Bobcat
01-22-2015, 08:59 AM
Hotel, condos to replace boats at landmark
BY MANDY MILES Citizen Staff
mmiles@keysnews.com
New arrivals to the Florida Keys and novice navigators who have long used the giant boat "barn" at Oceanside Marina to guide their vessels into Stock Island will have to pay closer attention these days.
Construction crews on Tuesday afternoon demolished the behemoth building that had the words, "Key West Oceanside Marina" painted on the roof.
The demolition was part of an ongoing redevelopment of the popular marina that has long been home to recreational, charter and commercial diving and fishing boats, as well as liveaboards and other vessels.
The $25-million redevelopment ultimately will see 80 condominium units and 15 hotel rooms distributed among nine new buildings to be constructed at Oceanside Marina, with some of those going into the blank space left by Tuesday's demolition of the boat barn, developer Pritam Singh said Wednesday.
"Yes, that building was a landmark reference point for people coming into Stock Island by boat," Marina manager Henry Alfonso said Wednesday. "We always told people who were arriving for the first time to look for it, and all day boaters here have been asking, 'How are we going to make it back in to shore without the barn to use as a landmark?'"
The aluminum building formerly contained racks for about 170 boats, Alfonso said, adding that businesses, including Keys Yamaha and Mark's Marine Diesel, also used the building.
"It's been empty for a month or two, with most of the boats probably having moved to Hurricane Hole or Murray's Marina," he said, adding that another boat "barn," known as the "east condo barn" will remain at Oceanside throughout the $25-million makeover.
The 52 condo boat racks inside the remaining barn are individually owned by the boat owners, who can choose to use them for their own vessels or rent to someone else.
"This property was overdue for an overhaul," Alfonso said. "I think the change is for the better and it'll mean more jobs than ever."
Texas oil millionaires Tex Schramm and Clint Murchison built Oceanside Marina in the late 1960s and watched it become one of the premier sportfishing marinas in the country, Singh said in a 2013 newspaper article.
The marina fell on hard times since its glory years.
In early 2010, BB&T Bank took the deed for the property in lieu of foreclosure from the Cortex Cos., which had changed the name to Kings Pointe Marina.
The group who managed the marina for the bank changed the name back to Oceanside in 2011.
Singh bought the beleaguered marina property from the bank in 2013 for $5 million and plans to invest another $25 million in the condominiums, hotel rooms a watersports complex and a 200-seat restaurant.
The developer, who recently opened The Marker Resort in Old Town Key West, also is buying the adjacent, vacant Hickory House restaurant property from Monroe County for $2 million.
The combined parcels of Hickory House and Oceanside Marina total nearly 10 waterfront acres on Stock Island, which Singh has called an "up-and-coming community with a lot of potential."
"We're going to be cleaning up the whole site," Singh said, adding that the next burst of activity that will likely get public attention will be the demolition of the Hickory House and other buildings on the property.
In the meantime, boaters who have depended on the former boat barn as a navigational aid should unroll their nautical charts and consult a GPS.
mmiles@keysnews.com
BY MANDY MILES Citizen Staff
mmiles@keysnews.com
New arrivals to the Florida Keys and novice navigators who have long used the giant boat "barn" at Oceanside Marina to guide their vessels into Stock Island will have to pay closer attention these days.
Construction crews on Tuesday afternoon demolished the behemoth building that had the words, "Key West Oceanside Marina" painted on the roof.
The demolition was part of an ongoing redevelopment of the popular marina that has long been home to recreational, charter and commercial diving and fishing boats, as well as liveaboards and other vessels.
The $25-million redevelopment ultimately will see 80 condominium units and 15 hotel rooms distributed among nine new buildings to be constructed at Oceanside Marina, with some of those going into the blank space left by Tuesday's demolition of the boat barn, developer Pritam Singh said Wednesday.
"Yes, that building was a landmark reference point for people coming into Stock Island by boat," Marina manager Henry Alfonso said Wednesday. "We always told people who were arriving for the first time to look for it, and all day boaters here have been asking, 'How are we going to make it back in to shore without the barn to use as a landmark?'"
The aluminum building formerly contained racks for about 170 boats, Alfonso said, adding that businesses, including Keys Yamaha and Mark's Marine Diesel, also used the building.
"It's been empty for a month or two, with most of the boats probably having moved to Hurricane Hole or Murray's Marina," he said, adding that another boat "barn," known as the "east condo barn" will remain at Oceanside throughout the $25-million makeover.
The 52 condo boat racks inside the remaining barn are individually owned by the boat owners, who can choose to use them for their own vessels or rent to someone else.
"This property was overdue for an overhaul," Alfonso said. "I think the change is for the better and it'll mean more jobs than ever."
Texas oil millionaires Tex Schramm and Clint Murchison built Oceanside Marina in the late 1960s and watched it become one of the premier sportfishing marinas in the country, Singh said in a 2013 newspaper article.
The marina fell on hard times since its glory years.
In early 2010, BB&T Bank took the deed for the property in lieu of foreclosure from the Cortex Cos., which had changed the name to Kings Pointe Marina.
The group who managed the marina for the bank changed the name back to Oceanside in 2011.
Singh bought the beleaguered marina property from the bank in 2013 for $5 million and plans to invest another $25 million in the condominiums, hotel rooms a watersports complex and a 200-seat restaurant.
The developer, who recently opened The Marker Resort in Old Town Key West, also is buying the adjacent, vacant Hickory House restaurant property from Monroe County for $2 million.
The combined parcels of Hickory House and Oceanside Marina total nearly 10 waterfront acres on Stock Island, which Singh has called an "up-and-coming community with a lot of potential."
"We're going to be cleaning up the whole site," Singh said, adding that the next burst of activity that will likely get public attention will be the demolition of the Hickory House and other buildings on the property.
In the meantime, boaters who have depended on the former boat barn as a navigational aid should unroll their nautical charts and consult a GPS.
mmiles@keysnews.com