Downtown San Diego's Hippest Venue: Theatre Box

The former Pacific and Reading cinema underwent a multi-million dollar overhaul in 2018 and is now home to Theatre Box®, downtown San Diego’s newest and hippest entertainment venue in the Gaslamp district.

OliverMcMillan, now acquired by Brookfield Properties, previously had plans for a flagship retail store in the 73,000 SF space. However, the current tenants approached Brookfield, the current owner, for their planed use of the space and signed a 30 year lease.

TCL Chinese Theatre based in Hollywood, California and Sugar Factory, a global franchise, collaborated to create Theatre Box® inspired by the movie-going experience and a traditional theatre box filled with various treats.

Theatre Box® opened its doors last December and hopes to be a winning formula for entertainment in the Gaslamp Quarter. Once all venues are completed, it will employ approximately 300 – 400 people.

After its renovation, the 73,000 SF building was broken up into several spaces, with each space to serve a specific purpose. Sugar Factory will take up 14,000 SF and will consist of Sugar Factory confections, retail, gelato bar and café, Sugar Factory American Brasserie and Chocolate Lounge.

Chocolate Lounge, an upscale lounge where customers will be presented with an array of chocolate themed signature cocktails will take up 3,000 SF.

TCL Chinese Theatre will take up approximately 36,000 SF of space which consists of 8 movie auditoriums outfitted with leather seats and some reclining functions.

Future plans for the remaining space include a franchise Wild ‘N Out bar created by San Diego native, Nick Cannon and ilov 305’s 6,000 SF rooftop bar by rapper, Pitbull.

Building specifications and figures: Completed renovation (fall 2018) 3 story low-rise 8 movie auditoriums 3,000 SF upscale lounge 6,000 SF rooftop bar 14,000 SF restaurant / retail / event space 36,000 SF cinema space