New London — The new owner of Capitol Theater has completed his acquisition of three other Bank Street properties in anticipation of offering a 10,000-square-foot retail space that would encompass half a block, from the former Lola's Fashions to the long-vacant Marcus building.

Last month, Eric Hamburg of Bank Street Renaissance LLC bought 9 and 11 Bank St. from Alvin Klingerman for a total of $275,000. He previously had purchased the former H. Marcus & Co. building at 15 Bank St. for $185,000.

Now, he said, he plans to begin gutting the interiors of all three spaces in the coming days to create one large space for a retailer he has in mind. Hamburg wouldn't name the retailer or say whether it was a business already in the city, but he estimated the space would be ready by next summer or fall, depending on whether he decides to apply for historic tax credits.

"I'm transforming the entire block," he said Tuesday in a phone interview. "I want to make it more of a destination."

Hamburg, who bought the long-vacant Capitol Theater at 35 Bank St. last March for $68,000, said the problem with retail downtown is that most of the spaces are small and choppy. He said combining spaces opens up possibilities for creating stores with larger floor plans.

Hamburg said retail establishments he would lure to Bank Street will be complementary to his plans for the Capitol, but he is planning the two projects as separate entities.

"The Capitol really stands on its own," he said.

Still, he is unsure at this point what the old vaudeville theater will become. It depends partly, he said, on how many parking spaces the city can guarantee will be available because he doesn't want to plan for a venue with a capacity of 2,400, for instance, and find the parking capacity of downtown would be overtaxed.

"Parking will dictate our design," he said.

Carey Redd, the city's parking director, could not be reached to comment.

Hamburg said he still hopes to make the Capitol into some sort of entertainment destination. He is buoyed by some of the new dining and entertainment spots on Bank Street, such as The Social and Fatboys, as well as the planned location of the National Coast Guard Museum across the way near City Pier.

"That whole section of Bank Street, I think, will be very exciting," he said.

Hamburg said his Bank Street project still is in the planning stages, but the most likely scenario is to have apartments on the upper floors. He has bought and renovated several other apartments on Hamilton Street, including two that recently were purchased.

Ned Hammond, economic development coordinator for the city, said he welcomes the new investment in downtown.

"Any new refurbished space is always going to be a big plus," he said. "It's a huge project."

Hammond said he doesn't necessarily see the small retail spaces in downtown as a problem per se, but he did acknowledge that some of the buildings are deep and narrow, which can make them difficult to configure for retail use.

He pointed out that local architect Barun Basu had come up with a design for adaptive reuse of the buildings Hamburg now owns that included an atrium-style passageway to the back area of Bank Street. It's a costly proposition, he said, but is made sustainable by the recent popularity of refurbished apartments downtown.

"It's an exciting place to be," he said.

Hamburg said he anticipated the Bank Street projects to be done as a public-private partnership. The purchase of the two Klingerman properties last month, Hamburg said, are his last on the block.

"I've completed what I was trying to do on Bank," he said.

l.howard@theday.com