29th March 2007
Mediterranean berth lease market study
Marina Projects has been appointed by a Mediterranean based property developer to undertake a detailed study of the berth lease market.
The client is seeking to explore the potential for introducing a berth lease programme as part of a major marina and waterside development in the eastern Mediterranean. The project entails undertaking a desk based market study report focusing on the value of long term lease berths in the Mediterranean, the current trends in berth value and the structure of the leasing arrangements generally adopted by marina operators/owners.
The study is required to provide guidance on developing the initial broad based study into further more targeted research on the opportunities relevant to the target site.
Role of Marina Projects
Marina Projects are required to identify the pricing of lease berths for the main Mediterranean marinas, the most desirable berth lease sizes and the typical lease provisions. The study is also to comment on the calculation of long term lease value and provide raw pricing data to provide a comparison across marinas and geographic regions.
In order to address the main points of the brief, the scope of study has been structured to cover the following areas:
- Geographical spread of berth leasing programmes
- Market demand: contributing factors
- Berth values and trends
- Typical lease arrangements (length of term, service charge provisions, restrictions, re-sales)
- Customer expectations / returns
- Typical demand by berth size
- Development of berth leasing in the eastern Mediterranean
To fulfil the requirements of the brief, Marina Projects undertook the following key tasks:
Internet research – building upon existing market intelligence on current berth sales programmes and values across the Mediterranean a comprehensive review of available sales information on the internet was undertaken.
Mystery shopper – specific work was required to refine and update the understanding of the current trends in berth sales/leasing across the Mediterranean. Targeted phone calls were made to marina operators and berth brokers in numerous locations with an even spread across the Mediterranean to review and enhance information on berth values, market demand, lease arrangements and restrictions.
Study area – In order to provide an indication of regional trends the Mediterranean study area was divided into sub-regions and every effort was made to secure an even spread of data across the regions for comparison and trend analysis.
Berth lease documentation – the study provided clear guidance on the key elements to be considered in setting up a berth lease programme and the issues to be addressed within the berth lease documentation.
The study culminated in providing guidance to the client on the key elements relevant to the target site. This noted that the lease programme would need to take account of the nature and standard of development, target markets, competition, facilities on offer, unique selling points of the development and overall client objectives.