Jesolo Marina plays major part in coastal plans

Along with the entire Jesolo waterfront, Porto Turistico Jesolo Marina Resort near Venice in Italy is undergoing development. Thanks to the plans of its new controlling shareholder, Stefano Marzotto, a decisive marina upgrade is underway. Donatella Zucca reports

Known for its 15km (9mi) of beaches overlooking the Adriatic Sea, as well as for offering the biggest pedestrian areas in any European city, Jesolo and its surroundings include special protected natural regions between the open sea, the Venice Lagoon and the Sile and Piave rivers. Jesolo Marina sits in harmony with woods and countryside that can be explored on foot or by bicycle, is close to large sandy shores and overlooks the River Sile which seems to merge into the sea and mirror the lagoon.
Jesolo Marina is considered to be one of the most modern and best-equipped marinas on the Italian Adriatic and covers an area of approximately 18ha (44.5 acres). Its customer base is 90% Italian and it offers 650 berths of 6 to 30m (20 to 98ft). The basin is well protected by the ‘Porte Vinciane’; a fixed-height mobile barrage that adapts to varying water levels (usually generated by the tide) whose invention is attributed to Leonardo da Vinci. All boaters are issued with an e-card at the beginning of their stay that operates the barrage in sequence: after the first door closes, the second door opens, etc.
The marina is divided into three internal areas, supported by reception and service buildings, and a fourth external section along the left bank of the River Sile. The inner basins are dubbed the Grecale (for boats of 12 to 22m/39 to 72ft) located in front of the reception building and alongside the green area of the swimming pool; the Mistral (for boats of 6 to 20m/20 to 66ft), which runs along the same area and extends up to the fuel station and the shipbuilding centre; and the Libeccio (for boats of 14 to 30m/46 to 98ft), situated close to the green spaces of the camping club and overlooking extensive beaches.
All of the berths are full service and 630 have their own car parking space. Six of these have charge points for electric cars. Twenty-four hour assistance is offered all year round and customers can enjoy a wide range of hospitality services as well as storage, repairs and maintenance for vessels up to 100 tonnes. Repair and maintenance operations take place in a new generation warehouse and yard that is well equipped with an 80 tonne hoist, ten tonne jib cranes and a 40 tonne radio-controlled electric pallet truck.
Particular attention is paid to the environment. The marina has joined the global PlasticLess project, which works to collect plastic from the water, and it has two Seabins and LifeGate devices (fixed and floating). The floating version can collect around 1.5kg (3lbs 5oz) of waste per day, including microplastics as small as 2mm in diameter and 0.33mm microfibres. Jesolo Marina also proudly flies the Blue Flag as one of only six marinas of the 60 ports and landing points in the Veneto region to meet the standards for this environmental quality award. As such, its Environmental Code of Conduct prohibits the use of paints that are harmful to the aquatic environment, cleaning and repair of equipment on the quays, discharge of black water into the marina and the use of cleaning products that are not biocompatible.
All residential housing, commercial and marina buildings are characterised by a minimalist design and the use of high-tech materials to ensure that, as a whole, the resort is in harmony with its surroundings. The resort also offers great cultural attractions – entertainment, physical activities and good cuisine – to complement the major tourist attractions in Jesolo and nearby Venice.
Entrepreneur Stefano Marzotto believes Jesolo to be a tourist port worth investing in and was the first shareholder of Porto Turistico di Jesolo Srl (Pjt), a limited liability company established in 1971. Other parties include Simone Cason’s Osh Srl, Gianni Menegazzo’s Alicom (owner of Winner supermarkets) and Michele Giacometti, the exclusive dealer for Custom Line in Italy and the north-east and central-south for Ferretti Pershing, Itama and Mochi Craft.
Marzotto’s intervention is part of a high-level tourism plan which, through the Aquarius family company, is also revitalising the former Alberoni colony at the Venice Lido with a 4 or 5 star hotel, private properties and a private beach. This investment is valued at €40-50 million and 38 apartments have already been built by the Marzotto Group.
“The Pjt has several properties destined for important real estate development, including a shed for a boat shelter, an office building of around 1,000m² (10,800ft²) and two apartments within the district,” explains Federica Biondi, CEO of Pjt and marina resort manager. “Moreover, it is also part of the super-condominium Abitare il Porto, a complex that includes the marina and three blocks of buildings with around 150 apartments owned by various condominium groups, 50% of which are marina clients.”
Focus has also been placed on marina infrastructure. “With the new management, which began in 2021, berth occupation has increased a lot in comparison with previous years, reaching 96% during the summer period,” Biondi confirms. “Over the last two years, important investments have been made in about 60 new berths, in expansion of the storage shed with a solar power system, in the purchase of new equipment for the company management system as well as enhanced services to further develop the dock.”
“The activity of the shipyard has been improved in terms of personnel involved in maintenance and in the preparation of areas dedicated to processing, and with the installation of new purification plants. Other investments, already approved, will be made next season.”
The tourist port is a prestigious place in the context of the overall waterfront renewal project. Its sheer presence is of benefit to the redevelopment plan currently being studied and it will play a big part in its overall success. The waterfront is an important step in the municipality’s Territorial Development Plan, and has become a topic of interest for students at Milano Politecnico (University of Engineering, Art and Design). Students are involved in a project to redevelop one specific stretch, starting with cycle-pedestrian paths and the beach, and are experimenting with new urban furniture designs and multifunctional mini-architecture.
The local councillors for urban planning, Giovanni Battista Scaroni, and for tourism, Flavia Pastò, have said that input from young people all over the world is very useful for determining how best to grow the waterfront and promote the region. Their involvement delivers ideas about how to rethink cities that can be integrated into processes that are already underway. Improvements in Rimini are a perfect example. For Jesolo, development of the seafront is a central theme and the starting point for paying attention to the city. But the city’s future lies in enhancing all, including its broadest reaches.