Miami, Oct 3 (IANS/EFE) Tobacco Road, at 102 the oldest bar in Miami, will close its doors Oct 25, pushed out by soaring real estate values in the city's downtown district, owners said.

The bar boasts a colourful story of run-ins with law enforcement agencies, including time as a speakeasy during prohibition, and has been known as a haven for bootleggers, gangsters and hookers.

Just a few yards away in the now-fashionable Brickell area, construction is under way on the massive city centre complex, featuring a shopping centre, a hotel, offices and two residential buildings.

The handwriting has been on the wall since 2012, when the land under the building was sold for $12.5 million, though the bar has a lease that is good through May 2015.

"The plans were to remain open as long as possible, but with construction it's tough to get to the Road," Tobacco Road's marketing manager, James Goll, told the Miami New Times. "That makes it difficult for customers and it makes it difficult to make up for lost revenue when you're serving $2 beers."

Owners and employees are looking for another location and hoping to raise enough money to move Tobacco Road's trademark neon sign.

Tobacco Road has hosted performances by the likes of legendary Mississippi bluesman John Lee Hooker (1917-2001) and New Orleans musical icon Dr John.

Urban legend has it that Al Capone used to do business at Tobacco Road and that his accomplices used a side door and a secret passage to a neighbouring building to escape from police.