AMESBURY — One of the town's biggest marinas has new owners — three local businessmen who plan to have the place shipshape by May 15.
A public auction and foreclosure of the Marina at Hatter's Point was averted last Thursday when local businessman Jay McPartland, well-known dock builder and installer Jay Knapp and local builder Michael Picard stepped in to purchase the property just one day shy of the auction date. The recently renovated marina owned by Daniel Swift had been scheduled for final foreclosure by the Provident Bank, and the property valued at just more than $968,000 was being marketed for an auction by Amesbury auctioneer John McInnis.
Now, thanks to the sale, that auction and foreclosure won't come to pass, which is good for everybody, McInnis said.
"It was a good, positive outcome," McInnis said. "It's always good if a deal can be worked out prior to foreclosure. It's better for everybody."
The former hat factory turned marina is permitted to accommodate a total of 115 boat slips, and depending on the size of each craft, that can mean upward of 100 boats that occupy Hatter's Point dock space throughout the season.
With word of the previous owner's struggle to keep the marina afloat financially, customers who have docked their boats at Hatter's in seasons past were reluctant to place deposits not knowing what might become of the marina, new owner Jay McPartland said. He expects that with the announcement of the new ownership, that apprehension will disappear.
"People were hesitant to give their deposits to a bank," McPartland said. As a boater, I would be hesitant to give my deposit to a bank, not knowing. A lot of those customers have been waiting for something like this to happen."
McPartland is a lifelong Amesbury resident known to many through his development firm Wojicki McPartland.
"I've boated my whole life, and when the opportunity came up to buy this, I felt it was a good deal," McPartland said. "Even though the industry is down right now, we all hope it's going to come back."
The downturn in the economy, coupled with some recent financial setbacks that included the decimation of marina docks from a 2006 storm and the theft of thousands of dollars worth of copper wire, proved difficult for Swift to manage. According to Provident Bank CEO Charlie Cullen, Swift sold the property to McPartland and his partners.
According to figures obtained by The Daily News, McPartland's group offered Swift somewhere in the vicinity of $650,000 to satisfy the outstanding mortgage, plus an additional $500,000. When asked if those figures were correct, McPartland said, "You're very close."
"The bank has been satisfied," Cullen said. "That's a good thing for Jay and his investor group — they have the solid financial footing and expertise in the partnership to run the thing, and hopefully, everybody wins."
McPartland said that with three owners, the marina management will be able to pick up where Swift left off.
"We're all local businessmen," said McPartland, who notes that Picard is the owner of CP Builders out of Kensington, N.H., and Knapp is a well-known businessman on the waterfront who installs and removes boat docks for several riverfront marinas.
"Jay Knapp has had a marine service for over 30 years, building and installing docks and marinas. I think we have a good ownership group — a lot of years of running small businesses, and we also have a vast amount of knowledge of marinas with Jay Knapp. Everyone on the river knows Jay."
McPartland said his group will be ready to open on May 15, along with just about every other marina owner on the waterfront.
Killer of Fla. Girl Found in Landfill Gets Life
Army Orders Bradley Manning Court-martial
Cancer Charity Revives Breast-screening Grants
Heavy Snowstorm Hits Colorado On Its Way East
2nd Teacher From LA School Arrested on Sex Claim
Prosecutors Close Armstrong Inquiry, No Charges
Sights and Sounds: Football Fans Pour Into Indy
Unemployment Rate Down to 8.3%
Obama: Still Far Too Many Americans Need Jobs
GOP: Jobs Numbers Welcome, Can Do Better
Fla. Man Adopts Girlfriend in Legal Battle
More Deaths As Egypt Clashes Continue
Raw Video: Prince William in Falklands
Egpyt Protesters Blame Police for Soccer Deaths
'Lucky' 9-Year-Old Receives 6-Organ Transplant
Raw Video: Michelle Vs. Ellen in Pushup Contest
First Person: Will Peyton Manning Stay in Indy?
Egypt Shaken After Deadly Soccer Riot
New Suits, New Starts for New York's Unemployed
Hall of Famer Dorsett Speaks Out on NFL Injuries
