South Florida's 1,486 new slips now underwrite waterfront product
Dockage, not dirt, is the binding constraint on South Florida waterfront, and it has started pricing like product.
- Source Briefing
- Data feed
- Also reported by MegayachtNews
The waterfront amenity has become a line item. AmDev counted the boat slips announced, approved or delivered across Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade in the current cycle and got 1,486, against a combined 100,200 registered recreational vessels in Miami-Dade and Broward. That is new capacity worth about 1.5 percent of the existing fleet in two counties, arriving into a market where dockage, not land, is the binding constraint.
Why it matters
Slip count now has its own revenue line, and it prices better than most of the residential product wrapped around it. Miami-Dade public marinas charge $23 to $40 per foot per month, while marinas built for superyachts run $60 to $100. Run that at 100 feet and one berth is $8,000 a month, $96,000 a year, with no build-out, no turnover cost and no tenant improvement allowance. Thirty slips at that rate is a rent roll, not an amenity, and it should be underwritten as one.
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That changes the product decision and the pitch. Brokers selling new waterfront should stop saying “marina access” and start quoting assigned slip length, because length is the scarce unit. Roughly 90 of the 325 slips proposed at the old Seaquarium site would take vessels over 80 feet. Ken Griffin’s approved Terminal Island marina is nine slips total.
The numbers
This is an AmDev tally, not a published industry figure. PORT 32 Palm Beach Gardens brings 471 slips, 451 dry stack and 20 wet for vessels to 112 feet, opening in December 2026 on an $80 million redevelopment rated for 180 mph winds. The Virginia Key plan adds 325 wet slips plus 500 dry stack. Pier Sixty-Six in Fort Lauderdale delivered 164 slips taking vessels to 400 feet. La Maré in Bay Harbor Islands carries 17. Terminal Island, nine.
PORT 32’s $80 million across 471 slips works out to roughly $170,000 of capital per slip, most of it rack. That is the tell: 951 of our 1,486 slips are dry stack, so the volume is small boats and the margin is the handful of wet berths.
What’s next
Nobody publishes a South Florida slip inventory. The regional trade groups count jobs and economic impact, not berths, which is why this pipeline gets described and never counted. Watch the Virginia Key rezoning, still in county staff review, because 825 of the 1,486 depend on it. More Miami coverage.
Quick answers
- What is the latest on PORT 32 Marinas in South Florida?
- AmDev counts 1,486 slips announced or delivered across Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade. Slip count now carries its own pro forma.
- What are the key numbers for PORT 32 Marinas?
- Slips counted, 3 counties: 1,486; Of those, dry stack: 951; Per foot, per month: $60-$100; Capital cost per slip: ~$170K.
- Where does the information on PORT 32 Marinas come from?
- The story cites MegayachtNews, CBS12 and WLRN.
On the record
AmDev tallied the slips announced, approved or delivered across Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade this cycle and got 1,486. No trade group or agency publishes this count.
Our data
Primary record
- Our dataWe computed PORT 32 Palm Beach Gardens at roughly $170,000 of capital cost per slip, dividing the disclosed $80 million redevelopment by 471 slips.
- Our data951 of the 1,486 slips in our count are dry stack racks rather than water, meaning most of the new capacity cannot take a large vessel at all.
Also reported by
- MegayachtNewsPORT 32 Palm Beach Gardens marina opening in December
- CBS12PORT 32 Palm Beach Gardens begins pre-leasing as $80 million marina redevelopment advances
- WLRNMega-yachts and a marine park: what is proposed for the old Seaquarium site
- Miami HeraldWhere to park the superyachts? South Florida developers race to build more slips
- MegayachtNewsPORT 32 Marinas takes over Acme Marinas