PORT TOWNSEND — The purchase of Townsend Bay Marine by the Port Townsend Shipwrights Co-op will have long-term benefits for maritime industries, several sources say.
“This sale celebrates a new generation of the marine trades,” said Deputy Port Director Jim Pivarnik of the transaction, which is expected to close in the next few weeks.
“As environmental regulations become stricter, indoor repair will become a requirement at some point, and the active use of this space guarantees this ability.”
“We have been around for 35 years, and we will now be around for another 35 years,” said Chris Chase, one of the 13 members of the Co-op, a coalition of boat builders that was founded in the early 1980s.
“This deal lets us grow and change, and be ready for the environmental regulations that will be put into effect in the next few years.”
Townsend Bay Marine, founded in 1999, is the Boat Haven’s only facility that can accommodate a 300-ton lift, Pivarnik said.
At about 40,000 square feet, it is among the largest businesses.
The Co-op previously operated from a 4,000 square-foot building and rented space for its larger operations, including from Townsend Bay Marine.
One such agreement has placed the Western Flyer, once used by author John Steinbeck, in a large boat hanger on Townsend Bay Marine property as the Co-op conducts its renovation.
“This was a complicated deal,” said Townsend Bay co-owner David King, who is also Port Townsend’s mayor.
“If all the parties weren’t really motivated, there would have been a lot of eye-rolling and name calling, but we had a willing buyer and a willing seller who both knew where we wanted to end up.”
Townsend Bay Marine has shrunk since pre-recession days from 80 employees to 12.
When the sale was announced, King said his company had been looking for an exit strategy for some time and have been moving more toward leasing space than providing services.
The Co-op has been looking to expand, and the purchase was a natural step, according to Chase.
The agreement had a series of interlocking parts that were difficult to coordinate, said Pat O’Malley, a port attorney.
The Co-op purchased the business and the property from Townsend Bay Marine, which also acted as lender for the deal.
The previous 17-year lease with the port was cancelled and replaced by a new 35-year lease which begins at $3,750 per month and escalates over time, according to the agreement.
Port commissioners unanimously approved the terms of the new lease at a special meeting last Thursday.
The longer lease was necessary to amortize the loan, O’Malley said.
“Everyone comes out as a winner,” O’Malley said.
“Townsend Bay wanted to sell the business, and now the Shipwrights have a home for the next 35 years.”
Neither King nor Chase would divulge the amount of the sale.
Pivarnik said the port had investigated purchasing Townsend Bay Marine last year when there was an asking price of $1.7 million.
The deal was not pursued because “we couldn’t get a return on that size investment,” Pivarnik said.
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Jefferson County Editor Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or cbermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
