Suburban World theater sold

A Florida firm has purchased the Suburban World theater in Uptown for $750,000, according to documents filed in Hennepin County.

The purchaser is YAD Hennepin LLC of Aventura, Fla., and the seller of the property at 3022 Hennepin Av. was Commerce Bank.

The limited partnership buying the building is comprised of the same principals as Elion Partners, which purchased the long-shuttered State Farm complex in Woodbury last year, according to Jesse Olson, a local realtor marketing the property.

Elion Managing Partner Juan DeAngulo could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

Last year, plans were submitted to the city by a local realtor to rehab the 87-year-old landmark (formerly known as the Granada Theater) with the idea of converting it to retail space. But the fate of the theater -- located along a busy commercial thoroughfare -- is unclear. Currently, the theater is available for special events.

The theater features stars and moving clouds on the ceiling - making it appear as though it has no roof. The theater's website says "it is the only surviving example of an atmospheric theatre in Minneapolis and one of few remaining in the state."

Elion Partners bought the State Farm complex last year, a high-profile site at the corner of Interstate 94 and Radio Drive in Woodbury. Two previous deals had fallen through in the Great Recession.

In Woodbury, Elion plans to renovate the old State Farm headquarters into shops, restaurants and addition office space, perhaps a hotel, bank and medical office buildings.