Dry-Stack Boat Storage Feasibility Study in Cape Coral, Florida: 240 Racks Tested Against SBA 504

The addressable fleet is large: roughly 34,700 boats in the 16-to-under-40-foot classes in Lee County, against 240 racks, so the project needs well under 1% of the core fleet. But the only rack rates Southwest Florida operators publish sit between about $15 and $22 per foot per month, and most facilities quote only on request. At $22, the building earns $329,438 of net operating income on a $20.5 million cost. Covering debt 1.25 times would take $36 to $40 per foot at the average boat length the county's fleet suggests, roughly double the posted band. Separately, SBA treats a marina as eligible only when more than half its revenue comes from transients staying 30 days or less, and monthly and annual rack contracts do not meet that test as written.

Confirmed rack capacity among facilities with published counts exceeds 1,500 spaces, most of it on Estero Island, San Carlos Island and upriver, not in Cape Coral itself. A Caloosahatchee site in Cape Coral would compete most directly with PORT 32 and Safe Harbor Cape Harbour. The largest pipeline item, the 434-space rebuild on Fort Myers Beach, restores capacity rather than adding it. No new Cape Coral dry-stack approval for 2024 to 2026 was found. That is a gap in the record, not evidence that none exists.

Operating expenses at $22 include fuel cost of sales at 78% ($546,000), payroll of $620,000 for a manager, forklift operators, dockhands and store staff, insurance of $300,000 for property, named storm, flood and marina liability, property tax of $277,500 at about 18.5 mills (Cape Coral's FY2026 operating millage is 5.1471 within a combined 17 to 20 mills) [20], utilities, repairs, a submerged lands lease for the launch well and queuing docks, and a 2.5% reserve on rack rent. Fuel margins and insurance pricing were not found in public sources and are model assumptions.

SOP 50 10 8.1 with Technical Policy Updates (effective October 1, 2026) admits a marina only if more than 50% of its revenue, prior-year or projected for a start-up, comes from transients staying 30 days or less [22]. SBA's 504 eligibility form asks the same question [23]. Rack customers in Southwest Florida contract monthly or annually, so the core storage line will not count as transient. Fuel, store, launch and club revenue might help the mix, but whether club usage counts as transient is not settled in any source reviewed. That is a question for the CDC and SBA in writing, before any further cost is spent. Marinas also sit on SBA's special-purpose list, which raises the minimum equity.

Lee County's manatee protection plan was approved in 2004 for both incorporated and unincorporated areas, and Cape Coral waters carry mapped slow-speed and idle zones [25]. A dry stack's queuing docks and launch well over sovereign submerged lands pay the greater of a per-square-foot base rate ($0.156623 currently) or 6% of gross revenue from the use, with a 30% discount for marinas open to the public on a first-come basis and 10% for designated Clean Marinas [26]. Zoning height limits for dry storage in Cape Coral, flood zone and Coastal Barrier Resources Act status, and 2026 construction bids were not found in public sources and need a zoning verification letter, a flood determination and an estimator's cost.