Investment group buys longtime Beach lounge
A long-standing establishment within Times Square in the heart of Fort Myers Beach served its last “world famous rum runner” under former ownership recently.
Top O’Mast Lounge closed its doors prior to last weekend after Persaud Property FL Investments, LLC purchased the property at 1028 Estero Blvd. from longtime owner Steve Strauss Thursday. The bar and one-time restaurant under the previous name was reportedly open for more than 40 years and sold within 24 hours of its listing.
Developer Joe Orlandini stated he and Partner Terry Persaud plan on renovating the building and beachfront decking prior to a re-opening under a different name with intentions of a family-style restaurant. The partners will act as property owners of the site. An unidentified business owner has been selected.
“It was probably up for sale for literally 24 hours. We negotiated and got it,” said Orlandini. “My partner Terry and I have a plan to renovate it. We have a tenant that is going to go in there and run the restaurant that will go in.”
The interior equipment was included in the sale. While the previous establishment was not serving food at the time of the sale and had not been for some time, a kitchen still exists in the building.
The investment group is targeting a Dec. 1 opening. No tear down and rebuild will take place, says Orlandini.
“The earlier the better, later not so good,” he said.
Orlandino refuted the rumor that Fresh Catch Bistro at 3040 Estero Blvd. would move into that space.
“That rumor is untrue,” he said.
While details have not yet been disclosed, Orlandini said the main operator will bring a lot of “value” into the building.
“We have a really good idea of what the remodel will look like. The only thing we are not agreeing on is what will be on the Times Square side. We are really close on 90 percent of it,” he said. “Our biggest problem is connecting Times Square to a building that sits up to that elevation since it has steps up to it. But, we do have a great concept. There are a few things we want done before we do disclose (more information and names).”
The parking lot remains operational. Beach goers can still park there for $10 per vehicle. Beach chairs are also still for rent.
“We are collecting on the parking lot. It is helping pay our overhead right now,” Orlandini said.
Once operational, customer parking may not have a charge.
“Our intent is to allow the restaurant patrons to park for free,” he said.
During the past few days, people have dropped by for rum runners, thinking that the business is still open. They may come back in time, says Orlandini.
“We really want the family atmosphere, the food and to take advantage of its spot in Times Square,” he said.
Orlandini met Strauss and some of his former employees on Monday. He said that Strauss was upset that the business couldn’t remain operational during renovations. Permits will be needed for remodeling, however.
“We didn’t have the ability to quite make it to where people could keep working a little bit longer,” he said. “We do feel bad about that. It just didn’t work out that way.”
Orlandini was impressed how much Strauss cared for his employees and their livelihood.
“(Strauss) really cares about his employees. I have never quite run into an owner who really cared about his employees like the way he did,” he said. “He really showed a side of him that most people might not expect to see.”
Strauss actually paid DJ Lenny Salvatore to work on Friday -a day after the Top O’ Mast closed down.
Strauss was unavailable for comment.
The investment group would like to have a tiki bar on the beachfront decking facing the Gulf. That decking is expected to be built up several feet to floor level prior to that dream.
“We are actually going to make (the outdoor decking) the same height as the interior,” said Orlandini. “We think people will really like how this tiki bar works out on the back part of the deck. I think that will be one of the coolest pieces of that deal.”
Fire codes are an issue. Orlandini says the design is to have sliding doors stretch out fully on that beachfront side of the building.
“It’ll be all sliders opening up to the water side,” he said.
According to Beach Fire provisions, a fire sprinkler system will be needed for such an endeavor. Orlandini said he already had the fire department out to the property to get a full assessment of what would be needed to open and include possible future additions. He mentioned seats on the Times Square side as a future possibility.
“We’ve decided to put sprinklers in there. We tackled that issue,” he said. “A capacity issue would have forced us to put a sprinkler system in anyway.”
Orlandini stated space issues have been a deterrent, but he is looking forward to the winter opening.
“We are having some functional issues. We are really fitting a lot into a smaller space than we anticipated,” he said. “We’re really trying to think out as much as we can do to make it as nice as we can possibly make it for Times Square.”