Naples Marina deedholders give way, accept settlement

After months of negotiations and legal bickering, 12 deedholders at Naples Marina have accepted an undisclosed settlement for deeds that originally gave them boat storage units and dock privileges.

The dozen deedholders, some of whom owned their units for 20 years, were the last owners at the North Road marina, which will undergo construction in about eight months to become upscale dockominiums called Naples Harbour Yacht Club.

A Wisconsin couple who paid $8,500 for their unit 20 years ago settled a few weeks ago. The remaining deedholders went to mediation Monday morning and reached a settlement within 11 hours.

“It’s all been resolved,” said attorney Wayde Seidensticker, who represented Jim Jentgen and his son, Philip, whose firm, Progeny II, owns the 11-acre property near Naples Municipal Airport off Airport-Pulling Road. Seidensticker said he couldn’t comment further because of court rules calling for confidentiality on mediation sessions.

The mediation followed an attempt to head to arbitration, which was required under the deedholders’ bylaws, but deedholders balked. Progeny then sued in Collier County Circuit Court to force them to arbitrate, but the parties agreed to mediate instead.

The deedholders had paid $3,500 to $22,000 for a condominium association that allowed them to store their boats, use a forklift and docks at marina. Jentgen, who bought the marina in 1993 after it went bankrupt, rented out units for about $400 a month. Over the years, he purchased deeds as people got older, died, or were interested in selling the dry boat storage units.

As the majority owner of 95 percent of the 515 units, Jentgen was allowed by condo association bylaws to vote last year to terminate the association without holding a meeting or alerting deedholders. By October, they were forced to leave because Jentgen stopped providing forklift service, so the deedholders couldn’t get their boats into the water. About half the 30 quickly accepted Jentgen’s initial $12,000 offer, which included two years’ free storage, or a total of $14,000. The 12 who settled Monday had held out for a larger offer.

“It’s settled. Everybody agreed,” said Matt Vila, who purchased his unit in January 2005 for $18,500 from Mike Bailey.

Bailey, who paid $22,000 for another storage unit, including a $4,000 boat, had hoped for at least $85,000 because he’d shopped around and found he’d need at least that for similar privileges elsewhere. Bailey, who had been forced out of Boat Haven after 18 years, declined comment, except to say, “I’m not as happy as I should be.”

Lee County entrepreneur Steven Knight, a partner in the group redeveloping the marina, had said the deedholders wouldn’t prevent the June 12 closing, but was pleased.

“Bottom line is the old owners are getting paid,” Knight said. “I’m happy it’s done with and we reached an amenable resolution.”

The marina, which had a roughly 30-member condominium association and about 710 renters, has sold 114 dockominiums, about half to renters, Knight said. The dockominiums begin at $121,500 in addition to $225 in monthly dues; renters and deedholders were offered a $5,000 discount. The new club will feature about 680 secure dry and wet spaces, a full-time dockmaster and staff, unlimited boat service, 24-hour security, and amenities often seen at five-star hotels.

Naples Harbour Yacht Club will join six others, so far, in a plan that allows boaters to use reciprocal dockominiums at Sanibel Island, Sarasota, Tampa, New Smyrna Beach, Key West and Stuart. Knight, who hopes to have Bahamas and Cancun dockominiums, won’t disclose the purchase price, which becomes public after the deed is filed.

Naples already lost Boat Haven and Wiggins Pass Marina to developers and boat storage space is decreasing — forcing boaters to store vessels on trailers and head to already crowded public boat ramps.

With boat access shrinking, the state Legislature last year commissioned a $1.5 million study to evaluate public access to boat ramps and ways to preserve access.