The property has been sold.

SARASOTA — Several cars pulled into Barnacle Bill’s, the seafood restaurant with the lighthouse overlooking North Tamiami Trail, around noon on Wednesday. The would-be customers found an empty parking lot, locked doors and a sign thanking them for their "support throughout the years."

"Unfortunately this location is no longer open," the sign on the entrance said. "Please visit our other location, 1526 Main St., Sarasota."

Steve Horn, partner at Sarasota-based Ian Black Real Estate, confirmed the sale of the Barnacle Bill’s property at 5050 N. Tamiami Trail but declined to name the buyer.

"We’re ecstatic about the sale," Horn said by phone on Wednesday. "We think it’s going to be a great use for the North Trail."

On Tuesday, the person who answered the phone at the downtown Sarasota Barnacle Bill’s confirmed the restaurant was open but declined to comment on the status of 5050 N. Tamiami Trail. On Wednesday, repeated calls to the Main Street location went to a full mail box.

The Herald-Tribune reported last May that Ian Black Real Estate had listed the Barnacle Bill’s Seafood Restaurant & Market building on the North Trail for sale.

Horn told the Herald-Tribune he couldn’t provide details as to why the building was being sold because that information was laid out in a trust that owner William "Barnacle Bill" Davis established before he died in 2017. The trustees were Calvin Erb and attorney Andrew Rosin of Sarasota, who were also listed as the officers of the entity that owns the property at 5050 N. Tamiami Trail, Fishing Harbor Inc. Rosin was listed as the owner of the downtown Sarasota Barnacle Bill’s building, according to the Sarasota County Property Appraiser’s website.

Horn confirmed that Fishing Harbor Inc. was the seller of the N. Tamiami Trail property.

Davis died at age of 68 on June 8, 2017. He started Barnacle Bill’s with the help of his brother, Kenneth.

Barnacle Bill’s was listed on Ian Black’s website in May as a 275-seat restaurant on 1.18 acres with three buildings totaling 8,637 square feet. The price was listed as $1.35 million.

The property has been home to restaurants for more than six decades. In 1957, it opened as the Mecca Restaurant and Supper Club, and in 1968 it became the Golden Buddha. The Arabian-style dome and golden Buddha statues were removed in the early 2000s, according to Herald-Tribune archives.