Shooters draws a $5.3 Million Bid

Last Wednesday, on Dec 5, an auction for Shooter's Waterfront Cafe and Bootlegger drew a $5.3 Million bid. FirstBank holds an $11.3 Million judgement. A bank appraisal listed the property value at $9.2 Million, while Shooter's owners listed it at roughly $6 million.

The winning bidder was FirstBank, who held greater than $11 million judgement against the place. I'm not sure how that works; if the bank now owes itself money, but it's not very exciting for us. Because basically nobody owns the place that's going to open anything that we should care about.

Shooters Waterfront Saloon has been an icon since back in the spring break days in the 80's, but soon it will be no more. They filed for bankruptcy in July, and the entire Shooters and Bootlegger complex will be sold at Auction on December 5, 2012.

Back in the day, Shooters was the hottest ticket in town, with boats tied up 3 deep. It was the place to be during the spring break days. But in the past 10 years, the "hot body contests" have lost their appeal, and the place failed to keep up with the times. Bootleggers was leased out to La Playa for a short time, and the Miami Style club turned the place into a circus; but the owners couldn't make it with a place that only drew customers on weekends.

With the lowly regarded Chart House and uninspiring Flip Flops; this area has become a forgotten neighborhood. It will be interesting to see who buys this prime real estate; A winner here could revitalize this part of town. Let's just hope that the same old people who own every other restaurant in town don't open yet another weak venue. We deserve something better.