CORTEZ – Back-to-back hurricanes may have left Annie’s Bait and Tackle badly battered, but its ownership expects to be back up and running soon.
“I’m hoping we can be back open by Thanksgiving,” Annie’s co-owner Bruce Shearer said.
Annie’s, a waterfront landmark just north of the Cortez Bridge, first sustained water damage from Hurricane Helene followed by wind damage from Hurricane Milton.
The docks are gone and a blue tarp covers an opening on the west wall where part of the docks came through.
A red tag on the building from the Manatee County Building Department posted on a window states in part: “It is unsafe and its use or occupancy has been prohibited until all required repairs and inspections are complete.”
“I’m working on getting any permits we need,” Shearer said. “We are definitely going to reopen.”
Annie’s, which has been in existence since the 1950s, has been owned by Shearer and Kim Shepherd for more than 20 years. The shop sells bait and tackle, beer, ice, gas, and food.
“Our motto is ‘if we don’t have it, you don’t need it,’” Shearer told The Sun in May. “There really is nothing else like this. Once it’s gone, it’s gone.”
Annie’s is part of the Seafood Shack parcel that Manatee County is in the process of purchasing for $13 million.
The property consists of seven upland parcels totaling approximately 5.9 acres along with two submerged land leases of 2.9 acres.
The Manatee County Board of Commissioners unanimously approved the purchase at a Sept. 5 land use meeting. The property is anticipated to be used as a public boating access facility with a boat ramp, dry storage facility, and marina.
“I assume the board will act as a landlord and essentially create a revenue source by leasing slips and continue to lease space to those businesses that are already there,” Commissioner Kevin Van Ostenbridge said at the Sept. 5 meeting.
Prior to Hurricanes Helene and Milton, the scheduled closing date for the sale was Oct. 7.
“That closing had to get pushed back because of the hurricanes,” Shearer said.
Manatee County spokesperson Bil Logan stated in an Oct. 23 email to The Sun he could not confirm a closing date for the Seafood Shack sale.
Eviction notices from current owner Vandyk Properties advised business owners that the properties, including Annie’s, must be vacated by Sept. 30. Hurricane Helene, however, struck the local area on Sept. 27.
“The current landlord (owner Vandyk Properties) would not agree to a sale date extension to allow the buyers (Manatee County) an opportunity to evaluate the current leases prior to closing, so the current tenants must vacate their locations per the current landlord’s requirements,” Logan wrote in a Sept. 20 email to The Sun.
