Using phased upgrades to update older marinas

Marina Dock Age, September/October 2006

Using phased upgrades to update older marinas
by Jon Guerry Taylor, P.E.

One of the most difficult things for people to accept is aging. The same thing holds true for marinas. When owners and operators look back on their facilities, one of the most difficult decisions they will have to make is determining when and how to upgrade their aging marinas. Here are some practical questions every marina owner and operator should ask in making this decision.

How does one determine if a marina rebuild is feasible, realistic, and doable?

Before a marina owner enters into a phased upgrade, he/she needs to make a concerted effort to determine what the end game is for the effort. Is the owner trying to improve the business for a long-run business, get it improved for possible sale, or get it ready to pass the family business on to other family members? This is a critical decision, because it determines the commitment of the owners to the upgrade program.

Once this decision has been made, the marina can then decide on the best way to accomplish the upgrade. When it comes to a marina upgrade, the guiding principle is this: It is possible to use good business planning and revenue-supported financing to upgrade old marina facilities. It requires that the owner have basic data on the existing marina that includes a boundary survey, copies of all permits, zoning, violations, and hydrographic (water depth) information.

The owner will also need to provide cost and revenue data on the existing marina operation. An integral part of future projections is an evaluation of other marinas in the area to see which services they are offering and how much they are charging for these services. In the long-run, the time and effort spent in securing this information, along with creation of a master plan and updating a business plan. will produce big payoffs because the resources for making financial, planning. and permitting decisions are always current and available. This information helps the marina to determine the direction and phasing and assures that the project can be guided by developing markets and current marina financial resources.

The benefits of this “up-front planning” are a reduction in the usual risks and costs of large-scale upgrades because the scheduled upgrades are driven by priorities set in a periodically updated business plan. The upgrades are usually made-up of segments of short duration that are implemented with little interruption to business. It may be as small as building new bathrooms or as large as a harbor dredging project. The harbor dredging may have been preceded by a short upgrade of the dredged material basin. As the saying goes, “You have to eat the elephant one bite at the time.” Upgrades of old marinas can be remunerative by steadily increasing the value of the business and the facilities. In the overall scope of the improved upgraded marina, the funds spent in good planning and financial programming are minimal. Continue »