Going Vertical
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Aqua Marine Partners is changing the marina business in Florida. The Aventura company is buying marinas and redeveloping them into vertical yacht clubs, using a lift system to handle more and larger yachts than a traditional marina. The company’s prototype marina in Aventura’s Thunder Alley will also have all the bells and whistles of a resort destination: Full concierge service, yacht provisioning and fuel at cost, a European spa, elegant lobby and lounge area, business center, coffee bar and gourmet cafe. It will also have 211 vertical boat slips and will feature a new, patented computerized lift system for dry-dock yacht storage.
“We are transforming marinas from parking lots for boats to a destination for boat owners,” says Andrew Sturner, founder and CEO of Aqua Marine. “As boat slips continue to disappear to residential developers, boat owners are left with increasingly limited options for storing their vessels,” says Sturner. His new system will enable the facility to handle anything from an 18-foot flats boat to an 80-foot, 100,000-pound yacht stored in a Mediterranean-style building.
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Passport Marine, a top-selling Formula boat dealership, will provide service and sell parts and accessories and boats on the premises.
Sturner, a lifelong boater, expects to break ground by the end of the year and have the facility fully operational by 2008.
Presales began at the Miami International Boat Show in February, with prices starting at $130,000 for a slip and exclusive club membership with reciprocal rights at other vertical yacht clubs. One-third of the slips are already sold. The company is planning vertical yacht clubs at Fort Lauderdale’s Marina Mile and in Panama City.
“This is all about the customer service experience,” says Sturner, “and enjoying the yacht club lifestyle.”
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Great Escape
Mark Pordes has been cruising to the Bahamas a lot lately. He is overseeing Turnberry’s hotel/condo development at Paradise Island called The Residences at Atlantis.
Once there, Pordes, director of sales of high-end residential properties in Florida and the Bahamas, frequently uses his 73-foot Ferretti yacht to entertain associates and clients.
Back at home, he likes to take it to the Ocean Reef Club in Key Largo for the weekend or to Miami’s South Beach for lunch. “I’m always going 24 hours a day,” says Pordes. “When I’m out on the open water, with no cell phones, it’s a complete disconnect.”
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Miami- Style
Italy’s award-winning Rodriquez Yachts is bringing its luxury yachts to the south Florida market through an exclusive partnership with Coral Gables-based BRB Yachts.
Typically, says BRB owner Daniel Berrebi, European manufacturers will build a boat for the European market and then export it to the U.S. market. Rodriquez is designing and building its multimillion-dollar boats specifically for the American market.
“In Miami,” says Berrebi, “they want flashy boats, not the traditional white body with blue stripe. They want more electronics, swimming platforms and speed.”
Rodriquez is acclaimed for its craftsmanship, sleek, stylish design and high-tech amenities. Berrebi likens them to Ferraris or Maseratis. All controls are touch-screen.
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The company’s latest models are the family-friendly 680 Wide Body and the fast and sleek 800 Sport. Wide Body production has already begun. The 800 Sport is scheduled to arrive in November.
Customizing the yachts takes from four to nine months. Berrebi has a marina in Aventura, where he gives test drives of a Rodriquez yacht. “We have test drives nearly every day.”
Berrebi owns two yachts, a 62-foot power catamaran and an 800 Wide Body.