Welch selects Dallas group to redevelop St. Pete's municipal marina
By Breanne Williams
Tampa Bay Business Journal
Published: Jan 9, 2024

Mayor Ken Welch has selected a team to redevelop the St. Petersburg Municipal Marina.

In late December, the mayor chose Dallas-based Safe Harbor Marinas for the project, according to James Corbett, city development administrator. The marina features 640 permanent wet slips. The city released a request for proposals for the project in April 2023, and responses were due on July 14.

“Mayor Welch has directed city staff to begin negotiations with Safe Harbor Marinas this month and work toward finalizing contractual terms to present to St. Petersburg City Council for consideration and approval by spring 2024,” Corbett said in a statement.

Negotiations are now underway, and once complete, the deal will be brought to city council for final approval.

Two Dallas-based firms responded: Safe Harbor Marinas and Suntex Marina Investors. City staff and Welch conducted a “comprehensive review and analysis” of the two submissions, which included “market proposals, financial data and responses to specific criteria for the redevelopment and operational management” of the marina.

Staff also considered ongoing self-development and support as they “weighed utilizing the city’s own extensive resources to potentially redevelop the marina,” according to Corbett.

Safe Harbor currently owns 135 marinas, with 20 of those located in Florida. The group is proposing $48 million in capital investments for the marina. In the group’s response to the RFP, they offered to pre-pay the five-year lease term: $1.25 million or $250,000 per year at lease commencement.

In response to the RFP, the group said it intends to build more than 14,000 linear feet of leasable floating dock space in the central basin and 12,000 linear feet of leasable dock space in the south basin.

It also plans to build additional flexible dock space that accommodates more than 325 boats up to 200 feet in length in the central basin. In the south basin, Safe Harbor will build flexible dock space that accommodates more than 310 boats up to 200 feet in length.

There are also plans to preserve existing covered wet slips, create a welcome center near the St. Pete Pier entrance, build a two-story welcome and amenity center on the north wall of Demens Landing and a new amenity center at the south basin and build a dedicated maintenance building and yard for the marina.

The group also proposed a permanent special event dock that would be made available for the St. Pete Grand Prix. It would be designed to accommodate the annual St. Pete Boat Show.

The decision to redevelop the marina is part of the city’s ongoing effort to revitalize the downtown waterfront. The RFP from the city said the marina infrastructure has reached the end of its service life. The central yacht basin docks were built in 1963, and four of the five south yacht basin docks were built in 1977.