Southfield-based Sun Communities Inc. is selling off its marina and yacht-servicing business for $5.65 billion to a unit of Blackstone Inc.

Affiliates of Blackstone Infrastructure are buying Safe Harbor Marinas from Sun Communities in an all-cash transaction, according to a statement. 

The price, which is subject to post-closing adjustments, is roughly 21 times Safe Harbor’s 2024 funds from operations, Sun Communities said.

Sun Communities, which also invests in communities for manufactured housing and recreational vehicles, acquired Safe Harbor in 2020, paying $2.11 billion at a time when COVID-19 was driving renewed interest in boating. The company added to Safe Harbor’s portfolio of marina real estate, and expects to book a gain of about $1.3 billion on its four-year investment, according to the statement.

Safe Harbor owns 138 marinas in the U.S. and Puerto Rico, Blackstone said in a separate statement.

Among the local marinas that Sun owned in Michigan include Belle Maer Harbor in Harrison Township; Grand Isle Marina in Grand Haven; Great Lakes Marina in Muskegon; Jefferson Beach Marina in St. Clair Shores; and Toledo Beach Marina in La Salle and the former Kean’s Marina at 100 Meadowbrook in Detroit.

As of the end of 2024, marinas generated $460.3 million in revenue for Sun, up from $431.6 million, according to its latest quarterly report.

While boat sales tend to ebb and flow with consumer sentiment, storage slips tend to be in short supply in all economies, creating opportunities for marina owners to modernize properties and drive higher rents. A trend toward larger superyachts with richer owners has also created opportunities for marinas to sell more services.

“Marinas benefit from key long-term thematic tailwinds, including the growth of travel and leisure as well as population inflows into coastal cities,” said Heidi Boyd, senior managing director in Blackstone’s infrastructure business. “We believe Safe Harbor is the best-positioned company in this sector.”

The sale is expected to close in the second quarter.

A November 2020 presentation from Sun after it purchased Safe Harbor said that the top five marina operators in the country own just 4% of the approximately 4,000 marinas in the country, leaving ample room for industry consolidation like has been seen in self-storage, manufactured housing and other sectors.

In addition, not many new marinas are being built nationwide for a variety of reasons including regulatory hurdles, scarcity of available land and cost to build, the November 2020 presentation said.

So because of the high barriers to entry, it made sense for Sun to start buying existing marinas rather than developing new ones.

— Crain’s Detroit Business senior reporter Kirk Pinho contributed to this report.