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Swingers Resort Owner Buys Historic Berkeley Theater: Report

The theater closed during the pandemic.

BERKELEY, CA — The owner of a "clothing optional" swingers hotel in Southern California recently bought a historic Berkeley theater for $5 million, according to a report from the San Francisco Chronicle.

Tien Lung Chen, who is part of an ownership group that owns Exotic Dreams Resort in Palm Springs, leads another group that recently bought the Landmark's California Theatre in Berkeley, according to the report. It's unclear what plans Chen and the ownership group have for the building.

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The theater first opened in 1914. It closed during the COVID-19 pandemic and never reopened.

There were plans to potentially turn the building into a multi-story housing complex, but they never came to fruition, according to the report.

Read more from the San Francisco Chronicle.

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