Major restaurant closes after 13 years at Daytona Beach's Ocean Walk Shoppes

DAYTONA BEACH ― The Ocean Walk Shoppes retail center in the heart of Daytona Beach's beachside entertainment district lost a longtime restaurant on Monday, but recently inked a deal to reopen its shuttered movie theater early next year.

The operators of the Key West-themed Sloppy Joe's restaurant at Ocean Walk Shoppes announced their decision to close in a social media post.

"With a heart full of gratitude we announce the permanent closure of Sloppy Joe's Daytona after an incredible 13 years of serving our amazing community," the restaurant announced on its Facebook page. "As of November 27, 2023 this location is closed."

Dave Manuchia, president of Orlando-based Restaurant Partners Inc., which operated the Sloppy Joe's restaurant at Ocean Walk Shoppes, told The Daytona Beach News-Journal in a phone interview, "It was a sad and difficult decision for us. We had hoped to stay there a long time, but circumstances dictated our decision to leave."

Richard Wakeel, a director with the Toronto, Canada company that owns Ocean Walk Shoppes, said the decision by the restaurant's owners to close came as a surprise.

"They decided to close yesterday (Monday) morning with no reason," said Wakeel. "There's still one year left on their lease. This came as a surprise to everyone including their employees."

Manuchia said all employees that got laid off received severance pay.

What is Ocean Walk Shoppes?

Ocean Walk Shoppes is at 250 N. Atlantic Ave. in Daytona Beach, located between Volusia County's two largest hotels: the 744-room Hilton Daytona Beach Oceanfront Resort to the south and the 710-room Club Wyndham Ocean Walk timeshare resort to the north.

The 110,646-square-foot multi-story shopping center was built in 2002 and was originally anchored by a 10-screen movie theater that has since closed after undergoing several ownership and name changes.

It is connected via a covered pedestrian overpass to the parking garage for the Ocean Center convention center across the street.

Its tenants are a mix of restaurants ― Bubba Gump Shrimp Co., Ker's WingHouse, Johnny Rockets, Mai Tai Bar, The Beach Hut Cantina, and Cold Stone Creamery — and shops such as Maui Nix, Sunglass Hut, Rocket Fizz, Point Break, BrikaBrak, D&D Blacklight Mini Golf, and The Beach Mart.

Coming attraction: Sun-Ray Cinema

Wakeel said his company recently entered into a multi-year management agreement with a new operator for the movie theater which will reopen in early 2024 under a new name: Sun-Ray Cinema. "The new operators, Tim and Shana Massett, are going to be operating all 10 screens and are aiming to do a pizza restaurant just like before. They're remodeling as we speak."

The Masseys operate a Sun-Ray Cinema movie theater in Jacksonville's Five Point area at 1028 Park St. as well as a separate Sun-Ray's Drive-In theater at 7900 Ramona Blvd. in Jacksonville.

The Johnny Rockets restaurant at Ocean Walk Shoppes closed in September because of health code violations. A new franchisee has taken over with plans to reopen the restaurant in December. The new operator, Darrell Jenkins, is renovating the space and installing new kitchen equipment, said Wakeel.

Who owns Ocean Walk Shoppes?

Ocean Walk Shoppes is owned by Toronto, Canada-based Dundas Real Estate Investments which acquired the shopping center seven years ago for $8 million after the property was put up for auction.

It's had its share of struggles over the years

The sellers of Ocean Walk Shoppes in the 2016 transaction were a group of lenders who took control of the center in 2013 after winning a $27.3 million foreclosure judgement against the property's original investor group.

Bill Geary, managing partner of the group that developed Ocean Walk Shoppes, pleaded guilty in 2014 to money laundering and conspiracy to commit mail fraud in connection to charges that he stole nearly $900,000 from an investors' fund for the center and used the money for his personal benefit. He was sentenced that year to 18 months in prison.

Another restaurant left earlier this year

Ocean Walk Shoppes earlier this year lost another restaurant, Harry's Famous Pizza, which left after only six months. Owner Christos Mavronas decided to combine the pizzeria with his other eatery a few miles up the street: Steve's Famous Diner at 2011 N. Atlantic Ave. in Daytona Beach.

"Sales were really bad," said Mavronas of the pizzeria's original location at Ocean Walk Shoppes. "People don't want to pay to park (at the Ocean Center parking garage) just to get a slice of pizza. Business was good during summer when they had free concerts at the Bandshell. But when that stopped, our sales stopped.

"I don't have any issues with Ocean Walk Shoppes. They're good people. But the county (which owns the parking garage) shouldn't charge for parking. All the other restaurants on beachside offer free parking. Having the movie theater reopen there might help."

Wakeel said the only vacancies at Ocean Walk Shoppes currently are the newly vacated 10,000-square-foot Sloppy Joe's space and the 2,000-square-foot former Harry's Famous Pizza space.

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Sloppy Joe's closes its doors at Daytona's Ocean Walk Shoppes