The owner of Caddy's, a popular Treasure Island beachfront bar and restaurant, said he may sell his property to the state in a potential lawsuit settlement and it'll be turned into a public park.

"I think it’s good for everybody, including me, if the state makes a deal on it and goes ahead and buys it," said Caddy's owner, Tony Amico. "Everybody will be happy. The city, the county and the state."

Amico filed a lawsuit against the Department of Environmental Protection in 2012 over beach ownership on the property. The dispute is over whether or not Amico's property extends to the waterline. The Caddy's owner said the state recently came to him with an offer to settle the lawsuit.

"I sued the DEP. I don’t want to go into the lawsuit now but what they said was would I be willing to settle if they bought Caddy’s," Amico said. "And I said, 'yes, as long as it’s at a price that I can deal with.'” 

The state wants letters from the city and county stating they have no objection to the sale and turning the property into a park before they'll make an offer, according to Amico. Treasure Island city manager Reid Silverboard said they sent that letter off to the state earlier this week.

"We don’t know who would actually end up with the ownership or the operation or maintenance but it certainly would be good to have some additional beach park in that area," Silverboard said. "Along with some public parking and perhaps a restroom and a pavilion."

Amico said he's still waiting to hear back from the county about the letter and won't know how much money the state is offering for Caddy's until they get it. Customers who heard about the potential sale of their favorite beach bar said they would hate to see Caddy's closed down.

"I’m devastated if it will sell," said Susannah Ford. "I come here probably five days out of a week."

"We’ve traveled from Copenhagen, Denmark, just to come to Caddy’s," said Soeren Sjoegrwen.

Nearby residents said they had mixed emotions about the potential sale of Caddy's.

"I’ll miss it if it goes," said Temple Corson. "But selfishly, if they put in a public park here it’ll preserve my views."

Silverboard said commissioner Alan Bildz told him most of the residents in that area approve of the sale.

“Commissioner Bildz... said that he has not heard any objections from any of the residents in that area," he said.

Amico said he's been running Caddy's for 14-years but a beach bar with different names in the past has been on that site since 1943.

"It’s been fun. A lot of people have gotten to enjoy this property and had a good time here," he said. "We have many, many, repeat customers. It’s probably the oldest continuous operating beach bar in the State of Florida."