Feasibility Study Company Independent Feasibility Analysis

Marina & Boat Harbor · Asset Class

Marina & Boat Harbor Feasibility & Market Studies

Independent, lender-grade analysis for marinas, recreational boat harbors, and dry-stack storage across SBA 7(a) and 504, USDA Business and Industry, conventional bank, CMBS, life-company, and bridge capital. This page is our standing read on why permittable waterfront is a durable supply moat, how slip-occupancy and multi-stream revenue forecasts fail review, and the difference between the market study, the feasibility study, and the going-concern appraisal a lender requires.

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$5.65B
Blackstone's 2025 Safe Harbor Marinas acquisition4
11M
Registered boats in use nationwide2
$55.6B
2024 US recreational marine spending2
4–5×
Dry-stack revenue per acre versus wet slips12
The Marina Thesis

A going concern wrapped around irreplaceable waterfront.

A marina is a going-concern operating business wrapped around an irreplaceable waterfront real-estate asset, not passive real estate. It is valued on cash flow, through an EBITDA multiple or a cap rate on net operating income, with value allocated among the upland real estate, the submerged-land rights (owned or leased), the docks and infrastructure and FF&E, and the business or goodwill value. That single framing is the most important thing an underwriter must get right, and it aligns marinas with the going-concern logic of gas stations, car washes, and senior housing rather than income-producing multi-tenant real estate. We prepare the market study, the feasibility study, and the going-concern appraisal input a marina file needs, aligned to the standard that will judge it.

The investment case is fundamentally a supply story. Waterfront suitable for a marina is finite, permitting a new one is slow, costly, and often impossible, and existing marinas are steadily lost to higher-and-better residential and condo redevelopment. The Leisure Investment Properties Group states plainly that marina valuations are “positively impacted by limited supply (and a low probability of new supply).”7 The permitting stack — U.S. Army Corps of Engineers approval dating to the River and Harbor Act of 1899, state submerged-land leasing, environmental-resource permitting, and local zoning — makes replacement genuinely hard; Vertical IQ cites a four-year dredging approval in the Florida Keys as illustrative.18 The result is slip shortages, waitlists, and durable pricing power in strong markets, with the caveat that tertiary and storm-exposed locations can carry genuine vacancy.

The sector is consolidating fast. Blackstone Infrastructure agreed to acquire Safe Harbor Marinas, the largest operator, for $5.65 billion in a deal announced February 24, 2025 and closed April 30, 2025, after Sun Communities had bought it for roughly $2.11 billion in 2020.45 Centerbridge-backed Suntex has rolled up Westrec and others, yet no single operator holds more than about 5 percent of the market.25 Demand, meanwhile, has normalized rather than collapsed: roughly 11 million registered boats, $55.6 billion of 2024 recreational-marine spending, and a $230 billion annual economic impact supporting more than 812,000 jobs.23 What follows is organized as a working desk: a national supply-and-demand and regional monitor, the ramp-up and operating forensics that sink marina studies, the capital-source routing that decides which deliverable a project needs, and the study-type distinctions competitors state loosely. Every figure is dated and attributed in the sources below.

The Supply & Demand Monitor

Where the marina market stands, market by market.

A supply-and-demand read for the major US boating regions, compiled from named primary sources. Marina data is fragmented at the metro level; the reads below are directional and should be corroborated with local slip surveys, submerged-land-lease terms, and storm/insurance data. Slip rates are on different bases, per foot per year versus per foot per month, and are not directly comparable.

The national picture is defined by data that diverges by provider, and the divergence is itself a finding. IBISWorld pegs the US marina industry near $7.7 billion in revenue in its 2026 analysis but counts only about 2,770 “Marinas in the US” businesses, a narrow employer-establishment definition, while facility-level counts run far higher: the Cornell Real Estate Review and multiple operators cite “more than 12,000 marinas,” and the Leisure Investment Properties Group cites roughly 10,445 per IBISWorld.167 Underwriters should treat the facility count as roughly 10,000 to 12,000 and the employer “marina business” count as roughly 3,000 to 8,000, and never mix the two; the industry remains highly fragmented, with no company holding more than about 5 percent share.18 On the demand side the definitive source is the National Marine Manufacturers Association: roughly 11 million registered boats in use and about 85 million Americans boating each year, with 2024 retail expenditures of $55.6 billion, down only 2.6 percent from 2023, and new powerboat unit sales of 231,576, a 9.1 percent decline, normalizing from the 2020–2021 boom.2 The critical translation for marinas is that the installed base of roughly 11 million boats still needs storage, and storage is the last expense a boater cuts. The one genuine long-term demand risk is demographic: the median US boat owner was 60 as of year-end 2024, with more owners in their 70s than in their 40s, offset by Millennial and Gen X entry and boat-club access models.24

Supply pressure: Scarcity moat Balanced Vacancy risk. Slip rates are cited on different bases (per foot per year versus per foot per month) and are not directly comparable across rows.
Region / market type Season & climate Slip-rate benchmark Storm / climate risk Supply read
Southeast / FloridaYear-round; largest boating market$300–$700/ft/yrCT Acquisitions, 2026Severe (Ian, Helene, Milton)Scarcity moatStorm & insurance risk high
Gulf CoastLong season; fuel-heavy cultureRegional mid-marketHigh surge (Milton, Ian)BalancedStorm hardening gating
Northeast (LI Sound, New England, Chesapeake)Seasonal, peak May–Oct$300–$700/ft/yr; winter storageCT Acquisitions / managecasaLower hurricane frequencyScarcity moatStrongest scarcity
Great LakesSeasonal, freshwaterWinter storage & haul-outIce / weather, not hurricaneScarcity moatConsolidator target
Inland lakes / reservoirsFreshwater, seasonal$80–$150/ft/yrCT Acquisitions, 2026Corps / TVA water-level controlVacancy riskTertiary; USDA-eligible
West Coast / CaliforniaNear year-round (CA)$25–$40/ft/mo (SoCal)managecasaLow storm; seismic, sea-levelScarcity moatRegulatory friction highest
Pacific NorthwestSeasonal; growing dry-stack$10–$20/ft/mo (NorCal ref.)Low stormBalancedScarcity, heavy regulation

Regional reads compiled from NMMA regional registration data, CT Acquisitions and managecasa/dockgear slip-rate benchmarks, LIPG, Florida DEP, and Vertical IQ; see sources 2, 7, 10, 17–19. Florida leads registrations at roughly one million-plus, and the South Atlantic region grew 12.4 percent year over year to 2.2 million boats in 2024 (NMMA). Slip rates are on incompatible bases and are not netted. Great Lakes states collectively represent nearly one-quarter of the US fleet.

The facility count and the business count differ by three to four times

No figure on this page is more misused than the marina count. IBISWorld's low establishment counts, about 2,986 in 2025 and 2,770 in 2026, reflect employer definitions and revenue thresholds; the 10,000-to-12,000 figures count all facilities, including small, municipal, club, and part-time operations, and MarketReportsWorld cites approximately 900,000 recreational boat slips nationwide.17 Cornell notes roughly 70 percent of US marinas are private businesses, 1 to 2 percent are private yacht clubs, and roughly 30 percent are owned by local or state government.6 The two counts differ by roughly three to four times; any study that cites a single marina count without stating its basis is not defensible.

The revenue model must be underwritten stream by stream

A marina P&L has to be built by profit center, because each stream carries a different margin, cap rate, and risk. Wet-slip dockage is the recurring core, charged per linear foot per year or per season, and carries the lowest expense ratio and the lowest cap rate: roughly $300 to $700 per foot per year in premium coastal markets and $80 to $150 inland, or about $25 to $50 per foot per month, with Marina Dock Age noting storage income is “more stable, and less labor-intensive than service or boat sales.”101715 Dry-stack rack storage, at roughly $100 to $200 per foot per year, is the highest-margin, fastest-growing, most capital-intensive stream, storing 15 to 20 boats per acre against 3 to 4 for wet slips in a US market estimated near $669.6 million in 2024.1314 The fuel dock typically generates $1 to $3 million at a thin 10-to-20-percent margin and carries disproportionate environmental exposure; the service and haul-out boatyard runs $500,000 to $3 million at 25 to 35 percent but depends on labor amid a documented marine-technician shortage; and ancillary streams (ship store, restaurant, winter storage, brokerage, boat clubs, liveaboards) can collectively contribute up to 30 percent of revenue.109 The transient-versus-seasonal mix must be modeled explicitly, since annual contracts discount roughly 10 to 25 percent versus peak-season monthly dockage.17

Valuation is a going-concern, sum-of-the-parts exercise

Marinas trade as combined real-estate-plus-operating-business transactions, with real estate often 40 to 60 percent of total value, and every method should be triangulated.10 Brokerage and appraisal sources cite EBITDA multiples commonly in a 3x-to-5x range, 5x to 6x for premium coastal assets, with one 2026 brokerage guide quoting 8x to 14x for marinas and yacht clubs; income-capitalization cap rates historically clustered near 8 percent for deals under $10 million and about 10 percent for larger deals, before institutional entry compressed premium-asset yields.91011 Per-slip rules of thumb of roughly $5,000 to $15,000 are a check, not a conclusion.9 The submerged-land distinction is decisive: DealStream discounts value 10 to 20 percent where a bottom lease expires in under ten years without renewal guarantees, and fee-simple bottom can carry a 5 to 15 percent premium.9 Marina appraisers warn that formula-derived cap rates are “theoretical at best” and that credible rates must come from the market, with the operating-expense ratio near 60 percent for a basic marina and owner-operator payroll normalized into NOI.26

Common Review Failures

How marina feasibility and ramp-up forecasts fail review.

Slip occupancy, multi-stream revenue, the submerged-land lease, environmental exposure, and storm risk are the variables underwriters scrutinize most, and the places marina studies most often break. Each failure below is tied to a real mechanism or number.

  1. Slip-occupancy and dockage-rate ramp

    Projecting day-one full occupancy or above-market rates for a new or expanded marina. The reality is a ramp, and even strong markets carry property-specific vacancy. The waitlist-versus-vacancy distinction matters: a waitlist supports rate growth, while organic vacancy in a tertiary market does not, and pro forma occupancy above the trailing three-year actual must be discounted to the local survey.7

  2. Multi-revenue-stream mis-forecasting

    Over-relying on one stream, or applying a single blended margin across incompatible streams. Fuel margin is thin, roughly 10 to 20 percent, and volatile; service margin, 25 to 35 percent, is labor-dependent amid a technician shortage; storage margin is high but capacity-constrained. Blending these hides risk, and concentration above roughly 40 percent in fuel or a single volatile stream warrants a haircut.1018

  3. Submerged-land-lease and leasehold complexity

    Most marinas do not own the bottom; they lease it from the state (Florida's standard 10-year term where 90 percent of slips are public, otherwise 5 years; California 30-to-50-year ground leases; Corps or TVA on reservoirs). Docks on state-owned bottom are generally not title-insurable, and lease-renewal term and rate risk is often the single largest financeability issue. SBA requires the lease term, including borrower-only renewal options, to equal or exceed the loan term.1920

  4. Environmental and permitting risk

    Underwriting that ignores contamination, riparian limits, or Corps and state permitting for any expansion or dredging. Fuel docks and boatyards carry real liability, with bottom-paint and antifouling sanding producing regulated copper, tin, and solvent runoff, and an acquisition can carry inherited liability. Multi-year permitting, four years in the Keys, can strand a pro forma; marinas are NAICS 71393, environmentally sensitive under SBA policy.1820

  5. Storm, hurricane, and climate risk

    Coastal marinas face catastrophic loss. Swiss Re estimated Hurricane Ian's insured losses at $50 to $65 billion, the second-costliest on record, and Helene and Milton followed in 2024. Feasibility that omits realistic insurance-cost escalation, business-interruption exposure, storm-hardening capex, and the sea-level trajectory overstates stabilized NOI; LIPG documents insurance already cutting into NOI and warns that docks, not just upland structures, must be insured.237

  6. Seasonality and the northern off-season

    Northern marinas generate the bulk of revenue May through October; Sun Communities' marina same-property NOI ran roughly 26 to 30 percent in the second and third quarters versus about 19 to 24 percent in the first and fourth. Winter storage and haul-out offset some seasonality, but off-season working-capital sizing is a real requirement that studies frequently omit.5

  7. Dry-stack throughput and build cost

    Overstating dry-stack occupancy or throughput ramp, ignoring the forklift and launch-capacity ceiling on peak-day utilization, understating build cost of roughly $40,000 to $100,000-plus per position, or assuming rack demand that local height limits, commonly 35 to 40 feet, will not permit the facility to serve.1516

  8. Deferred maintenance, DSCR sizing, and operator experience

    Docks, seawalls, pilings, dredging, and electrical age and demand major periodic capital; under-reserved infrastructure surfaces as a buyer NOI adjustment. Marina financing is DSCR- and debt-yield-constrained, and negative leverage, a cap rate below the all-in debt cost, requires more equity or a lower price. Multi-stream operating complexity makes operator or adjacent hospitality experience a real underwriting factor.78

Capital-Source Routing

Which channel funds the project, and what it requires.

Marinas route through going-concern lenders, and each requires a different deliverable and coverage standard. The study is built to the union of requirements across the channels actually in play, and two nuances, the leased submerged land and the fuel-dock or boatyard environmental exposure, most often complicate a marina credit.

The marina lender matrix
Deliverable and coverage convention by capital source. Coverage figures are market conventions, not universal minimums.8
Capital sourceDeliverableCoverage convention
SBA 7(a) / 504 (owner-operated)Going-concern appraisal with value allocation, plus feasibility51% existing / 60% new; 15–20% special-purpose equity; 7(a) $5M, 504 $5.5M
USDA B&I (rural)Owner-operated business feasibilityCommunities ≤50,000; 85% / 80% guarantee; up to $25M
Conventional bank / CMBS / life-companyGoing-concern appraisal with DSCR and debt-yield modelLTV 50–65%; DSCR 1.25x+
Bridge / specialtyAcquisition, dry-stack, or repositioning planFloating, 1–2 year, 30–45 day close

Sources: LIPG / Leisure Financial Group (Q1 2023) financing conventions; SBA SOP 50 10 8 (effective June 1, 2025); USDA B&I OneRD term sheets (FY2026). See sources 8, 20–22.

Two SBA nuances decide most marina credits. First, marinas are frequently treated as special or limited-purpose property under SOP 50 10 8, which requires an independent appraisal by a Certified General Real Property Appraiser who has completed at least four going-concern appraisals of equivalent special-use property in the prior 36 months, with value allocated separately across land, building, equipment, and intangibles; a change of ownership where the goodwill portion exceeds $250,000 additionally triggers an independent business appraisal, and special-purpose treatment raises the borrower contribution to 15 percent, or 20 percent for a new business.2021 Second, marinas are listed as an environmentally sensitive industry, NAICS 71393, which forces a Phase I ESA regardless of loan amount; a fuel dock adds Appendix 7 tank-and-line testing with no disbursement until compliance, and a Recognized Environmental Condition escalates to Phase II, on current ASTM E1527-21 standards. The study author does not perform the Phase I or II; that is a separate specialist scope.20 Where the bottom is leased from the state, SBA requires the lease term including borrower-only renewals to equal or exceed the loan term, so a short-dated bottom lease can make a 25-year loan ineligible absent an exception to policy; effective May 2026, SBA allows combining 7(a) and 504 for up to $10 million cumulative.20

  • Owner-operated marina acquisition (51% / 60% occupancy)SBA 7(a) or 504 with a going-concern appraisal and special-purpose equity.
  • Rural lake or river marina (community under 50,000)USDA Business & Industry under the OneRD Guarantee Loan Initiative.22
  • Institutional-scale marina or portfolioConventional bank, CMBS, or life-company on a going-concern appraisal and DSCR/debt-yield model.
  • Dry-stack development, expansion, or repositioningBridge or specialty debt with future funding for the build-out.
  • Fuel dock or boatyard presentPhase I ESA in all cases; tank-and-line testing and possible Phase II before disbursement.
Study Types

Market study, feasibility study, going-concern appraisal: three questions.

These three documents answer different questions and are not substitutes. Lenders and sponsors conflate them constantly; SBA, USDA, and credit reviewers do not.

What each document answers, and the standard that governs it.
DocumentQuestion answeredGoverning standard
Going-concern appraisalWhat is it worth? An income-approach opinion (cap rate on NOI or EBITDA multiple) allocating value across upland real estate, submerged-land leasehold, docks and FF&E, and business or goodwill.USPAP
Market studyIs there demand at these rates? Boating-market context, competition, slip and rack absorption, and rate benchmarking.Boating-market demand analysis
Feasibility studyDoes this deal work? The market study plus the multi-stream pro forma, capex and dredging, seasonality, and DSCR.Lender underwriting + going-concern income approach

The distinction that governs a marina file is that a marina is valued as a going concern, not as passive real estate. Where multi-tenant retail is valued through the income approach on its leases, a marina is valued like a gas station, car wash, or senior-care facility: real estate plus business-enterprise value plus fixtures. Value is allocated across four buckets, the upland real property plus any fee-owned bottom, the submerged-land leasehold, the docks and infrastructure and FF&E, and the intangible or goodwill value, and the submerged-land ownership-versus-lease distinction dramatically affects both value and financeability. The irreplaceable-waterfront real estate underpins value even when operating multiples compress, which CT Acquisitions notes remains “structurally strong even if operating multiples compress.”10

Two scope boundaries are worth stating. First, the feasibility or market-study author does not perform the Phase I or II Environmental Site Assessment; that is a separate environmental specialist's engagement, even though the marina's fuel and boatyard exposure makes it essential.20 Second, a dockominium, in which individual boat slips are separately owned by deed, share, or long-term lease, is closer to an HOA than to a going-concern marina: the operating entity may not control the docks or the cash flow, and conversions can implicate the public-trust doctrine, as the Wisconsin ABKA case held when it found a marina-to-dockominium conversion in violation.27

Marina sub-segments, each with a distinct study scope

Marina Questions

Marina feasibility and market-study questions.

Is a marina valued as real estate or as a business?

As a going concern, not as passive real estate. A marina is an operating business wrapped around an irreplaceable waterfront asset, valued on cash flow through a cap rate on net operating income or an EBITDA multiple, with value allocated among the upland real estate, the submerged-land rights whether fee-owned or leased, the docks and infrastructure and FF&E, and the business or goodwill value. This going-concern frame is the single most important thing to get right, and it aligns marinas with gas stations, car washes, and senior housing rather than with income-producing multi-tenant real estate.

What is the difference between a marina market study and a feasibility study?

A market study assesses demand, competition, slip and rack absorption, and rate benchmarking against the local boating market, and answers whether there is demand at the proposed rates. A feasibility study builds on it to test whether the specific project can generate cash flow sufficient to service debt, incorporating the multi-stream pro forma, capital expenditure and dredging, seasonality, and debt-service coverage. Neither is an appraisal, which is an independent going-concern opinion of value. The three are complementary, not substitutes.

Can a marina be financed with an SBA loan?

Yes. Owner-operated marinas are an established SBA 7(a) and 504 going-concern use, subject to the standard owner-occupancy tests of 51 percent for existing buildings and 60 percent for new construction. Two nuances complicate marina credits. First, marinas are listed as an environmentally sensitive industry, NAICS 71393, under SOP 50 10 8, which forces a Phase I ESA regardless of loan size, and a fuel dock adds tank-and-line testing. Second, where the marina leases its submerged land from the state, SBA requires the lease term, including borrower-only renewal options, to equal or exceed the loan term. Marinas are also frequently treated as special-purpose property, which raises the required equity injection.

Why does the submerged-land lease matter so much?

Because most marinas do not own the bottom beneath their docks; they hold a state sovereignty-submerged-lands lease, and its remaining term is often the single largest financeability issue. Florida's standard term is 10 years where at least 90 percent of slips are rented to the public first-come, first-served, otherwise 5 years; California marinas often sit on 30-to-50-year ground leases; reservoir marinas lease from the Army Corps of Engineers or TVA. Brokerage practice discounts value 10 to 20 percent where a lease expires in under ten years without renewal guarantees, and fee-simple bottom can carry a 5 to 15 percent premium. For SBA and 504 loans, a short-dated bottom lease can make a long-term loan ineligible absent an exception to policy.

Are marinas environmentally sensitive under SBA rules?

Yes. SBA SOP 50 10 8, effective June 1, 2025, lists NAICS 71393 Marinas among environmentally sensitive industries in Appendix 6, which requires a Phase I Environmental Site Assessment regardless of loan amount. A fuel dock independently triggers Phase I under the fuel catch-all and adds Appendix 7 tank-and-line testing, with no disbursement until compliance. A boatyard with a bottom-paint and sanding history can carry copper, tin, and solvent contamination that escalates a Phase I with Recognized Environmental Conditions to a Phase II. Reports must use current ASTM standards and be dated within one year of loan issuance. The feasibility or market-study author does not perform the Phase I or II; that is a separate environmental specialist's scope.

Why is dry-stack storage the marina growth story?

Because it resolves the sector's core tension: boat demand grows while permittable waterfront shrinks. Boats are stored vertically on racks and launched by forklift, and a four-tier dry-stack facility can generate four to five times the revenue of a wet-slip marina on the same land, storing roughly 15 to 20 boats per acre versus 3 to 4 for wet slips. The U.S. dry-stack market was estimated at about $669.6 million in 2024 and is projected to grow at a low-double-digit CAGR through 2030. The constraints a feasibility study must respect are local height limits, commonly 35 to 40 feet, and forklift launch throughput, a hard ceiling on peak-day utilization.

How has consolidation changed marina values?

A historically mom-and-pop asset class is being institutionalized. Blackstone Infrastructure agreed to acquire Safe Harbor Marinas, the largest operator, for $5.65 billion in a deal announced February 24, 2025 and closed April 30, 2025, after Sun Communities had bought it for about $2.11 billion in 2020; Centerbridge-backed Suntex has rolled up Westrec and others. Institutional entry has compressed cap rates for premium, irreplaceable-waterfront assets with diversified recurring revenue. Yet no single operator holds more than about 5 percent of the U.S. market, so the roll-up runway remains long and the value effect is concentrated in premium coastal and scarcity-moat markets rather than tertiary ones.

By Market

Marina feasibility studies by state.

Marina demand is driven by waterfront geography, boating wealth and demographics, season length, and storm exposure, not by raw population. Explore the state markets where slip scarcity, the submerged-land regime, and climate risk determine whether a marina pencils.

Underwriting a marina or boat harbor? Start with the going-concern read.

Feasibility Study Company prepares independent Marina & Boat Harbor feasibility and market studies, built to the review standard your capital source applies. A methodology briefing walks through the analytical framework, the deliverable your capital source requires, and the submerged-land, environmental, storm, and revenue-mix diligence your credit file needs.

Request a methodology briefing
Sources

Data sources and dates.

Every figure on this page traces to a named authority. Marina data is fragmented and vendor-dependent; facility counts, market size, and slip counts vary by provider and definition, and metrics are on different bases (per foot per year, per foot per month, per slip, EBITDA multiple, cap rate on NOI) that are not compared directly, as flagged throughout.

  1. IBISWorld, “Marinas in the US” (2026 analysis): industry revenue ~$7.7 billion, ~0.7% CAGR 2021–2026, market size $7.6 billion in 2024; narrow establishment counts (~2,986 businesses in 2025, ~2,770 in 2026); a separate series citing $6.0 billion and 7,883 businesses in 2024.
  2. National Marine Manufacturers Association (NMMA), 2024 Total Industry Sales by Category and State Report and December 2024 Monthly Data Summary: ~11 million registered boats in use and ~85 million Americans boating annually; 2024 retail expenditures $55.6 billion (down 2.6% from 2023); new powerboat unit sales 231,576 (−9.1%); total new boat sales 238,117 units; 2025 NMMA estimate 215,000–225,000 units.
  3. NMMA Economic Impact Study: $230 billion annual economic impact supporting 812,000+ jobs and 36,000+ businesses; South Atlantic region +12.4% YoY to 2.2 million boats in 2024.
  4. Blackstone press release (February 24, 2025; closed April 30, 2025): agreement to acquire Safe Harbor Marinas for $5.65 billion; 138 marinas across the US and Puerto Rico, the largest marina and superyacht-servicing business in the US; Heidi Boyd commentary on travel-and-leisure and coastal-population tailwinds.
  5. Sun Communities (NYSE: SUI): 2020 acquisition of Safe Harbor (then 101 marinas) for ~$2.11 billion; 2022 Marina same-property NOI ~$217.0 million (120 properties), guided 6.3%–7.7% growth for 2023 (highest of its three segments); the Blackstone sale characterized as ~21x 2024 FFO with a ~$1.3 billion gain; Q2/Q3 marina NOI seasonality (~26–30% versus ~19–24% in Q1/Q4).
  6. Cornell Real Estate Review (2021): the widely cited “more than 12,000 marinas” figure; ~70% private businesses, 1–2% private yacht clubs, ~30% local/state government-owned; average marina 50–150 slips.
  7. Leisure Investment Properties Group (LIPG), 2023 Marina Investment Report: ~10,445 marinas per IBISWorld; the irreplaceable-waterfront / no-new-supply thesis; 129 transactions in the $1M–$20M range in 2022 (median ~$2.75 million, average ~$4.47 million); post-Ian insurance escalation cutting into NOI; ~7–9% value loss per 1% rate rise; the caution that its transaction data is incomplete.
  8. LIPG / Leisure Financial Group (Q1 2023): financing conventions of conventional LTV 50–65% (65–80% for SBA), then-floating rates 5.75–7.5%, 20–25-year conventional amortization (25–30 for SBA), and bridge loans closing in 30–45 days at 1–2-year terms; the DSCR- and debt-yield-driven market that tightened in 2022–2023.
  9. DealStream: EBITDA multiples commonly 3x–5x (5x–6x premium coastal); per-slip rule of thumb ~$5,000–$15,000; sum-of-the-parts (fuel 1.5x–2.5x margin, repair 2x–3x gross, retail 0.5x–1.0x top line; ancillary up to ~30% of revenue); leasehold 10%–20% discount for sub-10-year leases and 5%–15% fee-simple premium.
  10. CT Acquisitions (2026 brokerage guide): wet-slip $300–$700/ft/yr (premium coastal), $150–$300 (mid-market), $80–$150 (inland lake); dry-stack $100–$200/ft/yr; fuel $1–3 million at 10–20% margin; service $500K–$3M at 25–35%; EBITDA 8x–14x for marinas and yacht clubs; real estate ~40–60% of total value; real-estate value “structurally strong even if operating multiples compress.”
  11. Trade Only Today (2018): income-capitalization cap rates ~8% for deals under $10 million and ~10% for $20 million-plus, with buyers seeking 9–10 caps and sellers 8 or lower, before institutional compression.
  12. HEDA Shelves: a four-tier dry-stack facility generates four to five times the revenue of a wet-slip marina on the same land, while avoiding dredging, dock maintenance, and storm-surge and collision exposure.
  13. Emergen Research: dry-stack density of ~15–20 boats per acre versus ~3–4 for wet slips.
  14. Global Industry Analysts via MarketResearch.com: US dry-stack boat-storage market ~$669.6 million in 2024, part of a ~$2.5 billion global market projected to reach ~$4.6 billion by 2030 (11.1% CAGR); Grand View Research cites 12.1% CAGR to ~$2.48 billion. Single-provider forecasts with differing definitions.
  15. Marina Dock Age: storage income is “more stable, and less labor-intensive than service or boat sales”; dry-stack build cost ~$40,000–$75,000 per position (automated $75,000–$100,000+); owner-operator payroll normalized into NOI; local height limits of 35–40 feet.
  16. Inside Self Storage: a simpler dry-stack shed at $2,000–$2,400 per boat (structure only), with a used marina forklift at $30,000–$50,000. Development-cost, not valuation, figures.
  17. managecasa / dockgear: wet-slip storage ~$25–$50 per foot per month, with Southern California (LA, San Diego, Newport) at $25–$40 and Northern California (Richmond, Vallejo, Delta) at $10–$20; annual contracts discounting 10–25% versus peak-season monthly; the rising liveaboard segment.
  18. Vertical IQ (IBISWorld-adjacent): ~3,400 marina companies, 41,900 workers, $6.4 billion; the average private marina at ~$1.9 million revenue, 12 employees, single location; a four-year Florida Keys dredging-permit process; a documented marine-technician shortage; no company above ~5% share.
  19. Florida DEP, Chapter 18-21 F.A.C.: sovereignty submerged-lands lease standard term of 10 years where at least 90% of slips are rented to the public first-come, first-served, otherwise 5 years; docks on state-owned bottom generally not eligible for title insurance.
  20. U.S. Small Business Administration, SOP 50 10 8 (effective June 1, 2025): NAICS 71393 Marinas listed as environmentally sensitive (Appendix 6), Phase I ESA regardless of loan amount; fuel-dock Appendix 7 tank-and-line testing with no disbursement until compliance; RECs escalating to Phase II; ASTM E1527-21; special-purpose property definition and value allocation across land, building, equipment, and intangibles; the $250,000 goodwill business-appraisal threshold; owner-occupancy 51% / 60%; the leasehold lease-term rule; 7(a) maximum $5 million, 504 maximum $5.5 million; combining 7(a) and 504 up to $10 million effective May 2026.
  21. SBA 504 Procedural Notice 5000-852522: for 504, the lease term must equal or exceed the term of the loan; special-purpose equity of 15% (50/35/15), rising to 20% for a new business plus special-purpose property or a repeat special-purpose borrower. (Flag: a proposed Main Street Parity Act would remove the extra 5% but is not enacted; the 15%/20% rule controls.)
  22. USDA Rural Development, Business & Industry (B&I) Guaranteed Loan Program under OneRD: communities of 50,000 or fewer; guarantees up to $25 million ($40 million in select cases); FY2026 (from October 1, 2025) guarantees of 85% under $5 million and 80% at $5 million-plus, 3.0% upfront fee and 0.55% annual retention; tourist and recreation facilities eligible; USDA-financed example Hidden Cove Park, Denton County, Texas; lines of credit prohibited.
  23. Swiss Re Institute (December 2022) and Munich Re: Hurricane Ian insured losses of USD 50–65 billion (Munich Re ~$60 billion borne by private insurers), the second-costliest insured loss on record after Katrina; Hurricanes Helene and Milton followed in 2024.
  24. Info-Link Technologies via NMMA: the median age of US boat owners was 60 as of year-end 2024, with more owners in their 70s than in their 40s; LIPG counters with Millennials at 31% and Gen X at 37% of owners, and 800,000+ first-time owners in 2020–2021.
  25. Centerbridge / Suntex Marinas: Centerbridge acquired Westrec (~$400 million, 2022) and merged it into Suntex, forming a ~$2.5 billion entity; an April 2024 joint venture to acquire over $1.25 billion in marinas with a revolving credit facility up to $600 million led by Wells Fargo (with Bank of America, Truist, BMO, First Horizon); a portfolio now exceeding 100 marinas, including 34 in Florida after the Windward Marina Group merger; William Rahm commentary on scarce high-quality marina supply. Operator counts are time-sensitive and conflicting.
  26. marinaappraisal.com (Gerard McDonough, MAI): the operating-expense ratio near 60% for a basic marina; formula-derived (band-of-investment, mortgage-equity) cap rates “theoretical at best,” with credible rates drawn from the market; going-concern valuation triangulated across income capitalization, EBITDA multiple, and sum-of-the-parts.
  27. Wisconsin ABKA case (public-trust doctrine): a marina-to-dockominium conversion held to violate the public-trust doctrine; a dockominium (individually owned slips by deed, share, or long-term lease) is underwritten closer to an HOA than a going-concern marina.