Starting a marina

[JeffN]

Hey, I wonder if anyone has any experience with starting up boat docks at a condo complex. NO sooner is the ink dry on our sales contract than here I am wanting to upset the applecart at the complex. Thing is, there's vanishing dockage all over FL and this condo complex (about 50 units) has FABULOUS virgin bulkheading (maybe 200-300' of it) with only a small day dock. There's much more bukhead but boats on lifts would obscure 1st floor views.

Any way to talk sense and $$ earned to the 70+ aged owners about adding 10-20 slips? And can it profitable to dockominium the bulkhead? They sell for about $45-50k each in this town.

 

[L Hall]

You need to do a little homework. The first step is to read the condo documents and find out how capital improvements are handled and what voting majority is required for approval. In some cases, it's a simple majority. In others, a 70% approval may be required. The odds of getting 70% of owners to agree on anything are slim to none. You also may want to consider running for a position on the board. That would make the job easier.

I doubt if you'd get the concept of a dockominium approved but docks owned by the complex and rented to unit owners would be an easier sell.

 

[L Hall]

You've got another problem. You seawall is bowing. At some point, the complex is going to have to fix that problem. We had a similar problem in North Palm Beach and had to install batter pilings along the wall at a cost of about $70K each side. There's no point in installing docks if the seawall needs a major repair.

 

[L Hall]

Next time you are there you can see if your camera is accurate. But whenever it rains a lot, there is tremendous hydraulic pressure against the seawall. Over time, that pressure causes it to bow out like yours looks like it is doing. We had one side let go during a hurricane. Shortly after that, I noticed a half dozen seawalls in the area being repaired. Do you know how old yours is?