Proposals to redevelop the St. Petersburg Municipal Marina Released
Back in April, the city of St. Petersburg released a request for a development partner to redevelop and operate the downtown St. Petersburg Municipal Marina. Proposals were due by July 14th and released on Thursday the 20th. The proposal requested that development teams who had experience in developing and operating marinas in saltwater environments submit proposals. The option to redevelop and operate restaurant space adjacent to the marina was also given. That space is currently home to Fresco’s Waterfront Bistro at 300 Second Avenue NE.
Two Dallas-based real estate firms submitted proposals - Suntex Marina Investors and Safe Harbor Marinas. The city-owned marina has 640 permanent wet slips, and the infrastructure has reached the end of its service life. The central yacht basin docks were built in 1963 and four of five south yacht basin docks were built in 1977.
Safe Harbor Marinas
Safe Harbor owns 135 marinas, 20 of them being in Florida. Proposed by Safe Harbor is $48 million in capital investments to the marina. They have offered to pre-pay the five-year initial lease term of $1.25 million ($250,000 per year at lease commencement). After the initial five-year term, a proposed percentage rent of 15% of total gross revenues (excluding fuel and retail), 5% of total retail revenues, and a participation rent of $0.05 on each gallon of fuel sold. Safe Harbor has projected that percent rent could total $34.475 million over 20 years.
The proposed five-year lease may be favorable to the city as it will not require voter approval via referendum. Six of eight city council members will still need to approve the plan.
For the central basin plan, Safe Harbor proposed:
- 14,000 linear feet of leasable floating dock space
- Flexible dock space that can accommodate 325+ boats in a range of vessel sizes, up to 200 feet in length.
- Approximately 30 new covered wet slips, and preservation of the existing covered wet slips.
- A welcome center at the entrance of the St. Pete Pier
- A multi-level state of the art restaurant building seating 225 guests with indoor and open-air waterfront seating.
- Two-story welcome/amenity center with a lounge, exercise facility, parking for electric vehicles available for boating members and visitors to navigate the city, located on the north wall of Demens Landing.
- Updated restroom and shower facilities for the north, west, and south sides of the central basin.
- Improved ship store offerings, upgraded landscape, as well as outdoor gathering spaces that are adjacent to the marina office, fuel dock, and ship store.
Safe Harbor also proposed the following for the south basin plan:
- 12,000+ Linear feet of leasable dock space
- Additional flexible dock space that can accommodate 310+ boats of vessel size up to 200’ in length.
- New amenity center with commercial space for marine-related operators and marina related retail. The center will also include a restroom with showers.
- Dedicated maintenance building and yard
- Permanent special event dock that will be available for the St. Pete Grand Prix, designed to accommodate and integrate with the annual boat show.
Suntex Marina Investors
Suntex has 28 saltwater coastal marinas, 16 being in Florida. The company has proposed $70 million in improvements to the marina. The proposal would generate $14.2 million in ground lease and revenue share payments, plus $2 million in property taxes to the city through the initial 10 years of stabilized operations through a revenue sharing program according to the proposal. An initial 30-year lease term with two 25-year renewal options is being asked for. Over the total 80-year term, the ground lease revenue is estimated at $444 million with $57 million additional in property taxes.
The 30-year lease with extension will require voter approval.
The company has also projected job opportunities for their proposal. 358 construction jobs would be created with $42 million in payroll. The redeveloped marina, if done by Suntex, would create 292 permanent jobs generating $10.9 million annually in wages.
Proposed by Suntex is:
- A 660-slip marina, with 35,000 linear feet of new floating docks & utilities, with an opportunity to expand further with an increase of 10,000 linear feet of docks.
- New marine support facilities, dockmaster’s building, captains lounge, marina store, laundry, and shower/restroom facilities.
- 20,000 SF of restaurant and retail space within Demens Landing Park
- 4,000 linear feet of waterfront promenade
- An increase of about 200 parking spaces at Demens Landing Park, bringing 485 total parking spaces
- 16 upland acres redeveloped with 10 being dedicated for recreation purposes.
- Permanent amphitheater space
- At Suntex’s cost, an option to add multipurpose fields and sports courts.
Additionally, the Suntex proposal has addressed the 100+ residents who live on boats at the marina. Their rents are less than $1,000 a month, an affordable option in an increasingly hard to afford city. Concerns of a rent spike have been communicated by residents. Suntex says the current rate is in line with typical rates in the region, and rates would be adjusted to reflect future marina amenities. The residents will also be subject to vessel relocation and customary construction and utility disruptions during redevelopment. Meanwhile, the Safe Harbor proposal has not addressed current residents. Currently, those who live on their boats at the marina can do so for $230 a week.
City staffers will evaluate the proposals, but no timeframe for choosing one or entering negotiations is set. Once administration and a developer reach an agreement, it is subject to city council approval. The marina is an anchor point of the waterfront district located at the point of Demens Landing.
Source: Tampa Bay Times | Tampa Bay Business Journal
Thank you for your interest. If you are in need of Appraisal & Valuation Services in St. Pete, contact:
Mike Cliggitt, MAI, MRICS, CCIM
813.405.1705 - Direct Line
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