Four friends who bought deserted Florida island for $63.5K and transformed into a paradise worth $14M share how much money it's made them

Buying a deserted Florida island sounds like the sort of thing people joke about after a few drinks, but for four friends in Florida, it somehow became reality.

Back in 2017, they snapped up Beer Can Island for just $63,500, and nearly a decade later, the once-forgotten sandbar is now valued at around $14 million.

But despite the huge increase in value, the co-founders say the project hasn’t exactly turned them into overnight millionaires.

In fact, they revealed to Supercar Blondie that the island has cost them far more than most people might ever expect.

Four friends spent more than $1.5 million transforming a deserted Florida island

Beer Can Island’s story actually began long before the group ever owned the island, and it isn’t exactly a story of luxury, despite it being a private island.

Co-founder Russell Loomis told Supercar Blondie that the original idea was a huge 74-foot floating tiki bar that he and his friends built in Tampa Bay.

After authorities shut the project down, they were told life would be a lot easier if they owned some waterfront property.

“So that’s when we went looking for waterfront property and ultimately ended up buying a whole island,” Loomis laughed.

Finding the owner wasn’t easy, taking around six months before the group finally tracked him down.

The deal came with one unusual condition: the previous owner wanted to keep using the site to dump sand from nearby marina dredging operations.

“For $63,500 and you’re going to make it bigger? Sounds like a good deal to me,” Loomis said.

When Loomis was asked whether buying a private island with his friends sounded like an idea that came after a few beers, he laughed and said ‘we can’t say that wasn’t involved, too’.

Thankfully, the plan survived the morning after.

Beer Can Island has a whole lot of history

The island itself has a fascinating history.

Officially called Pine Key, but known locally as Beer Can Island, it sits two miles offshore between Tampa and St. Petersburg. 

Originally just two acres, it was transferred from the State of Florida into private ownership in 1944 after serving as a World War II naval ship repair station.

Dredging work throughout the 1970s and 1980s expanded it to more than 24 acres, although hurricanes and passing cruise ships have gradually eroded parts of it.

The group also owns the submerged land surrounding the island, something co-founder Cole Weaver described as ‘a very unique deed’ in Florida.

Although the island is now estimated to be worth around $14 million, the owners admitted they’ve poured more than $1.5 million into the project since buying it.

A large chunk of that money hasn’t gone into bars, waterslides or beaches either.

Instead, it has been spent on lawyers, architects, engineers and lengthy zoning battles.

“We’ve spent well north of $1.5 million,” Loomis said.

“And a lot of it, to be honest with you, has been legal fees battling the government.”

Rather than building luxury condos, the group says its long-term vision is to create a dedicated ‘island recreation’ zoning category that keeps most of the island as open public space, complete with tiki bars, concerts, and family attractions.

So, are the owners multimillionaires now?

Considering the island’s soaring value, you’d expect the investment to have made the owners a fortune.

Instead, they say almost everything has gone straight back into the project, with the biggest reward being the lifestyle and community they’ve built along the way.

Asked how much money the island has actually made them, the group admitted that, financially, they are still investing heavily rather than cashing in.

The island operates with food and drink sales on weekends when the weather allows, alongside special events and entertainment, but its founders say their biggest reward has been seeing people enjoy a place that almost disappeared.

“We’ve kept it open to the public and enhanced it for the public,” Loomis said.

“It’s really become a big community.”

For Weaver, owning Beer Can Island has been something he never imagined would happen.

“Buying an island with your friends is basically a dream come true,” he said.

“When I was living out there, I’d pinch myself to see if I was even alive, if this was even real.”

“It’s been fun with this group of people. It’s been nice just enjoying the island with my friends and family and making new friends and family.”

New partner Dwight Allen, who joined the ownership group in late 2025 after the island was devastated by hurricanes, said what impressed him most wasn’t the island itself, but the determination of the team behind it.

“They’ve put a lot of money into this,” Allen said.

But he admitted it was ‘like starting from a fresh slate after the hurricanes wiped everything out’.

Looking ahead, the group wants the Florida island to become more than just a party destination.

Future plans include fitness events, music festivals, a chicken nugget festival, pickle-themed celebrations and more family-friendly attractions to encourage visitors who might never have considered making the trip before.

But don’t expect them to buy another deserted Florida island any time soon.

Co-founder Jonny Gadd says the project simply isn’t something that can be replicated.

“It’s not really a scalable type of thing,” he said.

“Nature itself is constantly at war with whatever we’re trying to put out there.”

Nearly 10 years after taking a chance on one of Florida’s most unusual real estate deals, the four friends say they’re still fighting hurricanes, erosion and paperwork.

But despite the millions they’ve invested and the endless challenges, none of them seem to regret buying a deserted Florida island with their friends.