The Owners; Power Quartet Calls Shots for Bars, Nightclubs

By Mark K. Matthews | Sentinel Staff Writer
Posted December 13, 2003

In the grid surrounding Orange Avenue in downtown Orlando, a few dozen bars and nightclubs compete for partygoers. But among the owners, four names consistently come up as power brokers in the competition.

Joel Springman: Owns the six-bar collective known as Wall Street Plaza that often throws popular outdoor concerts and block parties. He's also served on a controversial committee tied to the mayor's office charged with planning ways to compete with theme parks.

David Siminou: Trendy club owner with a reputation for changing concepts on a beat -- in recent years he transformed the club Icon to Red Velvet and then back to Icon. Also owns Cairo and Zinc Bar.

Ashley McCammon-Mayo: One of the younger bar owners at 27, McCammon-Mayo (right) is the woman behind EyeSpy, with an espionage theme; Bar-BQ-Bar, a hipster hangout, and the trendy Sky60. She recently sold the Social, one of downtown's few concert halls.

Mark NeJame: Also a defense attorney, he owns the Tabu nightclub on Orange Avenue. But most of his stock comes from frequent forays into downtown politics -- from organizing the revival of Light Up Orlando to pushing for later drinking hours.

Source: Orlando Sentinel