Hard Rock Cafe, a mainstay of Denver’s 16th Street Mall, could be getting ready to play its last show.
The Florida-based chain of rock ’n’ roll-themed restaurants made its debut at 500 16th St. Mall in downtown Denver when the Denver Pavilions first opened in 1998. But the Hard Rock Cafe’s lease is ending this fall. So, will the Hard Rock Cafe close for good?
Jim Allen, chairman of Hard Rock International, said in an email to the Denver Post that the company “will make a statement at the appropriate time regarding the future of this lease in Denver, adding that “we have enjoyed serving this community and contributing to the city’s dining culture, and employing dozens of team members over the years.”
But Mark Sidell, president of Gart Properties, which owns the Denver Pavilions where the venue is located, added that a possible closure “is not inconsistent with the previous discussions we’ve had with the company.”
And the company is laying off 54 employees, according to a WARN letter filed on May 30 with the Colorado Department of Labor.
If the tourist attraction, popular for its burgers, rock ‘n’ roll memorabilia and a 20-foot neon guitar sign, does close before the end of the year, this will be the first time that the 11,736-square-foot space, which sits in a prime spot on the 16th Street Mall, will be available for lease.
In 2021, Hard Rock Cafe filed a lawsuit against landlord Gart Properties in an effort to get out of its lease, arguing that it had the right to terminate its lease when pandemic-related government restrictions on business hit the one-year mark, citing a specific lease clause. Gart Properties countersued in March of that year, saying the chain’s challenges predated the pandemic. The landlord and tenant eventually reached an undisclosed settlement agreement in September 2021.
In July 2020, Allen told CNBC that the brand was struggling due to the pandemic. But a spokesperson for the brand said the business is now thriving.
“The Hard Rock brand and our pipeline of new developments remains strong,” the spokesperson wrote in a statement. “We operate in 70-plus countries and plan to build more than 50 Hard Rock branded properties in other cities around the world within the next five years.”
(Editor’s note: This story was updated on May 26 with comments from Allen and Hard Rock’s spokesperson.)
