Headed to Point Loma and due by late fall is a new center for film, food and events; dubbed TheLOT, the concept is from Backlot Hospitality who has signed lease with The NTC Foundation to renovate Liberty Station's 20,000-square-foot Luce Auditorium, which has been dormant since 1997. Backlot Hospitality is currently building out another version of TheLOT in La Jolla, at the former Jonathan's Market site on Fay Avenue.

Construction should begin next month and will include a division of the space into six 50 to 100 seat cinemas that will screen first-run movies and art films, plus a new outdoor dining area. Scott Andrews, marketing manager at The Corky McMillin Companies, Liberty Station's developer, confirmed to Eater that there will be a full-fledged restaurant included in the project. Vegas-based restauranteur and culinary consultant Elizabeth Blau, who was nominated for a 2015 James Beard Foundation Award for Outstanding Restauranteur, has been tapped to oversee the food and drink at the Point Loma and La Jolla locations.