Ortega Landing Marina, JAX, FL has been sold. The local rumor mill was that Safe Harbor was going to be the buyer but it turns out it’s Pier32 based in Charlestown. It could be a good fit. Pier32 seems to own/manage first class operations and this will add to their portfolio in FL. So far there are no staff changes and rates probably aren’t going up (for a while) since they are already at the top of the local market. Time will tell.
https://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/article/the-marina-at-ortega-landing-sells-for-dollar12-75-million
https://port32marinas.com/news/port...-acquisition-of-the-marina-at-ortega-landing/
That will give them 8 owned marinas in FL and 3 managed in SC. A lot of drystack in their portfolio, in fact the majority is.
They were Atlantic Marine Holdings until a name change in 2018. They recapitalized in August 2021 and I guess that enabled this purchase. Fireside Investments stepped in joined by D1 Capital Partners and Makena Capital Management and others.
Point I would make is they are decidedly not a marina company but an investment vehicle. Just look at their key employees and you see the emphasis. They're moving to expand, but in the business they're in, the ultimate goal is often to build and then sell.
Short term I see no impact at Ortega, but I'm not impressed with their holdings at this point as their limited experience with full wet slip marinas.
As a small example of my hesitancy toward them. In October 2018, they announced the purchase of a facility in Fort Lauderdale. It's up the New River beyond LMC. It was largely a self service yard. They said, "We look forward to delivering the yacht service facility by the end of this year and the upland boatyard and drystack in late 2019".
Well, they announced the opening of the in-water service facility in May, 2019 vs the projected 2018. The 150 ton travel lift originally promised is now talked about in the next phase. Then they just announced in September 2021, that they are breaking ground on the drystack facility that they projected would be completed in 2019. Clearly they were undercapitalized and while they've gotten what they need for this phase perhaps, likely to need far more along the way.
Sorry, but color me skeptical of Port 32. Not likely to impact Landing at Ortega customers right now.
And a few reports I've heard on their management of Ashley haven't been good.