Dockominiums are moorings of future

Charleston-area marinas opting to sell boat slips instead of renting them

The Associated Press

CHARLESTON — Public dock space is slipping away on Charleston's waterways.

Like marinas in high-growth areas nationwide, many Charleston-area marinas are opting to sell rather than rent boat slips. That's left the average sailor fewer places to tie up.

Donald Lacrosse of Charlotte had to move his sailboat from the Ashley Marina, which is expected to be bought in the next week or so. Under its new management, slips will be sold instead of leased.

Lacrosse sailed his 28-foot boat just downstream to the City Marina, where he got the last spot. He said buying permanent dockage runs counter to the whole principle of having a boat.

“That's the beauty of having a vessel, the option of moving,” Lacrosse said.

This sea change has led to an unmistakable crunch in the local market. For the first time in more than a decade, there is a waiting list for annual slip space at the City Marina.

Robbie Freeman, that marina's managing partner, says the last open slips were filled with 20 or so renters who moved out of the Ashley Marina. The city marina does not sell its slips, but rents to annual tenants and transient boats.

“It's been good for our business,” Freeman said. “Some people are upset, but some are excited. A lot of people like to buy slips. It gives them a sense of ownership.”

That trend is spreading along the East Coast and into Charleston. Marinas at Wild Dunes, Toler's Cove, Ripley's Point, as well as the Bohicket Marina, are now selling slips. There are plans to convert the old Folly Beach Marina into “dockominiums,” too.

The Ashley Marina is the biggest in the area to make the change. Atlantic Marina Holdings has been pre-selling slips for the new “Harborage at Ashley Marina.” As opposed to a monthly rental charge of roughly $12 per foot, 30-foot slips will be sold for $60,000, and 40-foot slips, for $85,000 to $105,000.

There also will be monthly maintenance fees.

Mark Bragg, director of facilities for Atlantic Marina Holdings, said the new ownership arrangement shouldn't restrict public access to the water. The Ashley Marina still will have transient slips and a fuel dock. The private owners of these slips will, in many cases, lease out the slips to renters.

Dock space is at a premium — in large part because of the number of Florida marinas wiped off the map during the past hurricane season — causing the cost of renting a public slip to rise. With more spaces falling into private hands, demand likely will continue to increase.

Local ‘dockominium' sales make a big splash

By RACHEL PLEASANT
Contributing Writer

Waterfront property is always in demand, even if it's a 30- by 15-foot boat slip.

That's why marinas in the Charleston area are converting from traditional leases to condominium sales. However, this trend could have an adverse effect on recreational boaters because of the high costs.

At Charleston's Ashley Marina, for instance, slips are selling for between $90,000 and $160,000, depending on size.

“We're two or three months ahead of schedule,” says Dunston Powell, a real estate broker who is handling the sale of The Harborage at Ashley Marina to Charleston-based Atlantic Marina Holdings, slated to close by the end of the month, and also works in slip sales.

“We're over 80 percent sold out and we've only spent $20,000 in advertising,” he says.

Seabrook Island's Bohicket Yacht Club is also selling “dockominiums” for prices ranging from $126,000 to $149,000.

Bohicket's slip sales began just a few months ago, says Michael Quillan, one of the principal partners of Bohicket Yacht Club. The marina had 125 slips to sell and is now down to 40.

Slips have sold so well, Quillan says, because boaters, and those just looking for lucrative investments, realize there's only so much marina space available.

“It's a premium,” Quillan says, adding that permitting requirements for marinas have become increasingly stringent. “Where we are, there's not going to be any new marinas built.”

According to the National Marine Manufacturers Association, a Chicago-based group representing 1,400 companies that produce boating products, the number of boats on the water increased 12%, to 17.5 million, between 1989 and 2003, meaning an increased demand for storage options.

With this in mind, boaters are looking for a permanent place for their watercraft, Quillan says. “This ensures they'll always have a place to keep their boats,” he says.

Slip owners are relieved of monthly rental fees, which vary but often amount to several hundred dollars, and are increasing quickly. “Rental rates are going up on average 10 percent every year,” Powell says.

At marinas, including Toler's Cove in Mount Pleasant, it's also not uncommon for slip owners to lease their spots to generate income.

“A lot of people see it as a real estate investment,” Powell says. “There's a finite supply of waterfront property.”

Whether it's for personal use or for investment purposes, those who choose to buy a slip can finance the purchase, just as when buying a traditional condominium.

On its Web site, Atlantic Marina Holdings says many buyers use home equity loans as a way of financing slip purchases.

What buyers get in exchange, Powell says, is some of the most valuable real estate around, real estate that's likely to only appreciate in value.

Tom Buell, a James Island resident who owns a 21-foot motorboat, says the “dockominium” trend is edging out the recreational boater.

“It's astronomical what they charge even to lease,” says Buell, who keeps his boat at his home to avoid slip charges. “Now what they're selling is just a square in the water and it's outrageous.”