The ownership behind Gilt Nightclub purchased half of Wall Street Plaza back in March 2022, including Sideshow, Wall Street Cantina, Waitiki, and Monkey Bar. The other properties, on the north side of the street, including Bellhop, Hooch, Shine, and The Hen House, stayed under the original ownership of Joel Springman.
Springman recently acquiesced to selling the remaining properties to the nightclub owners, who have big plans for reactivating the popular entertainment district.
Mike D’esposito’s group, Thriving Hospitality Group, has been brought in to operate the food and beverage side of the business, with the owners left to focus on live events and nightlife activations, and the renovation/reworking of a number of the Wall Street properties. Including an eventual remodel of both Hooch and Shine and eventually Hen House, the tiny bra-laden watering hole/closet full of housemade moonshine. Early plans call for something new in Hen House related to ice cream, but that’s still in development.
“Hen House still does great revenue for such a small footprint but it could use a little updating. We want to do something with ice cream in some way, and mix that with craft cocktails somehow – still up in the air.”
– MIKE D’ESPOSITO, THRIVING HOSPITALITY GROUP
Shine will close temporarily soon for its own remodel but Hooch will stay open while work is underway to transform it into a new American Country-themed venue. The name is still in the works. Plans for Shine include more seating in the street for family-friendly events like soccer watch parties with Orlando City Soccer. A fine dining restaurant experience could be moving into Wai Tiki and Monkey Bar as well.
Elevated cocktail lounge Bellhop (Instagram) was also part of the Wall Street purchase, located in a former Subway storefront on the corner of Wall Street and Orange Avenue. A grand reopening party is currently planned for June 22nd, with a new cocktail menu. Current hours call for closing on Tuesdays and Wednesdays and there’s some pretty serious talk of bringing back Bellhop’s original ambitious plan of offering premium coffee service and added breakfast.
If you want to check out the grand opening party for yourself, RSVP HERE ahead of time to get a free welcome cocktail.
