Historic Mystic River Marina sells to Bain Capital and BlueWater Marinas for $5M
Four generations ran the Mystic River Marina for 67 years.
The short version
- Bain Capital and BlueWater Marinas just bought the property for $5 million.
- The deal includes three buildings and a 145-slip harbor.
- The family Business started when brothers dredged the harbor in 1957.
Check your docks. A 145-slip marina in Mystic Harbor operated by four generations of the same family has sold for $5 million, according to property records. Charleston, South Carolina-based BlueWater Marinas and Boston-based investment firm Bain Capital announced their acquisition of Mystic River Marina, though they did not disclose the purchase price at first.
A deed recorded Sept. 28 shows BlueWater Mystic River LLC acquired the 3.8-acre marina at 36 Quarry Road and two abutting properties totaling 1.33 acres for the exact figure of $5 million. It remains unknown if the Business or other assets sold separately for an additional amount.
The marina sits on the western shore of Masons Island in the Stonington portion of Mystic, connected to the mainland by a causeway. The seller, Mystic River Marina Inc., is headed by Robert Garbarino, whose family established the marina in 1957 when brothers Gene and Fred Garbarino dredged part of the harbor and began installing docks.
In the late 1970s, Gene’s sons Bob and Skip acquired the marina from its founders, and subsequent generations continued operating the business, including Bob’s daughter Lauren and, most recently, her niece Kelcey. The marina serves seasonal and visiting boaters, offering winter dry storage, a boat parts and service department, a fuel dock, a ship store, an on-site boat brokerage, a café, a lounge and a swimming pool across three buildings totaling approximately 18,400 square feet.
BlueWater Marinas co-founder Joe H. Miller V signed a $9.1 million commercial mortgage on behalf of the buyer with Waltham, Massachusetts-based Cambridge Savings Bank in connection with the deal. The Mystic purchase was one of two acquisitions BlueWater and Bain Capital announced last month, alongside Ripley Light Drystack Marina in Charleston, marking the sixth and seventh acquisitions by the companies' joint venture.
Founded in 1984, Bain Capital manages approximately $225 billion in assets, according to its website. That is a long way from two brothers with a shovel in 1957.
