WASHINGTON — A Singapore company with a virtual-and-augmented-reality theme park in China is scouting the D.C. area and several other U.S. cities for more locations.
D. Legends Holdings, which owns and operates Legend Heroes Park in Macau, has hired the retail leasing company R.J. Brunelli & Co. to look for workable locations in New York; Atlanta; Orlando, Florida; Las Vegas; Los Angeles; San Francisco; Dallas; Houston; Chicago; Boston; Denver; San Diego; Virginia; Philadelphia; and D.C.
For D.C.-area landlords burned by big-box retailers that have closed locations or gone out of business, it sounds like an ideal solution.
Legends says the ideal buildings for its indoor VR theme parks are vacant anchor and subanchor spaces at regional malls, as well as freestanding or strip-center big-boxes.
There are building requirements, including floor space of at least 30,000 square feet, and minimum ceiling heights of 16 feet overall, with 40 percent of the space at least 32 feet high for rides.
The VR parks would include rides that combine movement with virtual- and augmented-reality technology, holograms, motion tracking, projection mapping and 4D+ technologies.
Its Maccau park includes virtual roller coasters, hologram concerts, shooting games, maze games, races and concessions.
Heroes Park, the company said, can be adapted to a wide range of building sizes with the space divided into zones for different interests, such as a junior zone for young children and a sports zone where people can practice football, baseball, archery or clay-pigeon shooting.
“At a time when many mall operators are struggling to fill vacant department store spaces, Legend Heroes Park offers a unique entertainment destination use aimed at people of all ages,” said Julie Fox at R.J. Brunelli.
“In particular, the flexible concept presents a compelling alternative for properties desiring to present new options that can potentially bring back millennials who have shied away from malls in recent years.”
D. Legends Holdings gave no timetable for its VR indoor theme parks opening in the U.S.
