2343 replies to this topic

[Victoria Watcher]

Operations at Victoria International Marina, which has struggled to find its footing since opening in 2018 and enduring empty slips due to the pandemic, are now under the direction of a receiver, as the companies behind the marina file for bankruptcy.

B.C. Supreme Court has appointed the Vancouver offices of Alvarez & Marsal Canada as the receiver for the work and properties of Community Marine Concepts, Victoria International Marina, Eternaland Yuheng Investment Holding and 0736657 B.C.

Records at the Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy have not yet been updated to reflect the financial status of the companies involved, what is owed and what assets they have.

No date has been set for the first meeting of creditors.


https://www.timescol...vership-4893992

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 23 December 2021 - 05:42 AM.

[Mike K.]

The marina had been listed for sale but it doesn’t sound like a buyer materialized.

[max.bravo]

Surprised theres not a government aid package for mega yacht marinas affected by the pandemic

[Nparker]

Can anyone say "floating homeless shelter"?

[Spy Black]

The marina was perennially empty, even before COVID. 

 

Not being a "marine facility" expert, I have no idea why it failed ... but whatever the reason, it's obvious now that their business plan was a complete "miss" in terms of long term viability for the marina.

[max.bravo]

The marina was perennially empty, even before COVID.

Not being a "marine facility" expert, I have no idea why it failed ... but whatever the reason, it's obvious now that their business plan was a complete "miss" in terms of long term viability for the marina.

I’m no expert either, but it seems likely to me that they were indeed sunk by the effects of the pandemic. There’s no shortage of big yachts in the PNW- doesnt seem a huge stretch to entice a few to make stopovers in downtown victoria. Too bad for the biz, but at least the infrastructure is now there and likely to stay. It’s a good place for a marina - for boats of any size.

[Victoria Watcher]

I’m no expert either, but it seems likely to me that they were indeed sunk by the effects of the pandemic. There’s no shortage of big yachts in the PNW- doesnt seem a huge stretch to entice a few to make stopovers in downtown victoria. Too bad for the biz, but at least the infrastructure is now there and likely to stay. It’s a good place for a marina - for boats of any size.

 

That's one if the issues though.  Boats "of any size" are not permitted here.  Due to the marine traffic lanes, only very large boats are allowed (65 to 175 feet).

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 23 December 2021 - 08:15 AM.

[Spy Black]

I’m no expert either, but it seems likely to me that they were indeed sunk by the effects of the pandemic. There’s no shortage of big yachts in the PNW- doesnt seem a huge stretch to entice a few to make stopovers in downtown victoria. Too bad for the biz, but at least the infrastructure is now there and likely to stay. It’s a good place for a marina - for boats of any size.

I was nearby the marina for work well before COVID, and as noted, the marina was more often than not ... completely empty.

There's no doubt that COVID didn't help matters, but there were lots of folks (many here in this thread) who were wondering how on earth the marina could continue to operate (pre-COVID) without any boats.

And as VW noted, the marina has a covenant against it which prevents any boat under 65' from ever making commercial use of the dock.

 

It's not really about the number of 65'+ boats in the Pacific Northwest, all of which have permanent moorings in any of the dozens of strategically placed permanent marinas around Vancouver, Seattle, and Victoria ... it's more about the number of transient 65'+ boats that will visit the marina, and that is a much more nuanced group of boats and boaters ... most of whom don't want their 3 -15 million dollar investment sitting in the cold and rain in Victoria, when they could be paying the same amount of money to be docked in someplace warm and sunny like Florida.

 

Transient yachters in our waters are most often heading north to Desolation Sound, or Alaska ... not looking to spend any inordinate amount of time tied up in Victoria.

 

IMO, without a modification to the covenant that prevents under 65' boats from making use of this marina, any business model will likely fail in this location. 

Perhaps the restaurant can succeed (indeed it seems to be doing fine even with COVID still around), and perhaps the visiting boaters facilities housed in the building that's not the restaurant could be re-purposed as a fitness club or another restaurant ... but the many metres of currently empty dock space will very likely remain empty for the future, just as those same many metres remained largely empty in the past.

Edited by Spy Black, 23 December 2021 - 08:48 AM.

[Mike K.]

It was never 'empty.' Every time I'd go to Boom there would be boats there, usually half a dozen to a dozen. But it was never full, that's for sure.

[Nparker]

...Every time I'd go to Boom there would be boats there...

In my experience, something very large that blocked the view! 

[Mike K.]

I wonder if one issue was not permitting small craft to dock there. Why not? Until you have larger vessels, let the small guys dock. Was that a local/provincial/federal or self-imposed restriction, I wonder?

[Victoria Watcher]

Small craft were not allowed due to the traffic lanes.

[Sparky]

Here is a link to the traffic lane map.

 

It would appear that the small vessels that tie up at West Bay Marina don't have a way out.

 

https://gvha.ca/wp-c...Scheme-2018.pdf

[Victoria Watcher]

Traffic from West Bay Marina, which is actually located southwest of the “West Bay” label there can exit the harbour staying close to the nearby shoreline.

[cnorrisvimarina]

Traffic from West Bay Marina, which is actually located southwest of the “West Bay” label there can exit the harbour staying close to the nearby shoreline.

They are allowed to cross the runway in any size of boat.... "Additional caution is also required in the area between Berens Island and Shoal Point where traffic from West Bay, the Middle Harbour and the Outer Harbour all converge near the north/south Seaplane Take Off and Landing Area".

[Spy Black]

It was never 'empty.' Every time I'd go to Boom there would be boats there, usually half a dozen to a dozen. But it was never full, that's for sure.

That's why I said "more often than not ... completely empty", which certainly doesn't imply empty all the time.

 

It was still completely empty on many more than one occasion, as would likely be confirmed by this current state of relative insolvency.

[cnorrisvimarina]

That's why I said "more often than not ... completely empty", which certainly doesn't imply empty all the time.

 

It was still completely empty on many more than one occasion, as would likely be confirmed by this current state of relative insolvency.

Sometimes things are more complicated than they seem from the outside...

[Mike K.]

That's why I said "more often than not ... completely empty", which certainly doesn't imply empty all the time.

It was still completely empty on many more than one occasion, as would likely be confirmed by this current state of relative insolvency.

How could it be empty more often than not, if I’m down there often and have never seen it empty? I walk that pathway all the time.

[Spy Black]

How could it be empty more often than not, if I’m down there often and have never seen it empty? I walk that pathway all the time.

As do I Mike … definitively proving two things:

1) we don’t walk the path at the same time.

2) when we each walk the path at different times - we each see different things. 

[Spy Black]

Sometimes things are more complicated than they seem from the outside...

Indeed - after raising millions of dollars to build it, I don’t for a single second believe simple mismanagement to be the cause of recent financial troubles. 
 

Some business plans simply become unworkable when combined with political and business forces beyond any single groups control.

 

As far as marinas go, this one is simply stunning (except for Victorias weather!), so I hope there is some form of success down the road … hopefully with some of the current stakeholders still involved.