FEBRUARY 2018
L
ocation, location, location.
Owning a yacht renders this old
real estate maxim moot, but when
buying a berth location is definitely key.
Choose wisely and your crew will be
happy, your long-term cruising plans can
be realized and there will even be room
for your next yacht there too.
“Investment in a berth makes sense
for an owner who either needs the
security of knowing he has the berth
when he needs it, or who knows that
berths have gone up in value,” says
James Munn, sales and charter broker
with Northrop & Johnson.
The South of France is historically a
sought-after area, although demand for
berths was never expected to be as great
as it has been. “Marina spaces were sold
off to pay for the initial developments –
100ft berths that cost 1.2 million francs
[c $280,000] in the 1970s sold for $15
million in the 1990s when demand
outstripped supply,” says Munn.
But the dockage bubble is now
deflating. “The French marinas were
built and licensed with concessions
given until 2020, 2021 or 2025,” explains
Rupert Nelson, a director at Burgess.
“Obviously, those berths became
a lot less attractive and there was
uncertainty.” Nelson references
the infamous case of the Antibes
International Yacht Club: when the port
was built in the 1980s, the berths were
owned by an offshore entity and, while
technically berths changed hands for
market-determined prices totaling
millions, the small print in the original
contracts said they could be traded for
the equivalent of €1 apiece. The French
government, the Mairie d’Antibes,
owned the rights and could have the
berths back at any time, even though
there was a lease structure until 2024.
“Six years inside of that lease, the
Mairie did take them back. And, in the
case of a few well known yachts, the
owners had invested heavily to revamp
the berth, and they had just spent €20
million improving a berth they no longer
owned,” says Nelson.
The Italians are coming to the rescue
with substantial developments such as
PortoMirabello in La Spezia, Marina
Genova in Genoa and Marina di Cala
del Forte in Ventimiglia, which has been
bought by the Monaco government.
A yacht owner might also speculate
in areas where demand for large berths
is growing, such as Porto Montenegro
or OneOcean Port Vell in Barcelona.
Turkey, Greece and Spain should be
considered, though amenities can vary.
“The savings can be huge – Turkey is
25 per cent of the cost of the South
of France,” Munn says.
Some berths come with unusual
benefits. Christophe Harbour in St
Kitts, for instance, promotes a
Citizenship by Investment Program; at
Eden Island in the Seychelles,
meanwhile, a dock comes with your
newly purchased house. “In some cases,
the size and location of the berth has
been more important to the owners than
the home itself,” says Peter Smith, of
Eden Island Development Company.
Golfito Marina Village in Costa Rica,
managed by IGY Marinas, is offeringdocks for sale, and when the dock isn’t
being used, it goes into a rental pool so
the owner can earn money from
transient dockage or the fishing
tournaments that roll through. IGY
Marinas provides berth owners with
reciprocal benefits at its other marinas.
But you can’t sublet all docks. In the
South of France, new laws designed to
prevent people from buying a dock just
to make a profit will prohibit this. “The
secret is to use a marina expert when
considering a berth,” says Munn. “The
risks are not listed in the small print.”
“What price do you attach to a piece of
property called a berth? It’s like your
garage on the water without the four
sides and a roof. You’ve got a couple of
bollards and a plug-in. A million, five
million? I’ve sold berths for double digit
millions,” Nelson says. The most
expensive berth he has sold was a 410ft
dock for €11.5 million in Italy.
The state of the market varies
depending on who you talk to. Nelson
says it’s “quite flat” and supply is good;
Alex Krykanyuk, sales broker at Fraser,
thinks the market is “limited” and says
many of the existing marinas in hot
areas are full in the 100-165ft range.
Munn suggests an alternative to
outright ownership: long-term leases.
“The best solutions in Italy tend to be
long-term rental agreements with the
lease paid up front,” he says. “In Greece
and Turkey, long-term leases are
available, but not ownership, which
avoids speculation. This is the fairest
solution and, ultimately, the reason for
berth ownership: peace of mind.” PHOTOGRAPHY: GETTY IMAGESChoosing your home port is not just a geographical decision, says Risa Merl
BOUGHT for $280,000
in the 1970s
SOLD for $15 MILLION
in the 1990s