Sell Your Marina, Dry Stack or Boat Storage Property for Cash in Florida

Home › Property Types › Marinas & Boat Storage · Updated October 25, 2026

A marina is one of the hardest commercial properties in Florida to sell. The value depends on things most buyers cannot evaluate quickly: a lease of state-owned submerged land, the remaining life of a seawall, the structural rating of a dry-stack rack system, whether the fuel tanks are compliant, and whether the zoning still allows a water-dependent business if the buildings were destroyed. Lenders are cautious, insurers are cautious, and many of the buyers who would love to own a marina cannot finance one.

Libera Capital Group is a Fort Myers-based private buyer that purchases improved commercial property and houses for cash, as-is, throughout Florida, with Southwest Florida as our home market. Our coastline, from the Caloosahatchee and Charlotte Harbor to Naples Bay and Marco Island, is dense with small and mid-sized marinas, many of them family-owned for decades and many of them hit hard by Hurricane Ian in 2022. We buy those properties directly, with a written offer and a timeline that accounts for state lease consents and environmental review. For other commercial assets, see our main commercial property page.

What follows is general information about how marinas and boat storage facilities are bought and valued. It is not legal, environmental or tax advice — a Florida real estate attorney, environmental consultant, title company or CPA confirms what applies to your property.

Why Marina and Boat Storage Owners Sell to Libera Capital Group

Marine and Boat Storage Properties We Purchase

• Wet-slip marinas — from a handful of slips behind a restaurant to full-service marinas with transient docks and liveaboard tenants.
• Dry-stack (high-and-dry) storage buildings — enclosed or open rack barns with forklifts, wash-down areas and launch wells.
• Boatyards and marine service yards — travel-lift wells, haul-out pads, repair bays, paint sheds and parts storage.
• Outdoor boat, trailer and RV storage lots — fenced yards on or off the water, often paired with covered canopies. Enclosed and climate-controlled storage is covered on our self-storage page.
• Fish houses and commercial fishing docks — working waterfront used by shrimp, stone crab or charter fleets.
• Marinas with restaurants, bars or ship’s stores — mixed marine-and-hospitality properties; see also our restaurant buildings page.
• Boat dealerships and marine retail with service — showroom, outdoor display and service building on a commercial road or the water.
• Dockominiums and slip condominiums — individual or bulk slip units, subject to the association documents.
• Canal-front marine businesses — small repair shops, rental fleets and launch sites in places like Cape Coral and North Fort Myers.

Sovereign Submerged Land Leases and Riparian Rights

In Florida, the bottom of most navigable waters below the mean high-water line belongs to the state and is held by the Board of Trustees of the Internal Improvement Trust Fund. A marina whose docks extend over that bottom generally needs a sovereignty submerged lands lease, administered by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection’s Division of State Lands. Many private docks are exempt or covered by lighter authorizations, but commercial marinas usually are not.

Why the lease matters to a buyer

• It is often the most valuable piece of paper you own. The slips only exist as income if the right to occupy the water continues.
• Transfers usually require state approval. When a marina sells, the lease is typically assigned or a new lease is issued to the buyer, and that process has its own forms, fees and timing.
• Lease fees and terms can change. Annual rent, any revenue-based component, renewal dates and special conditions (such as manatee protection measures or limits on liveaboards) all affect value.
• Compliance history follows the lease. Unauthorized slip additions, expanded docks or unpaid lease fees can complicate an assignment.

Riparian rights and the upland parcel

The right to build docks generally attaches to the upland property that touches the water. If the upland was ever split — the restaurant on one parcel and the docks on another, or a family member holding a strip along the shoreline — title work has to confirm who actually holds the riparian rights. We review the survey, the recorded documents and the state lease together and ask a Florida title company or attorney to confirm the chain before closing.

We do not need you to resolve every lease issue before you call. Tell us what you know, share the lease and any correspondence with the state, and we will tell you how we would handle it in the contract.

Seawalls, Docks, Pilings and Dry-Stack Racks

Marine structures wear out faster than buildings, and in Southwest Florida’s salt water and storm cycles, they are often the largest capital item a marina buyer underwrites.

Seawalls and bulkheads

Concrete seawalls along the Caloosahatchee, Cape Coral’s canals and Naples Bay crack, lean and lose fill behind them. Replacement or a new cap and tiebacks can require marine contractors, engineering and permits from both local and state agencies. We look at the visible condition, any engineering reports and the permitting path, then price the work.

Docks, pilings and utilities

Wood pilings, decking, finger piers, power pedestals and water lines all have a service life. Electrical systems on docks deserve special attention because of the shock and fire risk in and around marinas. We note what is original, what was replaced after a storm, and whether the work was permitted.

Dry-stack buildings and rack systems

A dry-stack barn is essentially a warehouse full of steel racks designed for specific boat weights and wind loads. Racks that were bent or overloaded in a storm, buildings that lost cladding, and forklifts at the end of their life all show up in our numbers. Fire protection for stacked boats is another item local fire officials and insurers focus on. We do not need the racks re-certified before we make an offer.

Dredging and water depth

A marina that has silted in may no longer serve the boats it once did. Maintenance dredging generally needs permits, and the cost and timing of dredging can be significant. If your channel or basin has shoaled, tell us; it is a pricing input, not a deal-breaker.

Fuel Docks, Storage Tanks and Boatyard Environmental Issues

Most of the environmental questions at a marina come from fuel and boat maintenance. Florida regulates petroleum storage tanks through FDEP rules for underground and aboveground systems, and the operator of a fuel dock carries ongoing registration, inspection, release-detection and financial-responsibility obligations.

• Fuel tanks and lines. We ask for tank registration records, recent compliance inspections, the age of tanks and piping, and any history of releases or cleanup.
• Haul-out and pressure-wash areas. Wash water carrying bottom paint and debris needs to be managed; older yards may have soil staining from decades of work.
• Paint, solvent and oil storage. Boatyards generate used oil, filters, batteries and solvents that should be managed under hazardous-waste and used-oil rules.
• Stormwater. Some boatyards and marinas with maintenance activities may be subject to industrial stormwater permitting; an environmental consultant can confirm.
• Abandoned equipment. Old tanks, buried drums, or a former fuel dock that was never properly closed are common discoveries.

We typically order a Phase I environmental site assessment during due diligence and, where the Phase I recommends it, a limited Phase II sampling. Florida’s voluntary Clean Marina program and FDEP’s tank-program records can help show good practices. If contamination exists, we discuss whether a state cleanup program may apply, how responsibility will be allocated, and how it affects price — always with your environmental consultant and attorney involved. Our sibling page on gas stations and convenience stores covers fuel-tank properties on land.

Storm Damage: Ian, Helene, Milton and the Insurance Gap

Hurricane Ian made landfall in Lee County on September 28, 2022, and its storm surge was devastating for waterfront businesses. Docks floated away, dry-stack buildings were torn open, boats were stacked against buildings and pushed into neighborhoods, and the commercial shrimp fleet on San Carlos Island near Fort Myers Beach was thrown ashore. In 2024, Helene’s surge and Milton’s landfall near Siesta Key added damage along Charlotte, Sarasota and Manatee waterfronts.

Why marina repairs stall

• Coverage gaps. Docks and seawalls may have limited or no coverage, flood and wind claims are handled separately, and business-interruption coverage may have run out.
• Permitting. Rebuilding in the water can involve local building departments, state agencies and sometimes federal permits, each with its own review.
• Substantial-damage rules. If upland buildings in a flood zone were substantially damaged, local floodplain rules can require them to be brought into compliance, including elevation or floodproofing, when rebuilt.
• Contractor capacity. Marine contractors were booked for years after Ian.

We buy damaged marinas in whatever stage they are in — untouched, partly rebuilt or waiting on a claim. Our hurricane-damaged commercial property page explains the insurance and permitting issues in more depth, and the residential version is on our hurricane and flood damage page.

Working Waterfront, Zoning and Use Rights

Marina zoning is often more fragile than owners realize. Many Southwest Florida marinas were built before current codes and operate as legal nonconforming uses. If a storm destroys the buildings or the use stops for long enough, local rules may limit what can be rebuilt. Comprehensive plans in coastal counties typically encourage water-dependent uses, and manatee protection plans can restrict adding slips in some areas.

Questions we answer during diligence

• Is a marina, boatyard or dry-stack building permitted by right, by special exception, or only as a nonconforming use?
• How many slips and how much rack capacity are actually permitted, versus what is in use?
• Are there limits on liveaboards, transient slips, fuel sales or restaurant seating tied to parking?
• Does a county or city working waterfront policy affect redevelopment?
• Is the property receiving a working-waterfront property tax classification, and would a sale or change of use affect it? The county property appraiser confirms.

We tell you what we find. If the best use of your property is as a continuing marina, that shapes our offer; if the property’s future lies in redevelopment, we explain that too.

Slip Agreements, Vessel Liens and the Marina Business

Unlike an office building with a handful of long leases, a marina’s income comes from dozens or hundreds of short agreements: monthly and annual slip contracts, rack storage, transient dockage, fuel sales, service work, ship’s store sales and sometimes a restaurant lease. Buyers have to separate real estate income from business income.

What we look at

• Occupancy by season. Southwest Florida marinas fill in winter and soften in summer; a twelve-month history tells the real story.
• Slip and rack agreements. Term, rate, cancellation rights, liveaboard provisions and insurance requirements for boat owners.
• Waitlists and pricing. Whether rates have kept pace with nearby facilities, and whether there is demand you have not captured.
• Third-party tenants. A restaurant, charter operator, rental fleet or broker office paying rent on the property.
• Operating expenses. Payroll, insurance, utilities, submerged-land lease fees, equipment, repairs and property taxes.

Derelict boats and unpaid storage

Nearly every older marina has a few boats whose owners stopped paying. Florida law provides a lien process for marinas to recover unpaid dockage and storage charges, with notice and sale requirements, and separate rules apply to derelict vessels. Abandoned boats do not stop a sale; we simply need to know about them and agree on who resolves them before or after closing. Your maritime attorney can confirm the correct procedure.

Selling the real estate, the business, or both

We primarily buy real estate. Where the marina operation is inseparable from the property, we can discuss buying the business assets too, keeping a manager, or leasing the operation back to you. Equipment such as forklifts and travel lifts can be included or excluded. All of that is spelled out in the letter of intent.

Southwest Florida Marine Markets We Know

Our home market includes some of the busiest boating waters in Florida. Each has its own character:

Fort Myers, the Caloosahatchee and Fort Myers Beach

The Caloosahatchee River connects the Gulf to Lake Okeechobee through the Okeechobee Waterway, so Fort Myers and North Fort Myers marinas serve both coastal boaters and cross-state traffic. San Carlos Island and Fort Myers Beach host commercial fishing docks, dry stacks and charter operations, many of which are still rebuilding after Ian. See our Fort Myers commercial page and the Fort Myers Beach page.

Cape Coral, Matlacha and Pine Island

Cape Coral’s canal system is one of the largest in the country, supporting boat-repair shops, rental fleets and storage yards. Matlacha and Pine Island have fish houses and small marinas that are central to the area’s working waterfront. More on our Cape Coral commercial page.

Charlotte Harbor, Punta Gorda and Englewood

Punta Gorda’s canal communities, Charlotte Harbor and Englewood’s access to Lemon Bay and the Gulf support dry-stack and wet-slip facilities, many damaged in 2022 and again in 2024. See our Port Charlotte and Punta Gorda commercial page.

Naples, Marco Island and the Ten Thousand Islands

Naples Bay, Marco Island, Goodland and Everglades City range from high-value yacht facilities to rustic fishing camps. Collier values are high, but so are construction and insurance costs. See our Naples commercial page.

Sarasota, Venice and statewide

Further north, Sarasota Bay, Venice and the Manatee River have their own marina clusters. Because we buy throughout Florida, a marina in the Keys, on the Space Coast or in the Panhandle is also worth discussing.

How We Price a Marina or Boat Storage Facility

Every marina is different, and we do not use a fixed formula or percentage. We build the number from the property itself and show you the math in writing. The main inputs are:

• In-place and market slip and rack rates. What boaters pay now, what comparable facilities charge, and seasonality.
• Actual net operating income. Your trailing twelve months (T-12), separated into real estate and business income where possible — not a pro forma.
• Occupancy and agreement terms. Annual versus monthly slips, waitlists, liveaboards and third-party leases.
• Capital needs. Seawalls, docks, pilings, racks, building envelope, roofs, forklifts, electrical systems, parking and life-safety items.
• Insurance and flood costs. Wind, flood, marina operator’s liability and storm deductibles.
• Zoning and use rights. Permitted slip count, rack capacity, nonconforming status and rebuild limits.
• Submerged land lease. Term, fees, conditions and how long consent to assignment may take.
• Environmental risk. Fuel systems, boatyard activities and Phase I and Phase II findings.
• Comparable sales and cap rates. Trades of similar waterfront and storage properties in that part of Florida, described generally in our offer.
• Financing and carrying costs, and a margin for risk. What it takes to hold, repair and operate the property.

Selling a Marina: Comparing Your Options

A stabilized, well-maintained marina with a long submerged-land lease and strong occupancy may draw competitive bids from experienced marina operators through a commercial broker, and listing can produce a higher price in that case. Damaged, under-managed or complicated properties are where a direct sale often fits.

For a broader comparison, see cash offer vs. listing. If you need more than an all-cash price, a seller-carried note or phased closing may help; see creative financing.

What We Need to Make an Offer on a Marina

You do not need a complete data room to start. An address, a description of the slips and storage, and a sense of the property’s condition are enough for a first call. These items help us sharpen the number:

• Slip and rack roster (rent roll) with rates, terms and occupancy by month
• Trailing twelve months (T-12) of income and expenses, ideally split between real estate, fuel, service and retail
• Leases with any restaurant, charter, rental or other third-party tenants
• Sovereignty submerged lands lease, renewal correspondence and any state or county dock permits
• Fuel tank registration and inspection records, if you sell fuel
• Survey showing mean high-water line, docks and upland boundaries, if available
• Phase I environmental report, if one exists
• Insurance declarations, recent claims and any engineering or seawall reports
• List of equipment (forklifts, travel lift, pump-out) you intend to include or keep

How Selling a Marina to Us Works

1. Confidential first conversation. Call or use the form. We can sign an NDA before you share financials or tenant lists, and we aim to reply within one business day.
2. Preliminary review and site visit. We review what you send, walk the docks and upland, and tell you honestly whether the property fits.
3. Written letter of intent. Price, deposit, due-diligence period, closing date, lease-assignment timing and any management or leaseback terms are laid out with our underwriting.
4. Contract, diligence and closing. We complete marine and building inspections, environmental review, survey, title and state lease consent within the agreed period, then close through a Florida title company or real estate attorney.

Read more on how our process works or browse our general FAQ.

Who Buys Marinas and Boat Storage in Florida?

Libera Capital Group is one type of buyer that purchases marinas, dry-stack facilities and boat storage properties in Florida. We are a local private cash buyer based in Fort Myers that buys as-is, including storm-damaged and under-managed properties, and builds state lease consent into the closing timeline. Other buyers sellers often compare include regional and national marina operators and institutional investors, who tend to pursue larger stabilized facilities; owner-operators and boat dealers buying a base for their business; 1031 exchange buyers; private investors reached through a commercial broker; local governments or conservation groups focused on public access or working waterfront; and auction platforms.

A well-run marina with clean records and a long state lease may command its best price from an experienced operator in a brokered process. Where docks need rebuilding, permits are unclear or the owner wants a quick and private exit, a direct buyer can be the more practical choice.

Related Pages

• All property types
• Mobile home and RV parks
• Industrial and warehouse
• Contractor yards and flex space
• Distressed commercial property
• Partnership and estate disputes
• Inherited property
• Lenders and banks
• Contact us

Frequently Asked Questions about Selling a Marina or Boat Storage Property