Breaking News: Former Time Out Market Will Soon Reopen as South Beach Food Hall

It's often said that when one door closes, another opens. The adage certainly holds true at the former Time Out Market Miami. The Miami Beach food hall, whose imminent closure was announced only a month ago, will soon be reincarnated as South Beach Food Hall.

On June 1, Time Out announced it would be shutting down the Miami Beach outpost of its branded, curated market on June 30, having given the food hall's 15-plus vendors a mere two hours' notice of the momentous development.

But New Times has learned that a deal to keep the vendors in business has been in the works for several weeks, and the food hall will soon relaunch under new management.

According to a source with knowledge of the arrangement, no changes will be made to the layout or the vendors, apart from the removal of all Time Out branding.

The source, who shared details on the condition that New Times not identify them, says the move results from a push orchestrated by the building's owner, Cuban-born American businessman Paul Cejas, to keep his tenants' small businesses up and running.

"The story right now is that it's not going to close permanently. It will reopen as is, and a relaunch and a rebrand will happen sometime in the future," the source tells New Times. "Paul [Cejas] didn't want an empty building, and he didn't want to see these businesses go by the wayside. They're local chefs, and he's a local owner, and we want to keep it a neighborhood place. He's the local hero."

On Thursday, July 6, less than a week after tenants vacated the premises, a sign was posted just inside the entrance to the building at 1601 Drexel Ave., alerting passersby that the market will reopen on Friday, July 14, at 11 a.m. under a new name: South Beach Food Hall.

"Please join us all summer long as we add new chefs, new offerings, expanded services, with a major relaunch to be announced," the sign informs. "Local chefs. Local operators. Local ownership."

Confirmed to be returning: 33 Kitchen, Dale Street Food, La Santa Taqueria, Pho Mo by Phuc Yea, Chick'N Jones, Rogue Panda, PizzElla, the Maiz Project, Gutenburg Burger, Lur Basque Cuisine, Edan Cafe, Baklava Bakery, Plants & Bowls, Kae Sushi, and the Blakery.

Yu-Me Japanese Kitchen departed before the market's closure in June and will not return.

Time Out Market Miami opened in 2019, one of several similar editorially curated food halls that operate in cities including New York, Boston, Chicago, Montreal, and Dubai. The Miami Beach location is the only one to close since the first Time Out Market opened in 2014 in Lisbon.

New Times attempted without success to get a comment from Time Out.