In 2015, Buena Park sold the land where the Movieland Wax Museum once stood for $2.5 million. In 2022 it bought the same land back for $9 million. Under a deal the City Council approved this summer, it plans to sell it again, this time for $3 million.
All three prices are for the same 8.63 acres at 7711–7733 Beach Blvd. The lot sits west of Medieval Times, with the Courtyard Marriott on its north side and Rock & Brews on its south side. The new plan is a butterfly attraction again, joined this time by an aquarium. The concept is close to the one that stalled in 2017. The difference is in the order of the steps. Under this deal the city holds the land until the developer shows it has the money to build.
Twenty Years of a Lot Waiting for Its Next Act
Movieland closed with a Halloween-night farewell in 2005, as the Los Angeles Times reported that October. What happened after that is laid out in the city's July 14, 2026 council staff report, and it explains why the lot has looked the way it has for most of the last decade.
| When | What happened on the site |
|---|---|
| 2005 | Movieland Wax Museum holds its Halloween-night farewell |
| 2015 | City sells the land for $2.5 million to a developer planning a butterfly pavilion |
| October 2016 | Movieland and Po Folks Restaurant buildings demolished; council approves a Butterfly Pavilion and restaurant |
| April 2017 | Building permits issued |
| June 2017 | Foundation completed |
| Late 2017 | Construction stops, leaving partial walls for the butterfly atrium and theater |
| 2019 | Property changes ownership |
| July 2022 | City buys the land back for $9 million |
| 2024 | City demolishes the Starbucks building and the unfinished above-ground construction |
| July 14, 2026 | Council approves Buena Park Boardwalk, 5–0 |
The Butterfly Pavilion plan the council approved in 2016 included a movie theater, a greenhouse, a horticulture area, a viewing room, a retail store, and party rooms. It got as far as a finished foundation and some wall sections before work stopped. The Orange County Business Journal reported in September that the failure left the site "vacant and tangled in litigation," and that city officials and residents had been frustrated by the lack of progress and by how much the city had spent on the property.
Today the site is still empty. The 2024 demolition left only dirt piles from earlier grading and the old footings and foundations below ground. The new plan includes removing them.
The Deal Puts Money Before the Deed
The 2015 sale handed over the land first, and the project stalled afterward. The 2026 agreement changes that order. Under the purchase-and-sale agreement, Buena Park Boardwalk, LLC pays $3 million: a $300,000 deposit, with the rest financed by a city loan at 8% over 60 months. Escrow stays conditional and was projected to close within 12 months. Escrow is also where the city's main safeguard sits. Matt Foulkes, the city's community and economic development director, told the council, as quoted by the Orange County Business Journal:
"We can assure you before we close escrow, the city will have all of the evidence it needs, including construction contracts, commitments from lending institutions, and whatever other financial capacity they need to demonstrate. Once it closes, the project will be completed."
The terms in the July 14 council packet and the May 27 Planning Commission packet add more conditions:
- Operation requirement: Once the attraction is built, the developer has to keep it operating continuously for 20 years.
- Control requirement: Adi, Amram, and Ran Knishinsky, or their estates, must keep at least 51% of the developer and control it.
- City contribution: The owner-participation agreement allows up to $15 million in reimbursements from the city's Economic Development Fund, plus up to $500,000 for qualifying improvements along the Beach Boulevard frontage.
The city's money and the price gap are what neighbors are likely to talk about. Buena Park paid $9 million to get the land back and is selling it for $3 million, with up to $15 million in support on top of that. The protections above are what the city got for that money. As of the Business Journal's September 21 report, escrow had not closed, and the developer still had to show its financing before it could.
Who Is Behind Buena Park Boardwalk
The developer has built this kind of project before. Buena Park Boardwalk, LLC is led by the Knishinsky family of Arizona, the developers of Arizona Boardwalk in Scottsdale. The Business Journal reported that the Scottsdale complex includes OdySea Aquarium, Butterfly Wonderland, and UFO Experience, and reportedly draws 2 million visitors a year.
OdySea Aquarium's own profile names Amram Knishinsky as a founder and lead developer, credits him with developing Butterfly Wonderland, and lists Adi and Ran Knishinsky as managing partners. The aquarium opened in 2016 and describes itself as having more than 6,000 animals, over 300 species, and more than 70 exhibits. Butterfly Wonderland is a walk-through conservatory with thousands of butterflies and live chrysalis exhibits.
Adi Knishinsky, speaking for the developer, told the council the group had been interested in the Buena Park site for eight years.
What Would Fill the 8.63 Acres
The design brings both Scottsdale attractions to one Beach Boulevard lot. According to the city's Winter 2027 Buena Park Today guide, the plan includes:
- An aquarium of about 75,000 square feet, 37 feet tall
- A butterfly exhibit and atrium of about 45,000 square feet, 30 feet tall
- About 5,500 square feet of dining and retail space inside the two buildings
- A 50-foot-wide landscaped walkway linking the two buildings, with outdoor space for movies, live music, and pop-up markets
- 107 new trees and about 47,000 square feet of new landscaping
- New sidewalks, driveways, and curb-and-gutter work along the Beach Boulevard frontage
The biggest piece is a 47-foot-tall shark sculpture coming out of the aquarium building's northeast corner, about as tall as the nearby Rock & Brews guitar sign. Knishinsky explained its origin to the council, as the Business Journal reported: "The shark was my son's idea… have a giant shark coming out of the ground going into the street. It takes an 11-year-old to design a building."
Councilmembers spoke about the project with relief after a long wait. Mayor Connor Traut called it "truly a hallmark of Buena Park alongside Knott's [Berry Farm] and some other great venues," and Councilmember Susan Sonne said, "To get to the point where we are today feels like a tremendous victory," according to the Business Journal.
A Timeline Measured in Years
Construction is scheduled to begin in 2027, and the city's guide gives summer 2029 for the grand opening. The developer gave the Business Journal a slightly more specific target of May 2029. Both dates come after the escrow condition. Until the financing documents are in and escrow closes, the land stays with the city.
So for the next few years, the stretch of Beach Boulevard across from Medieval Times and Porto's Bakery will look much as it does now, with dirt piles and old foundations left from 2017 still in place until the approved site work begins.
Elsewhere on Beach Boulevard This Fall
Other sites on the corridor are changing faster. Claim Jumper at 7971 Beach Blvd. served its last meal on Monday, September 21, 2026, the Orange County Register reported. That leaves one Claim Jumper in Orange County.
The city owns a second Beach Boulevard building with its own long history. On September 8, 2026, the council voted 5–0 to approve a lease of the restaurant building at 6591 Beach Blvd. to LLP Investments, LLC, according to Council Brief's summary of the draft minutes. The building is a former Poquito Mas, and a previous tenant's remodel there was never finished. Under the lease, Leo Prats, who has built and run restaurants in Los Angeles County for about 30 years, takes on finishing that work for Beach Cafe. The restaurant will serve Mexican and classic American breakfast and lunch with beach-themed decor. According to the September 8 council staff report, the lease requires the restaurant to operate at least five days a week from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. It may add dinner if there is demand, with a closing time no later than 10 p.m.
Both of these city-owned sites follow a similar approach. When a project on city land stalls, Buena Park takes the property back, chooses a new operator, and writes required hours and years of operation into the lease or development agreement.
At Power Close Realty, we follow what happens on Beach Boulevard because big projects like the Boardwalk change everyday life for the people who live nearby. If you own in Buena Park and want to talk about how a decade-long project like this fits into your own plans, whether you stay, move up, or sell, schedule a consultation with our team. We're glad to talk it through in English or Tagalog.
