BELFAST, Maine — Front Street Shipyard, the high-end yacht service business that set up shop along the city’s waterfront a year ago, is expanding with the purchase of the adjacent Belfast Boatyard.
Front Street Shipyard’s partners have given their approval to the terms of a purchase and sales agreement, company president J.B. Turner said Monday, as has Alex Turner, owner and operator of the Belfast Boatyard. The parties are expected to sign the agreement next week.
The Belfast Boatyard leases its site from John Holmes, owner and operator of Consumers Fuel and a small marina near his property on the south side of Main Street. J.B. Turner said negotiations are under way with Holmes for Front Street to secure a long-term lease for the land.
J.B. Turner said the deal with Alex Turner — the men are not related — is mutually beneficial, since Front Street Shipyard will gain much-needed off-site boat storage and deeper water near the shore, while Alex Turner, who has operated the business for the last three decades, is nearing retirement age. Alex Turner approached Front Street about a purchase earlier this year, J.B. Turner said.
A telephone message left for Alex Turner was not immediately returned.
The purchase is expected to close in September, J.B. Turner said. The price of the purchase was not disclosed.
“We realized last spring, when we were full, that we needed more off-site storage,” J.B. Turner said Monday. The Belfast Boatyard has been storing boats on a 6.5 acre site off Route 137 for about 20 years, as waterfront land has become more valuable.
With the purchase of the Belfast Boatyard, Front Street also gets a bulkhead with deeper water.
Front Street handles sailboats 82-feet and longer; when work calls for hauling out such yachts, the first step is to remove the mast. The longer the boat, the longer the crane used to lift the mast off the vessel must reach, Turner explained. With 14-feet of water at low tide, the larger sailboats would be able to tie up closer to land, so a smaller crane can be used.
In all, the purchase of Belfast Boatyard brings Front Street an additional 500 feet of deepwater-frontage, 22 boat slips, 20 moorings and harbor floats.
The boatyard property buildings will be updated to be consistent with Front Street structures, and eventually, the company’s business office will be located at the Belfast Boatyard property. Crew quarters for yachts that come to the yard for work also may be added there.
Front Street now has 72,555 square feet of yacht storage space and 10,320 square feet of shop space on its 6-acre site.
J.B. Turner said the two businesses had different clientele, and were not strictly competitors.
In a press release issued about the pending purchase, J.B. Turner is quoted saying the move is part of the company’s strategic growth plan. “Our initial goal was to create a yard equipped to service most any yacht that visits New England. We’ve reached that goal.”
Front Street’s principal owners include J.B. Turner, Taylor Allen of Rockport Marine, Steve White of Brooklin Boat Yard and Ken Priest of the Augusta-based Kenway Corp. Front Street employs 82, and hopes to add jobs as it grows, according to the press release.
Kudos J.B.!
Congratulations to all parties involved. Sounds like a win win for everyone.
yes..well done and best to all..very exciting..Belfast is hopping!!!
Congrats to Alex!
Glad to see the expansion. I hope the rumors are not true that Belfast no longer has a boatyard that you can work on your own boat… I’m so glad this is how the property was developed, condos would have done nothing for the local economy, now there is a world class operation bringing in BIG MONEY to the area. Great job FSS
This is more great news for Belfast. The view from the bridge is a real treat now with all the beautiful buildings and boats instead of what was there before. Thanks to all the parties that make this possible. First class people all around!
Yes, the view is the most important consideration when thinking of Belfast. (sarcastic) NOT. Millions of dollars for a bridge to no where so you can enjoy the view, poor return on investment. Just think if that money was invested in attracting business or put toward the school budget. The 200K grant would have been covered. I’m sure the bridge is borrowed money from China!
I was actually talking about the rte 1 bridge and not the foot bridge but the view is great from both. The principals with this boat yard have stated many times that the amenities and attractiveness of Belfast were some of the reasons for locating here. The FSS is one of the best things that has happened to this city and a lot of people helped it along, especially the city leaders in Belfast that were responsible for starting to get this blighted area cleaned up. This city has spent some money these last few years on economic development and it really is starting to pay off big time. Very few don’t see the value in things like the footbridge but just maybe it is one of the things that attracts the many new companies in town that are providing good jobs for our friends and neighbors.
How is it the best thing that has happened to the City? minimal job creation, FSS does not attract copious amounts of diverse tourists to the area, FSS buildings on the waterfront are large ugly buildings that do not contribute to the historic architecture of the City, granted is better looking then the Stinson mess the City left. In an early City of Belfast report it was suggested the City utilize the historic attractiveness & uniqueness, yet every historic building, (one is set to be demolished, the Masker’s building, formerly the railroad freight house) has been demolished. The City made little effort to accommodate the railroad, a proven attractor to the City. Where was the economic grants to arrange the waterfront in a manner in which it could be used for all, the railroad, and the tour boat? Now the City wants to build a walking trail and remove another historic asset (the railroad corridor). The railroad will loose the best part of their train trip, two miles along the river! All in the name of a trail that has no economic impact study! The City has an inflated head and pet projects at the expense of the citizens. It would do them well to stop and do some research, maybe ask the citizens and business people.
think: Have you walked the downtown lately or driven through? I have never seen so many people in Belfast before. All of the stores are full and the traffic in very heavy. The shipyard had 76 employees in May, and now I think they have just shy of 100…..that sounds like job creation to me. The boats that dock at the yard have crews living on them that routinely go into town to the restaurants and the grocery store. There were 25+ new businesses that opened in town in the last year. Some of the principals of the shipyard are out looking at real estate around town so they cam move their families here.
Sorry you are so negative, but personally, I think the Shipyard is a HUGE deal for Belfast. I also think the town is striving hard to strike a balance between industry and tourism and they are doing a bang up job.
I’m in Belfast frequently, I grew up in Belfast and still live close by. There are days when it is busy, but it is far from hustle and bustle every day that you are potraying. There is little to do in town for families and those not interested in arts or shopping. 25+ businesses in Belfast? List them. I see the same business in Belfast. I saw a few vacant street front building not too long ago. I doubt the FSS had much to do with attracting those businesses.
What is the quality of thoe jobs? Are they seasonal? do they pay benefits? I would like to see the reports. How many people are overnighting in Belfast from the FSS boats? what are the numbers?
You know-we almost agree on something here. I wish the train still did come right into town like it did before. That would be the best of both worlds and it too could be a 4 season attraction. I imagine that many of the thousands of people visiting now would take advantage of it and it would be a huge success. The problem before was that we had a train but no tourists to speak of. I guess that’s not possible though and I am against sacrificing the entire trail for a train that starts in the middle of nowhere as it does now. The City has done a fantastic job with economic development and the proof is easy to see with all the new business and job creators moving in. There are non profits that may help to fund the creation of this rail trail and it might get done without any property tax money at all. Perhaps there are also non profits that could help the railroad come up with the money and a proposal to get back to front street where they belong.
Understand I’m not trying to be negative on the FSS, it is a good addition to the City. However I see, at times, the City placing “all their eggs in one basket”. If you watched the City Council meeting and read the paper the railroad is contributing approx 1million dolalrs to the local economy. They’ve attracted approx 30 tour buses to the City.From the presentation, those buses would have otherwise passed the City by. So that train in the middle of nowhere is significant.
I’m suggesting the City slow down and look at diversity of industry and tourism. For instance the trail, they want it built the most inexpensive way and the quickest. Why not go with the original trail & rail concept, like many trails, do some fundraising, get the railroad to help, and build a trail along side the railroad. It may take a year or two longer. Why couldn’t the City help the railroad to get into town? Instead, because of the FSS they dismissed the possibility of bringing the railroad to downtown. Coastal Mountain Land Trust supported the rail & trail, what happened to them?
Do they only work on sail boats ? My 20 year old boat could use a nice overhaul- been used hard and put away wet more than once and I’d like to support a growing Maine biz like this.
Nope, my 25 foot center console fishing boat (which you can just see in the photo above, docked next to the Miss Nina, has been in the mechanics shop at the ship yard numerous times. Front Street fixed the problems that three other local mechanics could not fix. Front Street is the best!
Don’t tell anybody about this or another small business owner will get taxed to the hilt.
Small business owners are the life blood of this country; someone should tell Obama that.
To the person with the complaints about government taxes and Obama-this article didn’t mention that the principals have applied thru the city for a 200k federal grant to assist with this project. The sewer treatment plant that abuts the shipyard was largely built with federal money. People sound so silly and uneducated when the first impression of anything on here is “what will the big bad gummit do to ruin something.” It seems to me the greatest government the world has ever known has actually helped things like this come about.
Has the money been paid back or did the grant contribute to the 11 trillion dollars of national debt? You should thank China for the 200K grant not the Federal government. The Federal government doesn’t have any money to give. Grant money isn’t free, it has to come from somewhere. The greatest government in the world is becoming the laughable government.
go back to bed think
I think you need to wake up. I hear over and over, “well it is grant money” it doesn’t cost the tax payers anything. Or the other argument, because of grant money your mil rate will not increase. Did you watch the last City Counil meeting? Fiscal irresponsibility. We spend money without second thought.
It’s great to see progress in Belfast! Good jobs, taxpaying businesses and the area being kept up.