A famous Florida Panhandle beach bar and restaurant is following through on its founder’s desire to build affordable housing for employees.

Pineapple Willy’s is a long-lived venue prominently located on the sands of Panama City Beach. Over the last three and a half decades it has served Island Nachos, Mahi-Mahi BLTs and literal buckets of ribs to countless visitors from Alabama and elsewhere. Not to mention a slew of daiquiris and other beach-friendly beverages.

Hotel operator Bill Buskell bought the Pier 99 Lounge in the early ‘80s and by the end of the decade had renamed it for his bestselling cocktail, according to the venue’s official history. The Pineapple Willy features “Myers Rum, gold rum, Hawaiian pineapple juice, and cream of coconut,” according to the restaurant’s website, and the bar sells more than 70,000 of them a year.

But, as in many tourism destination communities, finding close, affordable housing for legions of service-industry workers can be a challenge. Buskell, who died in 2021, envisioned a solution that is now coming to fruition: The construction of Pineapple Villas.

Project Manager Darrell Sellers told WTVY-TV4 that the first 17 units will be complete in late March, with more to come. The plan calls for 34 units, each with three bedrooms and three bathrooms. They’re being built to house staff at Pineapple Willy’s and a related business, Wicked Wheel.

“We do have many employees who will drive an hour, an hour plus, some of them live locally, close by, but even if you live close if you live across the bridge, that commute can get very timely, especially peak season, so we’re trying to help everybody out,” Sellers told the station.

Sellers said that after Category 5 Hurricane Michael hit the Panhandle in 2018, Buskell had the idea to build housing to help employees “bridge that gap.” Buskell died just before construction began.

“About two to three years ago I got the idea that we needed to do something,” Buskell told WJHG-TV7 in 2019. “We use 400 employees and this year has been a real squeeze.”