The staggering price tag on Batemans Bay’s marina

A popular south coast marina is for sale, but businesses operating on the dock say they weren’t involved in the decision.

The marina was put up for sale two weeks before Christmas. Picture: Tom McGann.

A Sydney investor has put a popular south coast marina on the market, and expects to command a high price for the facility.

James Marshall is selling the Batemans Bay Marina through MMJ Real Estate in Sydney, who expect the site to sell for $11m once expressions of interest close on February 2.

The sale is not expected to affect any of the businesses operating from the marina, but owners said they wanted to be included in the process.

Jacob Crooke, owner of JJ’s at The Marina, said he found out the property was for sale when he saw the sign planted in the ground.

“One morning, I got to work and the ‘for sale’ sign was just there,” he said.

“It would have been nice if the owner of the marina gave us some warning.”

Mr Crooke does not expect the new owner to change the marina operations enough to affect his business, and expects it to be bought by another investor who lives out of town.

“We saw the owner, James Marshall, probably twice in the last four years,” he said.

Despite this, Mr Crooke said it would be “fantastic if someone local purchased the property”.

“This is such a nice area in Batemans Bay, so having some person own it and live in a city somewhere is kind of disappointing,” he said.

Jacob Crooke, owner of JJ's at The Marina said there was no consultation in the sale. Picture: Tom McGann.

A plan was pitched for businesses on the marina to come together and purchase the property. However, the price is expected to be too high to afford.

“Even if we wanted to buy it, it just wouldn’t make business sense,” Mr Crooke said.

Running the sale of the property is real estate agent, Richard Garland.

Mr Garland said until expressions of interest close, “we just won’t know how much this property is going to sell for”.

“I’m expecting it to be around the $11m mark, but people won’t put in offers until the very last minute.”

It is also expected there will be multiple offers from investors due to the quality of the marina itself.

“I’ve sold some marinas which needed a lot of work which would have cost the buyer a lot of money,” Mr Garland said.

“This marina needs very little, if any, money put into it.”

According to Mr Garland, the sale is taking place due to Mr Marshall having expanded his assets too far.

“James has an unlisted property trust,” he said.

“His main area of concentration is office centres and he is also part owner of the Sofitel hotel in Sydney.

“He’s spread a bit too far with the assets he’s involved in, so he wants to sell the marina, take the capital out and reinvest it into the sector he has a lot more involvement in, which is office space.”

Batemans Bay's marina is expected to sell for $11 million. Picture: Tom McGann.

According to Mr Garland, a final contract should be signed by a buyer a month after the expressions of interest end.

However, if the offers are too close, another EOI round will commence.

Mr Garland confirmed this was a private sale, however the NSW Government owns all seabeds which lie under marinas.

Despite this, owners of the marinas themselves are free to do with the dock ass they wish.

The sale of the property is expected to be complete by mid-2023.