Tampa Bay, Florida – A party island in Tampa Bay was listed for sale last month for $14.2 million. Now, the owners hope to reopen the island with a new concept, but face the challenge of removing rampant vandalism and trespassing during the six months it has been closed.
Pine Key Island is known to Tampa Bay locals. As a beer can island, It’s been a popular party spot for decades. Co-owners Cole Weaver, Russell Loomis, James West and John Anthony Gadd first opened the island in 2017 as a place to store a motorized tiki bar after becoming a rental party venue. It was purchased for $64,000.
“It’s everyone’s dream to own a private island,” Loomis said. “But at the end of the day, the logistics can obviously get a little tougher when you’re two miles offshore.”
But since the island was closed and staffed, hundreds of trespassers have appeared, breaking into all warehouses and causing property damage, vandalism and the theft of tens of thousands of dollars of equipment, including speakers, they say. says. And a generator.
Cole Weaver (left) and Russell Loomis (right)
Loomis told Fox News Digital that he and his friends didn’t know what they were getting into when they bought the property in 2017.
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“I had no idea this was such a popular boating and party destination,” he says. “Once I bought it, I slowly learned about it. It’s been a crazy ride since then.”
After purchasing the island, many local residents who enjoyed free access to the island realized that the owners required paid memberships for restrooms, alcohol sales, food service, security, recreational activities, campsites, and parties. They were dissatisfied with the planned upgrades to the VIP area and other areas. .
Currently, the company is offering 1,500 people the opportunity to own a slice of Beer Can Island for $1,000 per share. Proceeds will go toward paying for zoning, attorneys, architects, engineers, landscaping, seawalls, sand replenishment, and rebuilding the tiki bar.
This iconic 9-acre man-made island, which dates back to the 1940s and has been a party spot for decades, has an additional 60 acres in the middle of Tampa Bay between MacDill Air Force Base and Apollo Beach. Surrounding submerged areas are also included. press release It was announced that the island was put up for sale.
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“Although the island is closed to the public, hundreds of boats visit the island every weekend, including dozens of illegal trespassers who roam the island each day,” Loomis said. Told. “People have been partying for decades, so unless you have staff and police on the island, it’s impossible to keep people off the island.”
The property is unzoned despite being located in unincorporated Hillsborough County, which causes many problems, Loomis said. Since purchasing the island, the owners have been in discussions with local authorities about how to zone the island.
“We have to jump through a lot of hoops to actually zone the property the way we want, and that’s what we’re working on as we speak,” he said. “What we want to do is involve the community and allow the community to buy stock from us.”
Weaver and his co-owners have a lot of work ahead of them, but he said they’ve been there before and are determined to clean it up.
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“That’s kind of what we’re trying to do now is to put all of this back in place and make it a fun destination for Tampa Bay. We want to beautify the island and restore the tiki shacks to their original state. We’re going to get it back up and running and maintaining it.” Trash and vandalism and things like that are under control where we’re doing security, and those things are happening,” he said.
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FOX News’ Ramiro Vargas contributed to this report.
Ramiro Vargas contributed the accompanying video.
