2023 May June Marina World

DRYSTACK STORAGE
F3 Marina Fort Lauderdale has been built
to resemble a 5-star hotel and is fully
automated.
can take years for an opening, why are
there not more under construction?
New drystack development has not
been able to keep pace with demand
and will continue to have major
challenges in the future for several
reasons. Regulatory factors, such
as height and use restrictions, local
opposition and site availability are
key factors. In addition, new drystack
developments are competing for
waterfront access with condominium,
multi-family and hotel developments.
There is also a stigma with drystack
structures creating strong opposition
and a “not in my backyard” attitude.
Finally, marina prices have skyrocketed
in the past three years with many
investment firms and developers
jumping into the industry to take
advantage of the nationwide growth in
boating. This has driven marina prices
higher making the margin for error very
thin from a developer perspective.
Internationally, drystack demand has
also increased along with the boom
in new waterfront developments. The
challenges here are similar to those in
the US as waterfront sites are highly
desirable locations and it is difficult to
find available building land. The types of
boat and boat usage vary significantly
from region to region as well, and some
locations do not demand drystack as
much as others.
This does not mean drystack
development will stop. Drystack
developers that are persistent and
possess the right formula can react
to the current market realities and
still be successful. At F3 Marina, we
have overcome these challenges by
perfecting the fully-automated drystack
concept. An example is F3 Marina Fort
Lauderdale, a fully-automated drystack
located in the heart of Fort Lauderdale
close to the ICW and Port Everglades
inlet. The building is beautifully
constructed to look like a 5-star hotel
and has a quiet operation, enabling
us to be good neighbours for condo
developments directly across the canal.
Because of the automated nature
of the structure, we are able to
create density allowing us to build
on expensive real estate and take
up a smaller footprint than traditional
drystacks with 250 slips on less than
1.5 acres (0.6ha). The automated
concept can also be constructed
away from the water such as behind
a waterfront condo as long as there is
about 30ft (9m) of access (either land
or water).
Automated drystacks are very
complicated and expensive structures
to build. However, with the right team,
they are the path to overcome the
challenges of meeting strong and
growing demand by boaters. It is
our belief that drystacks will take an
increased share of the market for boat
slips in the coming years.
Max Brown and
Robert Brown, ASAR
Development: Generally, a drystack
marina serves to protect boaters’
investment while allowing them access
to the water. From an investment
standpoint, dry boat storage is
effectively increasing the density
of leasable,
revenueproducing
space
in a restricted
footprint.
The advent
of concrete
structures and
automated
solutions is
Max Brown
revolutionising
the drystack
industry by
merging them with country club
visages, lifestyle amenities and
residential components to create
destination locations around the world.
As with a condo building versus a
single-family home, more units can
be offered by building vertically. This
increases the supply of boat storage
slips in a given area and allows an
investor to make the maximum return
on his/her investment.
On a global level, dayboats, pleasure
yachts and fishing vessels have been
difficult to access for the middle classes
for some time, specifically in Europe
and the Middle East. The introduction
of drystack developments in these
areas would serve to make storage,
maintenance
and accessibility
far more cost
effective than
wet storage for
vessels in the
7-20m (23-
66ft) range.
With Europe’s
environmental
regulations, a
space saving,
Robert Brown
electric system would be a good
solution. We are seeing growing
interest and discussion in dry storage
automation as the cost per vessel is
far less with ASAR than the traditional
forklift building.
On top of this, the use of concrete
building materials has proven itself to
be a safe haven from the elements, and
even the threat of natural disasters. For
example, Gulf Star Marina in Florida
was hit by the strongest storm surge
and winds of Hurricane Ian, yet did not
lose a single vessel and only reported
minor damage. On top of that, it was the
first drystack marina fully operational
and launching vessels, despite having
been impacted directly by the shrimp
boat fleet coming untethered and finally
landing just to the north on land.
www.marinaworld.com – May/June 2023
27