Building a marina portfolio

Building a marina portfolio is a sensitive balancing act. As more ‘group’ players enter the industry having realised that an investment portfolio can be focused on marina-based property, the market becomes increasingly competitive.

If we look back to the discussion with key property sales professionals in Marina World March/April (Issue 142), we can take a snapshot of the topic from their perspective. Julie Fisher Berry at CBRE confirmed that “all marina investors are expanding, however many have greater access to capital and can expand more rapidly than others.” Calum Winsor said he was seeing new groups with the desire “to acquire as many marinas as possible and expand in all markets” and colleague Christian Johannsen reported “at least four to six new entries into the marinas space that were not there before.” Michelle Ash at Simply Marinas spoke of several funds and groups entering the market “with the intent of placing large investment amounts in marinas.”
There are many companies around the world looking to build portfolios at different levels and with widely differing resources. Marina World speaks to Gyozo Lantos (GL) at D-Marin – the largest portfolio player in the Mediterranean; Chris Petty (CP) at Suntex – the largest standalone recreational marina owner in the USA; and Victor Ballestas (VB) at Integra Marinas – a business entity of property expert Integra Investments that is an expanding collector of best-in-class facilities.

Q: Are you still looking to acquire new properties? Have you recently sold any marinas?
CP: We are well capitalised and will continue to grow our portfolio via the acquisition of new properties. We have not recently sold any marinas.
GL: Expanding our selection of premium marinas through acquisitions is an integral part of D-Marin’s core strategy. It is our vision to create the first pan-Mediterranean Premium Selection of marinas, equivalent to a five-star hotel chain, where our customers can choose from a variety of cruising destinations, while enjoying the same level of exclusive and effortless customer service at each and every location.
Our core geographic focus is the Mediterranean, where we have created several clusters of marinas to provide seamless cruising routes across renowned yachting destinations. While D-Marin has always had a strong footprint in the Eastern Mediterranean, over the past years we have been able to successfully expand our presence also across the Western Med. In addition, we also have a presence in the United Arab Emirates and are open to exploring new geographies in the future.
VB: Yes. We are opportunistic and actively looking to acquire new properties and expand our portfolio. We are also open to selling properties when it aligns with our investors’ best interests.

The companies
Suntex Marinas The executive officers at Suntex have over 100 years combined experience investing in, acquiring and managing marinas. Suntex prides itself on a growing reputation in the marina industry for its commitment to superior customer service, experienced marina managers and staff, conscious contributions to marina communities, and expansive enthusiasm for creating memorable experiences on the water.	Integra Marinas Integra Marinas is Integra Investments’ marina vertical, focused on acquiring, developing, operating and managing best-in-class marinas in high barrier-to-entry markets. Integra Marinas focuses on unique repositioning opportunities where it can leverage its differentiated skills as a marina operator and upland developer. With its diverse partnerships, it strategically deploys capital across the marina sector, focusing on owning and operating high-performing assets.	D-Marin D-Marin was established in 2003 and is headquartered in Greece. Its marina selection spans across the Mediterranean and Gulf regions, totalling over 14,000 berths with dry dock facilities that can accommodate over 2,500 vessels. It is dedicated to providing an enriched yachting experience to its clients by delivering outstanding quality standards and the highest level of customer service to both private customers and business partners.

Q: What was your most recent acquisition? 
VB: Sunset Bay Marina and Anchorage in Stuart, Florida – which we believe offers immense potential for growth and aligns perfectly with our strategic vision.
GL: Porto Mirabello in La Spezia, Italy (see inset story). This acquisition perfectly complements the recent addition of Port Camille Rayon in Golfe-Juan, France (see World News p.11). These two new properties now complete one of the most valuable marina clusters in the Mediterranean, spanning from the Cote d’Azur in France to Tuscany in Italy, and including six premium marinas; Livorno, Mirabello, Marina di Varazze, Aregai, San Lorenzo – all in Italy – ending with Port Camille Rayon in France.

CP: In 2024, we merged the Almar Portfolio and brand (see inset story), including the acquisition of eight owned and nine managed marinas in California and Hawaii. We have also recently acquired one marina on the Atlantic coast in New Jersey.
Q: Do you also have management contracts?
CP: Yes. We have management contracts that were acquired through the mergers of Westrec and Almar Marinas. The contracts include ten locations in Chicago, eight locations in California and one location in Hawaii.
GL: Our primary focus is growing our selection of premium marinas through acquisitions, with a strong preference to take ownership of our new properties. However, in some instances we are also open to management agreements.
Q: Have you set specific acquisition/growth targets or have your acquisitions been opportunistic? 
VB: While we have set specific growth targets, our acquisitions are also opportunistic, driven by unique repositioning opportunities that allow us to leverage our differentiated skills as a marina operator and upland developer.
GL: We have a clearly defined acquisition strategy with our targets increasing every year. There is no limit to the number of acquisitions we could complete, but any new marina must align with our premium selection.
CP: We do not have specific acquisition targets but are also opportunistic buyers. We focus on hub assets in key MSAs and high-demand boating markets and will expand around a hub with smaller spoke assets.
Q: Do you seek diversity in terms of property or are you focused on running a portfolio of similar marinas? 
GL: While our selection of marinas is geographically diverse, each property offers a unique yachting destination for our customers and complements the cruising possibilities.

Joining with Almar One of the most notable moves for Suntex Marinas in 2024 was to join forces with marina management company Almar Marinas – the largest operator of coastal marinas on the west coast of the USA. The move added eight owned marinas in California and nine managed marinas in California and Hawaii to the Suntex portfolio. Both Suntex and Almar pride themselves on a customer-centric approach. “The values at the heart of Almar Marinas and their management team are also at the heart of our business practices here at Suntex,” said Suntex Marinas CEO Bryan Redmond when the merger was announced. “Our core principles are entirely focused on delivering a world-class hospitality experience to every marina customer with the knowledge that marinas are many things to many people.”

The D-Marin selection includes marinas which are located in urban settings, such as Zea in the heart of Piraeus, while others are surrounded by natural landscapes like Gocek. Size is another factor that varies across our marina portfolio. For instance, we have two marinas in Zadar, Croatia; Marina Dalmacija is one of our largest marinas with 1,200 berths, whilst Marina Borik is a boutique property with under 200 berths.
However, regardless of their setting or size, all our marinas offer the same high standards, both in terms of marina facilities and the highest levels of customer service.

VB: We seek a balanced approach. While we maintain a core focus on high-quality marinas, we also look for diverse opportunities that offer unique value propositions and strategic benefits.
CP: Our core business model focuses on catering to the recreational boating market. The market demand and operational nature of marinas is diversified when comparing to coastal and geographic differences. However, the consistency in our portfolio is recreational boating including vessels that range in size from personal watercraft to superyachts in excess of 300 feet [91m].
Q: What are the first things you do when you add a new property? 
VB: When we add a new property, our first steps involve a thorough evaluation and integration process. This includes assessing the property’s current state, identifying areas for improvement, and implementing our best practices to ensure the marina meets our high standards for service and amenities.
CP: During our diligence process, we identify all deferred maintenance and additional opportunities to reinvest in a marina to add value. These capital improvements can range from minor improvements to a complete redevelopment of a site. At acquisition of a new property, we execute our capital improvement plans as quickly as possible to improve the customer experience. Additionally, we deploy a well-vetted package of infrastructure and operational elements, which includes technology, branding, operational standards, standardised forms and agreements and team member training.
GL: The first step is to warmly welcome the marina, its customers and its team to the D-Marin selection. Staff are an integral component in delivering a premium customer experience, so we offer extensive training and development opportunities to continuously improve our level of service, which we carefully monitor through the integrated customer satisfaction solution that measures our Net Promoter Score.
D-Marin is highly regarded for its operational excellences, which are implemented from day one. In addition, we also introduce our digital innovations and sustainability initiatives. Once again, we monitor these commitments regularly and are ranked in the top quartile of leisure companies worldwide by EcoVadis for our approach to ESG.
Finally, by promoting a new property both internally to our existing customers and externally at boat shows, we raise awareness of these new locations as yachting destinations, with positive spill over effects to the local communities, such as increased volumes of nautical tourism.