Hard Rock Cafe is dimming the lights on July 29.
As The Denver Post reported in May, the Florida-based rock-n-roll-themed cafe’s lease is up in July, and the company officially confirmed the 16th Street Mall mainstay’s closure this week.
“Since the opening of the Hard Rock Cafe Denver in 1998, Hard Rock International has enjoyed serving the Denver community and playing a role in the city’s celebrated dining culture,” a spokesperson told The Denver Post in a statement. “In July 2023, the lease for Hard Rock Cafe Denver, located on 16th Street will expire. The location will permanently close as a result. We are currently expanding operations in 50 locations within the next five years and are open to having another location within the Denver market, if the right space can be identified.”
Hard Rock Cafe made its debut with its 20-foot neon guitar sign at 500 16th St. Mall in downtown Denver when the Denver Pavilions first opened in 1998. The company is laying off 54 employees, according to a WARN letter filed on May 30 with the Colorado Department of Labor.
Mark Sidell, president of Gart Properties, which owns the Denver Pavilions where the venue is located, told The Denver Post that he is looking for a high-volume operator to fill the 11,736-square-foot space. This is the first time the prime spot will have a new tenant since it opened.
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.
Several other high-profile businesses on the 16th Street Mall have closed their doors in the past few years, including Banana Republic and Uniqlo.
