Tobacco Road, the bar with the oldest liquor license in Miami, is closing this week after 102 years of live music, food and drinks.
But don’t despair just yet -- at a press conference Thursday, representatives of the company announced a new location is in the works.
Patrick Gleber is the president of Tobacco Road. He’s been with the company for 32 years. He says five years ago, developers approached him offering to buy the property.
"It was about two years of negotiations," said Gleber. "All these different buyers, and then one finally came along and offered what we thought was a fair price. And it was time."
Joel Rivera is the general manager of Tobacco Road and has worked for the company 15 years under Gleber. Rivera bought the "Tobacco Road" name and plans to reopen at 69 SW Seventh Street, across from the Brickell City Center.
"This place has a lot of magic in it," he says. "A lot of wonderful people come through it -- staff, customers, musicians, artists. I decided to keep that alive."
Rivera says he will sign the property lease within a week and expects to open the new Tobacco Road location between six months and a year from now.
He has initiated a KickStarter campaign to raise $50,000 to move the neon signs, posters and other Tobacco Road artifacts to the new location.
The company has also secured a food truck to continue serving their longtime menu items. The food truck will be primarily stationed in the existing Tobacco Road parking lot, and offer delivery throughout the Brickell area.
Another announcement at the press conference revealed that Norwegian Cruise Lines will host "Tobacco Road Bar" in the line's newest ship, Norwegian Escape, scheduled to debut next November in Miami.
This Saturday, Tobacco Road will host a closing party starting at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are available through the KickStarter campaign.
