Offshoreonly.com - My FL Marina sold - they want me to buy a "Dockominium"

naplesnews.com
Boaters snatch up dockominiums in Naples yacht club
By Aisling Swift

Friday, March 10, 2006

Dockominiums, a new concept in boat storage and docking, drew 55 buyers Thursday to space at the Naples Marina, which will be razed to make way for the upscale Naples Harbour Yacht Club.

Naples Marina’s sale and conversion from rentals into an upscale yacht club comes as the number of boaters is increasing while Collier County is losing boat docking sites, including Boat Haven and Wiggins Pass Marina.

Premium waterfront space is being snapped up for condos and hotels, leaving fewer spaces for boaters.

Many renters at Naples Marina, where slips go for about $350 to $400 monthly, received letters Wednesday telling them they’d have first dibs and a $5,000 discount if they opted to purchase space at the full-service yacht club for 30 days.

Before discounting, dry dock storage will sell for $121,500 for a 10-by-10-by-30-foot space, up to $157,000 for a 10-by-12-by-45-foot unit at the marina on North Road, near Naples Municipal Airport off Airport-Pulling Road.

For Alan Fletke, who had shopped around only to find prices in the $200,000-$265,000 range to store his 30-foot Monterey cruiser, paying $123,000 was a steal for an 11-by-11-by-30-foot space.

“I think down the road, if you ever go to sell the boat, it’s a plus,” said Fletke, who owns a home nearby in River Reach and had rented space at Naples Marina for 1 1/2 years. “It will be an advantage to selling.”

Fletke still hasn’t received his letter in the mail, but purchased space Tuesday after a marina employee told him the marina was being sold. Fletke was the first buyer.

The 30-year Naples resident had just sold a home in Port Royal and had cash to buy the spot. But purchasers need only to put 20 percent down and a bank will finance the rest.

On top of the purchase price, members will pay $225 monthly in dues. Amenities will include a full-time dockmaster and staff, gourmet delicatessen and coffee shop, unlimited in-out service, boat washing and engine flush outs, a pool, waterfront tiki hut and barbecue area, owner’s lounge, showers and restrooms, 24-hour security, and all fuel, beverages and food at wholesale cost.

Lee County entrepreneur Steeven Knight and a group of investors purchased the marina from Jim Jentgen. The club will join six others, so far, in a dockominium plan that allows boaters to use space at the other sites. Yacht Clubs of the Americas concept has reciprocal locations in Sanibel, Sarasota, Tampa, New Smyrna, Key West and Stuart.

The concept is described on its Web site, www.ycoa.com, which has renderings of the marinas that the investors purchased.

“You show up and everything is done for you,” Knight said, adding that boaters only need to make a phone call. “All your provisions are in your cooler. All your sandwiches are in Ziploc bags. You basically step on your boat and off you go for a day of boating.”

Tipping won’t be allowed. Knight said his research showed that boaters spend about three hours in preparation before and after an average three-hour trip, so having others do the preparations and washing down would enable boaters to spend the full six hours on the water.

So far, Knight said, there have been $40 million in presales at Sanibel Harbour Yacht Club, which is scheduled to open next month at Punta Rassa, near the mouth of the Caloosahatchee River. Sarasota Harbour Yacht Club is being dredged and is in the planning stages, but has totaled $25 million in presales.

Thursday was the day newspaper and radio ads publicizing Naples Harbour Yacht Club began and by mid-afternoon, 35 units had been sold, a number that increased to 55 by day’s end.

“We have people who buy and they’re strictly investors,” Knight said. “The availability for dry storage is being lost every year. We are preserving access to the waterway for life. ... It’s a capital investment that clearly shows a return of 25 to 30 percent. That’s a very good return on an investment.”

Knight said renters will be given ample notice and the club will be built in two phases, which will take about 14 months.

“We won’t run renters away until it’s absolutely necessary,” Knight said.

The current marina has 740 spaces. The new club is offering about 680 private, secure dry and wet boat storage spaces, but that could decrease if more large spaces are purchased, Knight said.

Instead of leasing, members of the club’s association will own their units, just as they do when they purchase a condo or other property.

“This concept is sweeping the country right now,” Knight said. “Our level of service will be what sets us apart.”

Peter McLaughlin, Knight’s partner in the Naples club, said about two-thirds of the buyers were existing customers and the rest saw the ad in the newspaper or heard it on the radio.

“There were several people searching for boats, but didn’t have a place to put them,” McLaughlin said, adding that buyers bought space Thursday and then drove off to finish purchasing their boats.

© 2006 Naples Daily News and NDN Productions. Published in Naples, Florida, USA by the E.W. Scripps Co.