published notice it would be handling the sale. The company shared an adversarial image of the cinema, designed like a movie poster, announcing the listing and calling the cinema a “prime Annex building.”
Arlin Markowitz, the executive vice-president of CBRE, denied a TorontoToday request for comment.
A price tag for the Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema has not been publicly announced.
Amid the sale, Hot Docs said it will “secure a lease-back arrangement that will allow programming at the Cinema to continue.”
“The organization is actively seeking a buyer who values cultural spaces and creative enterprise, and who demonstrates a commitment to the legacy of the Cinema as a vital hub in the city,” Hot Docs wrote in a press release.
Hot Docs has been in financial hot water for several years now.
The organization has said much of its economic strain is “largely due to a slow post-pandemic recovery” and “the ownership and operation of the Cinema.”
As the cinema closed its doors this summer, Hot Docs said it also restructured internally and scaled down “to a three-person working board.”
In September, the Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema launched a limited reopening for select screenings, third-party rentals and the theatre’s much anticipated The Rocky Horror Picture Show screening for Halloween.
The Hot Docs cinema will resume its programming season in December with the launch of the long-running Doc Soup screening series.
The organization will host the 32nd annual Hot Docs Festival from April 24 to May 4, 2025, in Toronto. More than 100 documentaries from Canada and other countries will be screened during the festival.
The Hot Docs cinema spans 504-508 Bloor Street West near Bathurst.
