Downtown's former Reading Cinema at Fifth Avenue & G Street, which closed in February 2016, will soon become Theatre Box - a luxury, Hollywood-themed, 8-screen movie theater from one of the owners of Los Angeles' Chinese Theatre. The theater will share the 73,000 square-foot space with two dining concepts - Landshark Bar & Grill by Jimmy Buffett and Sugar Factory restaurant, lounge and candy store.
A multimillion dollar construction on the Theatre Box is currently underway, led by LA-based architect and designer Gulla Jonsdottir, and is anticipated to be completed by years end. The project developer is Elie Samaha - a film producer and part-owner in the TCL Chinese Theatre (originally Grauman’s Chinese) in Los Angeles, which is known as a setting for Hollywood premieres and its adjacent Walk of Fame walkway tiled with concrete blocks inlayed with celebrity handprints.
A Sugar Factory restaurant, which currently has 17 locations around the world, will sit along 5th Avenue and offer French bistro-fare and frequent celebrity visits, as well as a Chocolate Lounge, a gelato stand, and a full candy store. Next door there will be a Landshark Bar & Grill restaurant, which is part of singer Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville company, which will offer a casual, laid-back feel and menu. The developers also plan to open a 5,000 square foot rooftop bar in 2018.
