Buccaneer Restaurant 'alive and well,' town manager says

Not much has happened on the vacant lot where Pattigeorge’s once stood.

With plans for a Buccaneer Restaurant announced in 2017 by the Gonzmart Family of Restaurants, residents have since eagerly awaited construction to begin. But the only visible action on the lot has been the growth of vegetation, which led to questions from community members about the status of the project.

While action on the lot itself has been lacking since Pattigeorge’s demolition in 2018, Columbia Restaurant Group has had a lot on its plate elsewhere.

In 2019, Columbia Restaurant Group purchased its St. Armands restaurant space, the adjoining Cha Cha Coconuts and upstairs retail space occupied by other businesses for $18.3 million. Columbia had leased the space since 1959.

Then, a year later, a global pandemic crippled the restaurant industry for months, with impacts extending years.

And in 2024, dual hurricanes flooded St. Armands, causing high-cost damage to The Columbia.

In October, Town Manager Howard Tipton responded to a question at a “Let’s Talk Longboat” meeting from a resident who was concerned about vegetation growth at the lot. He responded by giving background about the project.

He told residents that the project “never got off the ground,” and that the town was unsure what the future held for the lot at 4120 Gulf of Mexico Drive.

At the next Let’s Talk Longboat meeting, held on Tuesday, Tipton updated residents, saying the Buccaneer is still in the works.

Tipton said in 2023, there were designs of the project, and the restaurant company put out a bid for construction. The price was higher than they expected, leading them to pause their plans.

However, action on The Buccaneer now looks set to resume.

“He said that is still his project and now that prices are coming down, he is hoping they will go back out and see if they can get that built,” Tipton said. “He wanted to reassure me that that project is alive and well, and stay tuned.”

Image courtesy of Columbia Restaurant Group

Planning and Zoning Director Allen Parsons said that plans for the project would need to be reapproved since the two-year approval window had passed.

Gonzmart Family of Restaurants spokesperson Jeff Houck, when asked about the status of the project, said “every time someone asks (Gonzmart) when it’s going to open, he always says the same thing. When it’s ready.”