The curtain is coming down on Hard Rock Cafe’s Bayside Marketplace location after more than three decades on the downtown waterfront.

The rock ’n’ roll themed restaurant will close its doors August 19 after its lease with the city came to an end and will not be renewed, the Hard Rock confirmed in an email to The Real Deal. A spokesperson for the Hard Rock did not immediately respond to why the lease was not renewed or disclose the square footage and seating capacity.

A spokesperson for the City of Miami-owned Bayside Marketplace said the space will be redeveloped for another concept. The next tenant was not disclosed. 

New York-based Ashkenazy Acquisition Corporation holds the ground lease for Bayside Marketplace. A representative for Ashkenazy did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 

In 2020, Ashkenazy filed an eviction lawsuit against the Hard Rock Cafe alleging over $300,000 in unpaid rent amid the pandemic. The case was dismissed with prejudice in 2022, court records show.  

At the time, the lease required the restaurant to pay $500,000 in base rent annually plus a percentage of its sales, according to court records.  

More than 100 employees will lose their jobs as a result of the closure, according to a WARN notice filed by the Hard Rock Cafe. The stand alone waterfront building includes a main dining room, mezzanine, patio areas and event spaces.

Founded in 1971, Hard Rock Cafe opened its Miami location in 1993. The restaurant is part of Hard Rock International, which has been owned by the Seminole Tribe of Florida since its 2007 acquisition of the company and operates cafes, hotels, casinos and live entertainment venues worldwide, plus naming rights for the Miami Dolphins’ home stadium.

Bayside Marketplace was one of the hardest hit retail centers in South Florida during the pandemic. The Hooters there closed in 2021 and was taken over by ​​sports bar Black Market Miami, the Miami Herald previously reported. Other retailers and restaurants that have closed include Sun & Sea Brazilian Bikinis, Bavaria Haus and Express, which emerged from bankruptcy in 2024. 

The waterfront retail and restaurant hub is heavily reliant on tourists. Margaritaville opened there in 2024, and popular fast-casual Mexican chain Coyo Taco opened this month. Bubba Gump Shrimp Company, Chili’s, Foot Locker and Victoria’s Secret are longtime tenants. 

Downtown Miami’s retail market is showing signs of softening, according to Colliers. Retailers in the downtown submarket shed 44,430 square feet of space, and vacancy reached 6.3 percent. Developers remain bullish on the downtown core, with nearly 64,000 square feet of retail space under construction and asking rents averaging $52.50 per square foot.

The Miami Worldcenter has been a major recent driver of much of that retail development and leasing. 

Total inventory square footage for the downtown area is more than 3.4 million square feet.

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In a shocking turn of events up North in Minnesota, Julius Randle was just moved – for nothing.

In fact, the Timberwolves had to trade down in the 2026 NBA Draft in order to offload Randle’s negatively-viewed contract. A once All-NBA 2nd-Team player, Randle’s fall from grace is nothing short of jaw-dropping.

Amidst the loss of a seriously talented player who fell victim to a league enthralled with cap flexibility, the Timberwolves can only look on in envy to the Atlanta Hawks – the very team that stole their apparent alternative out from under them last summer.

Julius Randle’s shocking negative value in the new CBA

Ten years ago, Julius Randle’s contract (adjusted for inflation, at least) would not have resulted in a negative-value trade as it did in 2026.

With the new collective bargaining agreement, teams must now be ultra-focused on creating cap flexibility for themselves moving forward – especially when other players are due a pay day on their squad.

The Timberwolves have a large chunk of their cap space eaten up by Anthony Edwards and Rudy Gobert – a very talented duo at the guard and center positions. This leaves the rest of the roster limited room to work with. Needing to extend Ayo Dosunmu (which happened immediately after the Randle trade), Randle was ultimately dealt away, purely to create room for the rest of the roster.

While the Wolves lost Randle, it unfortunately could have all been prevented if they had made another choice last season – choosing Nickeil Alexander-Walker over the older Randle.

Nickeil Alexander-Walker’s value transcends his presence on the court

Outside of the tantalizing abilities that NAW exhibited on a nightly basis en route to earning MIP honors in the 2025-2026 season for the Hawks, his value is far, far greater thanks to the steal of a deal that Onsi Saleh negotiated last summer.

At nearly the same time that Julius Randle was inking the very contract that led to his parting from the Wolves, Alexander-Walker was agreeing to a deal that would secure his place in Atlanta on an incredibly team-friendly deal through at least 2027-2028.

Alexander-Walker’s $15M/yr deal was less than half of what Randle agreed to. A year separated from both contracts being finalized, and the consensus around NAW and Randle couldn’t be more disparate.

While Randle’s inefficient offense hindered his squad time and again, Alexander-Walker’s two-way play headlined by his stellar perimeter defense and lights-out three-point shooting skyrocketed him towards near All-Star levels of play.

Thanks entirely to both the Timberwolves’ inability to recognize the gift right in front of them and the Hawks’ keen eye to spot a diamond in the rough, the two franchises are miles apart this Summer. While Atlanta vies for contention atop the wide-open Eastern Conference, the Timberwolves may be struggling to retain their franchise superstar.

Will Anthony Edwards finally be on the move after a saga of blunders from his front office? Doubtfully anytime soon. But when his time in Minnesota inevitably reaches its conclusion, the Hawks must be ready – the Atlanta native Antman no doubt sees the Hawks as a top alternative.