Riviera Beach lays out big plans for marina redevelopment
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Posted: 10:33 p.m. Thursday, April 29, 2010
RIVIERA BEACH — Rybovich would pay the city $2.2 million up front to cover the first five years of a lease for a megayacht repair yard proposed for the south end of the city marina, city officials said tonight during a workshop on a 19-part marina redevelopment plan.
Details of the proposed lease were presented as part of a discussion of International Harbor at a $59 million plan for redeveloping the marina and surrounding property.
The first phase of the redevelopment would include rebuilding the north marina docks, the marina bulkhead and Bicentennial Park. It also calls for leasing 121,050 square feet to Rybovich Portside LLC for a boat yard that would service big yachts, generally 125 feet and longer, that are too large to be serviced at Rybovich's West Palm Beach marina.
Payments from the lease at $60 a square foot would be held in escrow and would be used in part to make $450,000 annual bond payments due for the marina over the next three years, said Arnold Broussard, a consultant representing the city and its Community Redevelopment Agency.
Beginning in the sixth year of the proposed 25-year lease, Rybovich would pay the city $217,890 annually, or 6 percent of gross profit from the megayacht service yard, whichever is greater.
The conceptual development plan presented tonight notes that the $11.4 million first phase of redevelopment could be completed by the end of this year and would be paid for with grant money.
Several issues must be resolved to make the deal with Rybovich work, including questions about the use of submerged lands for a business. The state dedicated submerged lands at the marina "for municipal park and recreational purposes only."
Too, city officials and consultants are still negotiating with Palm Beach County to determine whether $5 million in waterfront access bond money designated for marina repairs can be used for a plan that includes a megayacht service yard.
Viking Developers is the master developer of the overall redevelopment plan for the marina district. The New Jersey-based company, which operates a boat service business just north of the marina and owns property around the marina, could transfer or assign development rights for any of the 19 project elements.
Future phases of the redevelopment, to be completed by 2014, call for rebuilding Newcomb Hall, a community boating facility, a parking garage, a public market, restaurant and retail space and a hotel or condos.
Council Chairwoman Dawn Pardo said the city should seize the opportunity to move forward with the plan to renovate a money-losing marina that she called "a disgrace."
Councilwoman Judy Davis said she didn't want to see the city marina end up as "a boatyard" and that she would like to see lease terms that did more to benefit the residents.
"People are going to make a lot of money from this property," Davis said. "Residents should benefit from it."
The council, sitting as the CRA board, is
expected to take up the marina agreements on May 12.
VIEW THE PLAN