Top Story — September: Marina Jack buys large south Siesta facility

The Turtle Beach Marina and Pub is now Bayfront Yacht Works & Marina, and Turtle Beach Grill.

The Marina Jack ownership team acquired Turtle Beach Marina and Pub at 8856 Midnight Pass Rd. on Sept. 1 and plans to renovate some structures including their boat racks, update amenities, add boats to their rental fleet and new services including personal watercraft rentals through Bayfront Excursions.

What the group is really focused on, according to Kathryn Wilson, associate manager of public services for Marina Jack, is making the marina into a top-notch haul-out facility with the capability of pulling boats up to 60-feet-long out of the water for a full spectrum of repairs and maintenance.

Wilson said both employees of the Marina have been retained, and that they would keep the current Pub staff through the transition.

Manager David Hobbs and his son Sterling run the Marina together, and David said he is happy to see operational elements ranging from the new boat racks (existing racks were built in the 1960s) to computer software updated.

Just after his arrival at the Marina and before some improvements made before the recent sale, he said, “We were making people happy, but we were flying by the seat of our pants.”

Since then, Hobbs said, they replenished the fleet of rental boats, which produces the most revenue for the Marina, and added or improved other rental services such as kayaks.

Hobbs had more than 30 years of background in retail — he came to Sarasota as a manager for Hobby Lobby.

Since repairs have begun, traffic to the marina has already increased. Hobbs said the removal of one of the site’s larger buildings helped drive foot traffic from the nearby Turtle Beach Campground.

“Before,” he said, “no one knew we were back here.”

Sterling finished familiarizing a large family with the pontoon boat they’d rented before telling the Observer he loves working outside and meeting and talking with people of diverse backgrounds.

The previous owners, Turtle Beach Marina, LLC, purchased the property in 2003 for about $1.69 million, according to the Sarasota County Property Appraisers office.

According to the mortgage modification and assumption agreement available through the clerk of court’s office, the original principal on the loan issued to Turtle Beach Marina, LLC, in 2003 was about $1.88 million.

On Sept. 1, the closing date of the most recent sale, SRS Ventures (managers Robert and Susan Soran), or, the new borrowers, issued the The Bank of Commerce a note for $3.24 million. That includes the outstanding principal immediately before the sale, $2.36 million, and a future advance note of $881,889.96. Future advance notes are additional amounts included in mortgage agreements that may be issued at a later date, and may be used for renovation or repairs.

“We’re really excited to keep this longstanding marina and boat yard as it was intended to be, and develop a truly top tier facility,” said Sam Chavers, Director of Marina Operations at Marina Jack, and Harbormaster at Bayfront Yacht Works & Marina in a press release. “We look forward to improving this great location for the Gulf Coast’s boating community, while complementing the great neighboring businesses on Siesta Key, for visitors and island locals alike.”