Pete’s Time Out property at Times Square sold for $1.5 million

May 19, 2025 By Nathan Mayberg 2 min read

Times Square on Fort Myers Beach Photo by Nathan Mayberg

Nearly a year after a Dania Beach-based limited liability company scooped up the former Plaka on the Beach property at Times Square, they have now acquired its neighbor, the former Pete’s Time Out.

County property records show the sale closed for $1.5 million on April 30 to 1001 FMB LLC. That figure represented a profit for the Indiana-based company which bought the vacant lot for $1.135 million in 2022 from the Lallo family, two months after Hurricane Ian.

Shlomo Melloul, a Dania Beach-based partner in the limited liability company, confirmed the sale. Melloul intends to construct a building at the Times Square property which is located at the corner of Times Square facing the Gulf and Lynn Hall Memorial Park. Melloul has previously considered building a rooftop restaurant to replace the former restaurant. Melloul said on Monday he may also construct a retail building on the property by combining the two lots.

“We will just make it a bigger, better site. It is a very small (property),” Melloul said.

Melloul and FMB 1001 LLC purchased the vacant lot next door where Plaka on the Beach stood before Hurricane Ian, for $3.65 million in July of 2024. Melloul said he intends to combine the two lots in order to construct a larger building.

Melloul said the purchase of the Plaka on the Beach was his first business deal on Fort Myers Beach and he chose it for its “prime location.”

The business move was made during a time of uncertainty for Times Square, which was largely leveled by Hurricane Ian. Developer Terry Persaud withdrew hotel and restaurant for Times Square o Monday after a negative reaction from the Town of Fort Myers Beach Council. Persaud also owns the vacant lot across from the Plaka on the Beach and Pete’s Time Out properties which formerly housed the PierSide Grill and Famous Blowfish Bar, Dairy Queen and Pier Peddler. No new plans have been proposed for those parcels. Those properties front the Fort Myers Beach Pier, which is currently being designed for a rebuild that isn’t expected to be completed until 2027.