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dizposition

Sell your marina

Wet slips, dry stack, and a fuel dock. Aging docks, shoaling channels, and a submerged land lease nobody has read lately.

Marina at a glance

Typical deal size
$2M – $25M
Lease structure
Owner-operated, or ground leased from a public landlord
Typical term
N/A if owner-operated; submerged land or municipal concession leases vary widely
Escalations
Annual slip rate increases; CPI or revenue-share on submerged land leases
Safe Harbor MarinasSuntex MarinasMorningstar MarinasMarineMaxYacht clubs and municipal concessionsIndependent operators

Overview

What marinas are really worth

Our read

A marina is an operating business that happens to sit on some of the scarcest real estate in the country. New slip supply is close to impossible in most markets — waterfront zoning, in-water construction permits, and environmental review see to that — so an existing permitted marina is a genuinely irreplaceable asset.

The complication is that the owner frequently does not own the most important part. In many states the water under the docks belongs to the public and is leased back through a submerged land lease, a riparian arrangement, or a municipal concession. The term, rent formula, and assignment provisions of that document can matter more than anything on the upland parcel.

The second complication is capital. Docks, pilings, and seawalls have finite lives; channels shoal continuously; storms arrive on their own schedule. Slip income looks steady right up until the dock cycle comes due, and an owner who has deferred it is carrying a liability the rent roll does not show.

Valuation

How we underwrite it

The method

We underwrite the water rights first. Who owns the submerged land, what the lease or concession says about term and renewal, and whether it transfers cleanly to a buyer. A marina with a short or unassignable lease is a different asset from one with long, renewable rights.

Depth and slip mix come next. The boats people buy have gotten larger, and many older marinas were built for smaller ones. We look at bathymetry, dredging history, and the realistic path to a new dredging permit alongside occupancy and waitlist by slip size.

Docks, pilings, and bulkheads are underwritten as a capital schedule rather than a condition note. Where the facility sits in that cycle drives the price directly, and we would rather price the replacement than ask you to fund it.

Ancillary lines — fuel, service, storage, ship store, restaurant — are valued separately because they carry separate margins and separate risks. The fuel dock in particular brings a tank system and environmental history that get their own review.

What moves the number

  1. 01Whether the seller owns the water or leases it — submerged land leases, riparian rights, and municipal concessions are often the real asset and the real risk
  2. 02Water depth at the slips and in the channel, and how often and how expensively it has to be dredged to stay that way
  3. 03Slip mix by length, since demand and rate have moved toward larger boats and many older marinas are built for smaller ones
  4. 04Dock condition and type — fixed versus floating, wood versus concrete — because dock replacement is the largest capital line in the business
  5. 05Dry stack storage and the permitted capacity to add it, which is frequently where the upside sits
  6. 06Ancillary revenue from fuel, service, boat sales, ship store, and restaurant, each with its own margin and its own liability

Capital markets today

10-yr Treasury
5.24%
4.12% a year ago
SOFR
3.87%
4.2% a year ago
30-yr mortgage
7.28%
6.3% a year ago
CRE loan delinquency
1.53%
1.57% a year ago
CRE prices, YoY
6.58%
-2.7% a year ago

Sources: FRED DGS10, 2026-10-01 · FRED SOFR, 2026-10-01 · FRED MORTGAGE30US, 2026-10-01 · FRED DRCRELEXFACBS, 2026-04-01 · FRED COMREPUSQ159N, 2026-01-01

Diligence

What a buyer actually looks at in a marina

  1. Check 01

    Submerged land lease, riparian rights, and any concession agreement

    In many marinas the water under the docks belongs to the state or a municipality. The term, renewal rights, rent formula, and assignment provisions of that lease can define the value more than anything on land.

  2. Check 02

    Federal, state, and local permits for docks and dredging

    Docks and dredging in navigable water require Army Corps of Engineers authorization along with state permits. Slips built beyond what was permitted are a liability, and the ability to obtain a new dredging permit is not guaranteed.

  3. Check 03

    Bathymetric survey and dredging history

    Depth determines which boats the marina can serve. Shoaling is continuous, dredging is expensive and permit-dependent, and spoil disposal is its own problem.

  4. Check 04

    Dock, piling, and seawall condition assessment

    Docks and bulkheads have finite lives and replacing them is the largest capital cost a marina carries. A marine engineer's report is the only way to know where the facility is in that cycle.

  5. Check 05

    Fuel dock tank system and Phase I environmental

    Fuel docks carry underground or aboveground tanks, and decades of fueling, bottom painting, and engine service leave sediment and soil issues that are far cheaper to identify before closing.

  6. Check 06

    Slip rent roll, occupancy by size, and waitlist

    Annual versus transient slips, occupancy by slip length, and a real waitlist tell you whether rate has room to move. A full marina of small slips and a full marina of large ones are very different businesses.

Backfill risk

What happens if the tenant leaves

The tenant-goes-dark scenario

Marinas do not have tenants to backfill in the usual sense. They are owner-operated businesses whose customers are slip holders on annual or seasonal agreements, and the question is not who replaces the tenant but whether the facility can keep doing what it does.

The scarcity is real. New marinas are extraordinarily difficult to permit — waterfront zoning, federal and state authorization for in-water construction, and environmental review make new slip supply rare in most coastal and lake markets. An existing permitted marina, especially one with water depth and room for larger boats, is a genuinely irreplaceable asset.

The risk runs the other way on alternative use. Waterfront land is valuable, but a site with docks, a fuel system, and a submerged land lease restricted to marine use rarely converts cleanly to anything else, and many jurisdictions protect working waterfront specifically to prevent that conversion.

What actually breaks marinas is capital and nature. Docks wear out, channels shoal, and storms arrive. An owner who has deferred the dock cycle or the dredging is holding a liability that the slip income does not reveal.

Why this matters to you

Every buyer prices the tenant-goes-dark scenario, whether or not they say so out loud. It is the largest hidden input into the cap rate you get offered.

Understanding it before you go to market is the difference between negotiating and being negotiated with.

Who sells to us

Situations we see most often

  • Family that built or bought the marina decades ago and has no one to run a seven-day seasonal business
  • Owner facing a dock replacement or dredging cycle they do not want to fund
  • Operator whose submerged land lease or concession is approaching renewal with uncertain terms
  • Owner who rebuilt after a storm and does not want to carry the exposure through another one
  • Operator with a waitlist and no capital to add dry stack or larger slips

Buy box

What we buy

  1. 01Marinas and dry stack facilities, $2M to $25M
  2. 02Owner-operated and family-held
  3. 03Deferred dock, seawall, or dredging capital
  4. 04Submerged land leases approaching renewal

Process

How selling to Dizposition works

The full process
  1. Day 0

    01

    Send us the property

    Address, asset type, and the lease if there is one. That is enough for us to start.

  2. 02

    We underwrite it

    Our underwriting runs the income against current market pricing and the cost of capital. No lowball anchor.

  3. 10 minutes

    03

    You get a firm offer

    In 10 minutes, with the math shown. You will know exactly how we got there.

  4. As fast as 30 days

    04

    Close on your timeline

    As fast as 30 days, or as slow as you need. We are the principal, so the date is yours.

FAQ

Selling a marina

I lease the submerged land from the state. Does that hurt the value?

It is normal in many states and does not by itself hurt value. What matters is the remaining term, the renewal provisions, how the rent is calculated, and whether it can be assigned to a buyer. Send the lease — it is usually the first document we read.

My docks need replacing. Can I still sell?

Yes. Dock replacement is a defined cost, and we price it into the offer rather than asking you to fund it first. A marine engineer's report helps, but we can work from what you have.

The channel needs dredging and permits are slow. Is that a deal-breaker?

No, but it is one of the larger variables. Depth determines which boats you can serve. We look at the dredging history, current depths, and the realistic permit path, and price the uncertainty rather than pretend it is not there.

Can I sell the marina and keep running it?

Sometimes. Most marinas trade as operating businesses, but where an owner wants to stay on, a lease or management arrangement can be structured. It depends on whether you want to keep the operating risk or just stay involved.

How long does it take to sell a commercial property to Dizposition?

You get a firm written offer within 10 minutes of sending us the property. If you accept, you can close in as little as 30 days — most of that is title work and your own timeline. There is no listing period, no marketing, and no waiting on a buyer's financing contingency.

Can I sell my property as-is?

Yes. We are the buyer, so there is no lender requiring repairs and no inspection contingency to renegotiate against you. Deferred maintenance, a failing roof, an aging tank system — we price it into the offer rather than asking you to fix it first.

Can I sell with a tenant in place?

Yes, and in most cases a tenant makes the property more valuable to us, not less. We will ask for the lease, a rent roll, and any estoppel certificates. You do not need to deliver the property vacant.

What if my lease is short-term or about to expire?

Short remaining term is one of the main reasons owners come to us. A conventional buyer needs lease term to get financing, which is why short-dated assets sit on the market. We underwrite the real estate and the backfill prospects rather than the remaining term alone.

What if the property is vacant?

We buy vacant assets. Pricing shifts from an income approach to what the building and land are worth to the next user, which is a different calculation — but it is one we do routinely rather than one that disqualifies the property.

Do I need a broker to sell to you?

No. We buy directly, and there is no commission because there is nothing to market. If you already have a broker, we will pay them. Selling without one saves the commission, but you should understand you are also giving up price discovery — a broker's job is to find out whether someone will pay more than we will.

What documents do I need to get an offer?

The address and the lease are enough to start. To finalize, we will want the rent roll, the last two years of operating statements, the title commitment, any existing survey, and any environmental reports you already have. You do not need an appraisal or a broker package.

How do you determine your offer?

We underwrite in-place income against what the space would re-lease for, adjust for capital needs and any environmental tail, and apply a cap rate supported by comparable transactions. We show you the inputs. If you disagree with an assumption, we would rather argue about the assumption than about the number.

What are typical seller closing costs?

Title and escrow fees, any transfer or recording tax owed in your state, prorated property taxes, and payoff of any existing debt. Because we are the buyer, there is no commission and no marketing cost. Transfer tax varies significantly by state and is often the largest single line.

Will I owe capital gains tax when I sell?

Usually yes, on the gain above your adjusted basis, and depreciation recapture is taxed separately from appreciation. State treatment varies. This is a question for your CPA before you sign, not after — the structure of the sale can change the answer.

Can I do a 1031 exchange?

Yes. A 1031 exchange lets you defer federal capital gains by reinvesting in like-kind property, subject to a 45-day identification window and a 180-day closing window from the date you sell. You must have a qualified intermediary in place before closing — it cannot be arranged afterward. Most states conform to federal treatment, but a few do not.

Can I sell if I am behind on payments or facing foreclosure?

Yes, and speed is the reason to move early rather than late. We can close on a defined date, which is what a lender or a receiver generally needs to see. Send us the payoff figure and any notices you have received.

Can I sell a property I inherited or that is in probate?

Yes. Probate sales take longer because the court timeline governs, not ours, and multiple heirs need to agree on the price before anything can close. We are used to working around both. Inherited property also generally receives a stepped-up basis, which can change the tax math substantially.

What if there is environmental contamination?

Send it anyway. Environmental history is one of the most common reasons a conventional sale falls apart, and it is one of the reasons owners call us. We price the remediation and the residual liability into the offer rather than walking away at the Phase II.

Is there any cost or obligation to get an offer?

None. There is no fee, no listing agreement, and no obligation to accept. If our number does not work for you, you keep the underwriting we showed you and we part ways.

Markets

Top markets we buy marinas in

10-minute offer

Ready to sell your marina?

Send us the property and the lease. You'll have a firm offer, with the math shown, in 10 minutes.