The NTC Arts & Culture District in Point Loma’s Liberty Station is building on a solid foundation after launching into a third phase of a long-term redevelopment project to transform the complex into a true regional arts and cultural center.
“Phase 2 is completed with eight buildings done in 2012,” said Alan Ziter, executive director of the NTC Foundation, which was established in 2000 to renovate the 28-acre Arts & Culture District of the former Naval Training Center, turning it into a place where “innovative experiences” will inspire generations to come.
“But the job’s not done,” said Ziter. “We’re hopeful that we can accomplish the bulk of the remainder of the project, the final 10 unrenovated buildings in the district, in what we are calling Phase 3. We are now in the planning and visioning phase of what we can do with the buildings and what the community needs that could take place in these buildings. Ideally, it will all happen in a single phase.”
Noting that funding to renovate the buildings in the third phase “will be key,” Ziter estimated it will “cost $20 million to renovate them to a point where a tenant could move in and complete their build-out.”
The 10 buildings in Phase 3 of the Arts & Culture District are:
• The historic Luce Auditorium: a lease has been signed with a new tenant to be announced in early fall.
• Four former Naval Training Center barracks buildings.
• Three officers’ homes.
• The former Navy Base Exchange Building.
• The Gatehouse on Rosecrans Street.
In November 2013, the NTC Foundation celebrated the completion of eight Phase 2 buildings, welcoming 14 new tenants ranging from art galleries to small design firms. In 1997, when the city took possession of the former NTC and named Corky McMillin as the master redeveloper, it also set aside 26 buildings on 28 acres as a civic arts and cultural district.
Seven of the eight refurbished structures in Phase 2 redevelopment were former two-story barracks buildings. A total of 52,500 square feet of space was reconfigured into shops, studios, work spaces and offices that now house Ballast Point Gallery, Barracks 17 Event Center, Brandiose, California State Parks, Casa Valencia Galeria Baja, FlightPath Intaglio Studio, Point Loma Tea, Ron’s Shop, Studio E, Taylor Grace Designs, The Hot Spot! (pottery painting), the Women’s Museum of California and Yellow Book Road Children’s Books.
Ziter said the second phase’s build-out has served its purpose, but added it has already been outgrown.
“We are currently 98 percent leased in the renovated buildings,” he said. “So there is definitely more demand for space.”
Ziter would not disclose details of the long-sought-after tenant for the Luce Auditorium — where the likes of Bob Hope and other entertainment giants of the day performed for recruits — other than to say, “A formal announcement will be made when preliminary plan reviews at the city are complete and there is more certainty about a timeline for renovations and opening.”
Located on the west side of Truxtun Road north of Dewey Road, the 20,000-square-feet, 1,800-seat Luce Auditorium would appear to have ample space to be an anchor performance venue. But the site has several logistical “impediments” to be overcome, including no lobby space, wall-to-wall seating that is too deep and a stage that is too small and too high, as well as marginal acoustics and insufficient, out-of-date restrooms.
 Luce Auditorium’s renovation, however, has been long acknowledged to be a key element of Liberty Station’s redevelopment, as it would provide resident groups a place to perform and could offer local film festivals a permanent home.