The move of Hard Rock International’s headquarters from Orlando to a building Hard Rock owns in Hollywood, Floridais proceeding ahead of schedule and will be completed in April, officials said. The company has been based in Orlando since Seminole Tribe bought it in 2007, but tribal headquarters and Seminole Gaming both are based in Hollywood. Hard Rock International Chairman Jim Allen said locating the staffs of all three companies in one place will offer “a more collaborative brand environment.” He noted the move is about being “more efficient and more effective in working together as a global company. We have been evaluating it for years.”
About 200 Orlando employees will be affected. Hard Rock officials stated, “Packages were made available to existing team members in the form of base pay increases, relocation assistance, promotions into larger roles within the company, as well as professional outplacement for spouses and/or partners of team members who move and wish to seek employment in the new location.” Employees who are not making the move will be allowed to work until the facility is closed and will receive their annual bonus, severance pay and professional outplacement services.
The new of the move upset some former and current employees. Former Hard Rock International Corporate Executive Chef Russell Booth, who resigned in November, said he’d heard only a few people will move to South Florida, and he said he was not aware the company would offer severance pay.
The plan to move from Orlando came about when 13-year Chief Executive Officer Hamish Dodds resigned in 2016. Since then, Hard Rock has been led by Jim Allen whose office is at the Hollywood casino.
The 63,000 square foot Orlando office building at 6100 Old Park Lane in the MetroWest area has been listed for sale on Loopnet.com since February 18.
Hard Rock includes 24 hotels, 11 casinos and 177 restaurants in more than 70 countries, plus Hard Rock Stadium in Miami. A $1.5 billion expansion is underway at the Hollywood casino resort, including a new 450 foot guitar-shaped hotel which will increase the total number of rooms to more than 1,300 and add five new restaurants, a buffet and nightclub, scheduled to open in mid-2019. The project also will include doubling the size of the current casino to offer 3,267 slots and 178 table games, plus demolishing the current 5,500-seat Hard Rock Live entertainment venue to make way for a new, $100 million, 7,000-seat Hard Rock Live.
