Saturday, January 14, 2006

The Gilded Age

Where can you park a 200 million dollar toy?
The New Megayachts: Too Much of a Good Thing? - New York Times

... From Miami to St. Thomas, new marinas with names like Super Yacht Harbor and Yacht Haven are being developed with berths for boats as long as 450 feet, roughly half the length of a 2,000-passenger cruise ship. To keep megayacht owners busy - not to mention spending - while their boats are parked at the marina, developers are surrounding their ports with high-end restaurants and retail shops. To entice yacht owners and their entourages to stay longer, they are also building luxury condominiums and five-star hotels.

As a result, a new real estate concept is beginning to emerge centered on the lifestyle of the boating elite. Island Capital Group in New York is transforming an existing port, Long Bay Harbor in St. Thomas, into a megayacht marina called Yacht Haven Grande with 48 slips averaging 120 feet in length. Twelve luxury condominiums, four waterfront restaurants, high-end shopping and a private yacht club around the 32-acre harbor are scheduled to open in the fall.
I'd wondered how the ultrawealthy would separate themselves from the trogs. A floating city should do nicely.

The end of the inheritance tax was very good for the yacht business. American socialism is up 10 points on the futures market.

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