Victoria International Marina Receivership

[Alaskan Sea-Duction]

This is sad.

https://www.timescolonist.com/local...ational-marina-goes-into-receivership-4893992

 

[sunchaser]

The pandemic has cratered the cross border moorage business. There is no end yet in sight so the Canadian marinas and yacht centric businesses relying upon vessel traffic from the US will continue to adjust their operations.

The Victoria marina noted relied upon large non-Canadian vessels flagged from many international destinations for their income stream. With easy ingress via air, water and ferry from a variety of places cut off due to the pandemic, times got tough immediately in the Spring of 2020.

 

[gsholz]

It always looked mostly empty when we passed by on the Coho ferry. Don't quite understand why. There are certainly enough big boats to fill it in the area.

Sidney stayed packed even during 2020. We had our boat moved out of there this spring. Our slip had already been spoken for. Sidney is not cheap either. We were about $1200 US with power per month for a 60' slip.

 

[DryDoc]

This is sad.

Not sure why it is sad, have you been to it?

The failure of a poorly thought out 28 slip, 35 million dollar marina, taking 2 years to build and running nearly 50% over budget, can’t be blamed on the pandemic.

No shore side amenities, no loading area, no vehicle access. That isolated little corner of Victoria’s inner harbor is not the Mediterranean.

“Canada’s only marina custom-built for superyachts, located in Victoria’s downtown harbour, opened four years ago, after some 30 years of planning and development-issue wrangling. The intent for the $35-million Victoria International Marina is to lure the superyacht business from the overburdened Mediterranean and Caribbean mega yacht hubs to B.C.’s Inside Passage to Alaska.”

The few superyachts entering BC waters are not interested in Victoria or even Vancouver, they just cruise right by with northern goals and they have done so through the pandemic.

 

[leeman]

I thought all the slips were for sale and most sold at one point early on. How does this work? Perhaps I am thinking of a different new marina?

 

[twistedtree]

I know pretty much nothing about the marina business, but $35M seems like a pretty big cost basis to cover/recover from slip rentals, or even slip sales.

 

[klee wyck]

I know pretty much nothing about the marina business, but $35M seems like a pretty big cost basis to cover/recover from slip rentals, or even slip sales.

Agree. Hard to make anything else work when you are this badly overcapitalized.
Not likely that the food service function has been helpful in the current environment.
In an economy that is this awash in capital looking desperately for a home, I expect this is not the last of these colossal mistakes to be revealed over the coming period.

 

[DryDoc]

I thought all the slips were for sale and most sold at one point early on. How does this work? Perhaps I am thinking of a different new marina?

It was never to be a "docominium," but rather the purchase of a long term lease, which never got legs. I believe most of the adjacent land is also leased; from the Lekwungen and Songhees Nations.

Maybe this will add a little illumination: https://tinyurl.com/yyjrxrhs

April 2019, after being open for a year, see post 2113 by management here: https://tinyurl.com/u8hyd9x6

Ill-conceived is the word which comes to mind, but there are likely more than a couple of people with a better idea sitting by, watching and waiting.

Putting it up for sale in March, four years after opening was a last desperate effort to salvage something, but no takers, in spite of the ever optimistic realtor: “there were calls and requests for tours, within 24 hours of the listing going live.”

I could go on, like how he blames the tourism industry, but what's the point.

 

[DryDoc]

While VIM was being built, Port Sidney Marina, with 320 slips, sold for under 15 million after being on the market for some time.

Port Sidney can handle several vessels over 120'.

 

[Northern Spy]

Not sad at all.

No one wanted it or thought it would work except for the developers.

 

[DryDoc]

Not sad at all.

No one wanted it or thought it would work except for the developers.

This white elephant reminds me of how many inovators had a better idea for a Nanaimo to Vancouver, passenger only fast ferry.

There is another one in the works again now.

 

[DryDoc]

Yup, sad alright; for those who bought in.

A few minutes with Google unearthed som history and associated players.
Victoria International Marina
Community Marine Concepts
Eternal and Yuheng Investment Holdings
WAM Development Group
0736657 BC Ltd.
A struck Alberta corporation.

Back door lobbying 2009 “outrageous.”
https://thetyee.ca/Blogs/TheHook/BC-Politics/2009/10/17/PollenMarina/

Approvals Challenged 2010
https://thetyee.ca/Blogs/TheHook/Federal-Politics/2010/06/14/MarinaChallenge/

Community Marine Concepts civil actions dating back to 2012.

Oh well at least it generated news in 2021, keeping headline dumpster divers active.