Fort Lauderdale’s popular open-air watering hole The Wharf will close Aug. 31 to allow for renovations that its owners say will make the 5-year-old pop-up venue a “permanent fixture” on its prized piece of downtown real estate on the New River.
Since its 2019 debut in the epicenter of Fort Lauderdale’s tower-filled downtown core, The Wharf has seemed like a temporary placeholder for something else, destined to meet the same fate as its sister location in Miami, which closed last September to make way for a multimillion-dollar hotel and hospitality project, Riverside Wharf.
But the owner of both properties, Miami-based Breakwater Hospitality Group, is doubling-down on its investment in Fort Lauderdale, where business has “exceeded our expectations,” Breakwater cofounder Emi Guerra says.
“Business is great, especially for a time like this. We hope with the renovations and with some new energy it’ll be even better,” he says.
The refinements will range from adding new bars and upgrading food vendors to replacing floors and turf, and other general maintenance to the space that, apart from a pandemic break, has operated seven days a week since it opened five years ago. The Wharf is scheduled to close after business on Saturday, Aug. 31, and reopen on a date to-be-determined in the fall.