Realmark buys Burnt Store Marina

The News Press Tuesday, January 9, 2001

by Dick Hogan

The Realmark Group intends to spiff up the marina's restaurant, Salty's, and expand the marina - which includes 425 wet slips, 110 dry slips, a lounge, fuel services and repair facilities, a ship's store and boat brokerage services, said Will Stout, president and owner of the company.

Salty's has a great view of the marina but "needs an aggressive capital improvement program," which Realmark will undertake either by itself or with a restauranteur partner, he said.

Also, Stout said, "We're going to go into the marina and do an aggressive upgrade on the entire thing. We also have plans to take an existing dry storage area which has several hundred boats in it now and get a permit so we

can do a covered boat house over the existing boats. What's a shame now is that there are boats worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, sitting unprotected from the salt and the sun."

Along with the existing facilities, Realmark acquired some land zoned marine commercial and intends to add 300 dry slips and 92 wetones, said Pete McGough, vice president and director of development.

Even before the marina purchase, Realmark had been developing Linkside, a residential golf course community in Burnt Store with single-family homes for sale for $260,000 to $425,000, McGough said.

WCI which has developments around the state, had owned the marina since 1990 and continues to build homes there.