For Mercado, the loss of Hard Rock Vault dents an improved occupancy level that stood at 76% before the Vault shut down. The 22-year-old, 142,000-sf open-air shopping center is at 63% occupancy. Hard Rock is trying to find a tenant to occupy its space and fulfill the last three years of a five-year lease, retail brokers familiar with the property say.
Mercado has come back strong in a highly competitive retail market after filing for Chapter 11 protection under the US Bankruptcy Code in 2002, area retail consultants tell GlobeSt.com. Atlanta-based Griffin Expressway II LP, operating as MVO Management and headed by Christian Wolffer, filed the bankruptcy petition, as GlobeSt.com previously reported.
Hard Rock Vault opened with the usual Hollywood-style fanfare in December 2002 at the shopping, dining and entertainment complex. Locally based Hard Rock Café International displayed over a million dollars worth of musical equipment and other items related to the entertainment industry at the Vault.
But the admission charges of $14.95 for adults and $8.95 for children 5 to 12 "didn't come close to paying the rent," an International Drive broker intimate with the Hard Rock Vault venture tells GlobeSt.com.
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