The next big redevelopment push in Orange County looks to come dockside.
Several of the area’s more prominent marinas are set for upgrades valued at a combined $300 million.
Projects include:
• A $200 million Dana Point Harbor redo is on track, finally, to get a master developer.
• Marina upgrades will be part of the Lido Isle real estate makeover in Newport Beach.
• Improvements are planned at a Huntington Beach marina, bought for $35 million in May.
More than a dozen local marinas offer about 4,550 boat slips—with 5,650 more if one trawls a few miles down or out to Oceanside, Catalina Island or Long Beach. Dry storage capacity adds another 950 slots.
That’s about 12% of the state’s total of 36,000 slips.
Slips can command rents ranging from about $2,700 annually for a 25-foot slip at Dana Point to $28,000 a year for a 46-foot slip at Newport Dunes to more than double that for a 100-footer at the private Balboa Bay Club.
Cruising
Destination marketer Newport Beach & Co. says OC harbors back 2,626 jobs and have an annual economic impact of $348 million. Newport Harbor sees $156 million in annual visitor spending and kicks $46 million a year into city coffers.
According to the city, 2016 lease revenue for its commercial marinas topped $1.65 million; Balboa Bay Club’s marina accounted for 58% of that, or $950,000.
The median price of a home on the harbor is $2.2 million—a 15% premium on homes elsewhere in the city, the Newport Beach & Co. report says.
“The harbor is our crown jewel,” said Chief Executive Gary Sherwin.
“People like to travel to these kinds of places,” said Eric Kretsch of national trade group Association of Marina Industries in Warren, R.I.
Dana Point Harbor employs 1,200 and generates $85 million in revenue a year.
Sacramento-based trade group Marine Recreation Association said Dana’s slips produce about $203 of annual slip revenue per foot of dock—the “effective slip yield.”
That can include berth fees; live-aboard rent by people using boats as homes; utilities; and other charges.
Dana Point’s two marinas have 2,400 slips that average about 30 feet of dock apiece.
The Mast
Richard Henry Dana spent two years “before the mast.”
His namesake harbor redo has sailed a more circuitous route: Parties in the pool have explored remaking the place, now pushing 50 years old, and land seems finally in sight.
Two groups submitted bids to the county on May 4 to lead the project, which calls for expansion of almost all parts of the current offerings—restaurant, retail, hotel, meeting space, average slip length, parking—and renovation where expansion isn’t strictly required.
The May 4 deadline was an extension from March 16. The two remaining bidders are drawn from an original three that responded to a request for qualifications in spring and summer of last year. Industry sources said sometime between OC’s October release of a request for proposals and the March deadline, some parties dropped out and the remaining ones reformed into two groups, which are now being considered.
The next three steps involve a selection committee putting one of the two groups in a lead position, due diligence by that group, then negotiations and final approval of a 50-year lease with the group chosen by the Board of Supervisors.
Kim Tilly, executive director of Dana Point Harbor Association, which represents local business owners, said the group is “anxious (for work) to get started.”
Pool Parties
The county hasn’t given a timeline or publicly identified the two groups, though each is likely to include individual participants with expertise and experience for various parts of the overall project.
Industry sources and recent work suggest one group includes R.D. Olson Development, an affiliate of Newport Beach-based Burnham USA Equities Inc., and Joseph Ueberroth; the second group is San Jose-based DJM Capital Partners Inc.
Olson co-developed Paséa Hotel & Spa in Huntington Beach and is building boutique hotel Lido House in Newport Beach, and retail developer DJM Capital built Pacific City shopping center adjacent to Paséa and redeveloped Lido Marina Village, which is near Lido House.
DJM’s work on 112,000 square feet of retail, restaurant and office space on Lido is done; marina work is up next.
“We have found a niche in OC” in boutique retail and redevelopment, said Becky Sullivan, DJM vice president of construction and development. She declined comment on whether DJM will be involved at Dana Point.
Ueberroth owns Bellingham, Wash.-based Bellingham Marine Industries, which in May opened a Newport Beach office.
Bellingham designs and builds marinas on five continents—including “90% of the new slips added over the last five years” in Southern California, a news release said—and sister company Newport Beach-based BellPort Group runs such facilities, including one in Newport Harbor.
Joseph Ueberroth, is the son of Newport Beach investor Peter Ueberroth.
Part two next week: Irvine Co. and a virtual reality centimillionaire like OC marinas.
