There has never been a moment in my lifetime where I would pass up a chance to stroll along the docks and ways of a marine operation that caters to fishermen, be they commercial or recreational. Since moving up here this operation in Belfast, has stood out as my favorite stroll in one of my favorite ports. Now those Blackstone SOBs have it their clutches. I pity the working fishers and boaters who have used it for years who will be priced out to make room for floating hotels that would never soil their decks with fish slime!! This is akin to the North Fork losing Orient By The Sea, RIP…
https://mainebiz.biz/article/blackstone-backed-marina-operator-to-buy-belfasts-front-street-shipyard/
In case the link sends you to a Pay Wall:
Rumors swirl in Belfast around the possible sales of Front Street Shipyard.
What began as a swirl of waterfront rumors has now been confirmed: Front Street Shipyard, the city’s flagship marine enterprise and a cornerstone of Belfast’s downtown revival, is being sold to Safe Harbor Marinas — a massive international marina operator owned by financial behemoth Blackstone.
According to a Bangor Daily News report citing city planning documents dated Oct. 21, Safe Harbor entered a purchase and sale agreement with Front Street Shipyard earlier this year. The deal, set to close by the end of 2025, follows Safe Harbor’s own acquisition earlier this year by Blackstone Infrastructure, a division of the private equity giant Blackstone Inc., in a $5.65 billion transaction.
The biggest marina operator in the U.S., Safe Harbor has more 145 locations around the world, from Monaco to the Caribbean to California, and it’s rapidly adding more. It already ones two other marinas in Maine, in Rockland and Harpswell, and some Maine mariners have already expressed fear that the company’s rapid expansion could crowd out locally owned independent boatyards.
Neither Front Street Shipyard nor Safe Harbor Marinas has publicly commented on the sale, and details such as the purchase price remain undisclosed.
But Safe Harbor’s October application to the Belfast Planning Board confirms what months of dockside speculation had already suggested: that local ownership Belfast’s shipyard is coming to an end, raising pressing questions about the future of Belfast’s working waterfront.
A Local Success Story
Founded in 2011 by a partnership of Maine boatbuilding veterans — including J.B. Turner, Steve White of Brooklin Boat Yard, and Taylor Allen of Rockport Marine — Front Street Shipyard transformed the long-idled Stinson Seafood property into a modern hub for yacht construction and refit work.
Over the past decade, it has grown into one of the most sophisticated boat yards on the East Coast, employing more than 100 craftspeople and boasting a 485-ton lift, five heated work bays, and a reputation for tackling world-class projects like the refits of the 154-foot sailing yacht Asolare and the 1930s-built Atlantide.
It absorbed Belfast Boatyard in 2012, expanded its facilities with a USDA-backed $10 million loan in 2014, and in 2018 opened a 22,500-square-foot building capable of handling vessels up to 155 feet
Front Street’s emergence helped redefine Belfast’s waterfront identity, turning a once-industrial site into a magnet for marine trades, visiting yachts, and tourists alike. The shipyard also granted public easements that allow the city’s popular Harbor Walk to cross its property — access that city officials say remains protected “regardless of ownership.”
A New Owner with Deep Pockets
Safe Harbor Marinas, based in Dallas, Texas, has spent the past decade assembling the nation’s largest network of marina properties, now numbering roughly 140 across the U.S., Puerto Rico, and Europe. Its Maine portfolio includes Safe Harbor Rockland, Safe Harbor Great Island in Harpswell, and Safe Harbor Kittery Point.
The company’s aggressive expansion has been fueled by private equity investment. After selling to Sun Communities in 2020, Safe Harbor was purchased this year by Blackstone Infrastructure, part of Blackstone Inc..
Blackstone calls itself “the world’s largest alternative asset manager,” with more than $1 trillion in assets worldwide.
Headquartered in New York City and publicly traded on the NYSE, the firm invests across a wide spectrum of sectors, including private equity, real estate, hedge funds, credit, infrastructure, and growth equity. Blackstone’s reach is global, with holdings ranging from commercial real estate and logistics hubs in Europe and Asia to technology and life sciences companies in the U.S., and even energy and natural resource ventures worldwide.
That global reach, as well as some of its investment decisions and management practices with preexisting companies, has made it a frequent subject of criticism and controversy.
Blackstone’s infrastructure arm focuses on long-term holdings such as ports, toll roads, and energy facilities — and increasingly, marinas.
By treating marinas as essential infrastructure that provides stable, recurring revenue, Blackstone has positioned Safe Harbor to grow even further, promising to “maintain Safe Harbor’s people-first culture” while investing in facility upgrades and global expansion.
Blackstone's headquarters at 345 Park Ave. in New York City.
Critics, though, have decried the consolidation of vital infrastructure. And in online forums, some boaters say Safe Harbor seems more interested in catering to high-end yachters than everyday boaters, saying marinas they purchase and upgrade lose their local character.
Questions of Access and Control
Not all communities have embraced Safe Harbor’s arrival. The company has faced lawsuits and public pushback in several states over access and management issues, including disputes in South Carolina and Maine’s own Rockland Harbor.
Those precedents have left some in Belfast wary. Though the Harbor Walk easements are legally binding, residents and city leaders will be watching closely to see how Safe Harbor integrates into a waterfront that balances commercial, recreational, and public uses.
Still, for many in the local marine trades, the sale also represents continuity — a transfer from one major player in the industry to another, with the resources to sustain and expand operations in Belfast.
A Critical Test for Maine’s Working Waterfronts
The confirmed sale marks a turning point for a business that helped catalyze Belfast’s modern identity as both a boatbuilding hub and a vibrant small city on Penobscot Bay.
If Safe Harbor and its new owner, Blackstone, follow through on promises of community-first stewardship, the deal could further elevate Belfast’s stature in the global yacht industry. But if corporate priorities overshadow local concerns, the transaction could test how much control a small Maine city can truly retain over its waterfront destiny when powerful multinationals are involved.
For now, the cranes still rise above Front Street, the travel lift still hums, and Belfast’s working waterfront carries on — awaiting the next chapter under new ownership.
https://mainebiz.biz/article/blackstone-backed-marina-operator-to-buy-belfasts-front-street-shipyard/
In case the link sends you to a Pay Wall:
Blackstone in Belfast: Front Street Shipyard to Be Sold to Safe Harbor Marinas
The long-rumored sale raises questions about a keystone of the city's waterfront.
Rumors swirl in Belfast around the possible sales of Front Street Shipyard.
What began as a swirl of waterfront rumors has now been confirmed: Front Street Shipyard, the city’s flagship marine enterprise and a cornerstone of Belfast’s downtown revival, is being sold to Safe Harbor Marinas — a massive international marina operator owned by financial behemoth Blackstone.
According to a Bangor Daily News report citing city planning documents dated Oct. 21, Safe Harbor entered a purchase and sale agreement with Front Street Shipyard earlier this year. The deal, set to close by the end of 2025, follows Safe Harbor’s own acquisition earlier this year by Blackstone Infrastructure, a division of the private equity giant Blackstone Inc., in a $5.65 billion transaction.
The biggest marina operator in the U.S., Safe Harbor has more 145 locations around the world, from Monaco to the Caribbean to California, and it’s rapidly adding more. It already ones two other marinas in Maine, in Rockland and Harpswell, and some Maine mariners have already expressed fear that the company’s rapid expansion could crowd out locally owned independent boatyards.
Neither Front Street Shipyard nor Safe Harbor Marinas has publicly commented on the sale, and details such as the purchase price remain undisclosed.
But Safe Harbor’s October application to the Belfast Planning Board confirms what months of dockside speculation had already suggested: that local ownership Belfast’s shipyard is coming to an end, raising pressing questions about the future of Belfast’s working waterfront.
A Local Success Story
Founded in 2011 by a partnership of Maine boatbuilding veterans — including J.B. Turner, Steve White of Brooklin Boat Yard, and Taylor Allen of Rockport Marine — Front Street Shipyard transformed the long-idled Stinson Seafood property into a modern hub for yacht construction and refit work.
Over the past decade, it has grown into one of the most sophisticated boat yards on the East Coast, employing more than 100 craftspeople and boasting a 485-ton lift, five heated work bays, and a reputation for tackling world-class projects like the refits of the 154-foot sailing yacht Asolare and the 1930s-built Atlantide.
It absorbed Belfast Boatyard in 2012, expanded its facilities with a USDA-backed $10 million loan in 2014, and in 2018 opened a 22,500-square-foot building capable of handling vessels up to 155 feet
Front Street’s emergence helped redefine Belfast’s waterfront identity, turning a once-industrial site into a magnet for marine trades, visiting yachts, and tourists alike. The shipyard also granted public easements that allow the city’s popular Harbor Walk to cross its property — access that city officials say remains protected “regardless of ownership.”
A New Owner with Deep Pockets
Safe Harbor Marinas, based in Dallas, Texas, has spent the past decade assembling the nation’s largest network of marina properties, now numbering roughly 140 across the U.S., Puerto Rico, and Europe. Its Maine portfolio includes Safe Harbor Rockland, Safe Harbor Great Island in Harpswell, and Safe Harbor Kittery Point.
The company’s aggressive expansion has been fueled by private equity investment. After selling to Sun Communities in 2020, Safe Harbor was purchased this year by Blackstone Infrastructure, part of Blackstone Inc..
Blackstone calls itself “the world’s largest alternative asset manager,” with more than $1 trillion in assets worldwide.
Headquartered in New York City and publicly traded on the NYSE, the firm invests across a wide spectrum of sectors, including private equity, real estate, hedge funds, credit, infrastructure, and growth equity. Blackstone’s reach is global, with holdings ranging from commercial real estate and logistics hubs in Europe and Asia to technology and life sciences companies in the U.S., and even energy and natural resource ventures worldwide.
That global reach, as well as some of its investment decisions and management practices with preexisting companies, has made it a frequent subject of criticism and controversy.
Blackstone’s infrastructure arm focuses on long-term holdings such as ports, toll roads, and energy facilities — and increasingly, marinas.
By treating marinas as essential infrastructure that provides stable, recurring revenue, Blackstone has positioned Safe Harbor to grow even further, promising to “maintain Safe Harbor’s people-first culture” while investing in facility upgrades and global expansion.
Blackstone's headquarters at 345 Park Ave. in New York City.
Critics, though, have decried the consolidation of vital infrastructure. And in online forums, some boaters say Safe Harbor seems more interested in catering to high-end yachters than everyday boaters, saying marinas they purchase and upgrade lose their local character.
Questions of Access and Control
Not all communities have embraced Safe Harbor’s arrival. The company has faced lawsuits and public pushback in several states over access and management issues, including disputes in South Carolina and Maine’s own Rockland Harbor.
Those precedents have left some in Belfast wary. Though the Harbor Walk easements are legally binding, residents and city leaders will be watching closely to see how Safe Harbor integrates into a waterfront that balances commercial, recreational, and public uses.
Still, for many in the local marine trades, the sale also represents continuity — a transfer from one major player in the industry to another, with the resources to sustain and expand operations in Belfast.
A Critical Test for Maine’s Working Waterfronts
The confirmed sale marks a turning point for a business that helped catalyze Belfast’s modern identity as both a boatbuilding hub and a vibrant small city on Penobscot Bay.
If Safe Harbor and its new owner, Blackstone, follow through on promises of community-first stewardship, the deal could further elevate Belfast’s stature in the global yacht industry. But if corporate priorities overshadow local concerns, the transaction could test how much control a small Maine city can truly retain over its waterfront destiny when powerful multinationals are involved.
For now, the cranes still rise above Front Street, the travel lift still hums, and Belfast’s working waterfront carries on — awaiting the next chapter under new ownership.
