Ports Authority agrees to sell Southport Marina

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — The Southport Marina could be weeks away from being privately owned.

At a meeting in Wilmington today, the NC Ports Authority Board of Directors agreed to sell the marina for $5.25 million to Southport Marina Inc. (SMI), which has leased the 42-acre property from the state since 2006, according to Ports Authority spokesman Cliff Pyron.

The Council of State must now approve the sale. Pyron said the council will consider the deal at a meeting early next month.

Marina manager Hank Whitley told WWAY this afternoon he does not expect the sale to have much impact on the marina. He said he expects most changes just to be more improvements.

“There were a lot of hesitations in this small community when this group came in initially,” Whitley said. “Over the last ten years most of those folks, if not all of them, have seen the facilities improve, the community involvement improve. We’ve done what we said we were gonna do.”

Pyron said the Ports Authority will use the money from the sale for capital improvements, including at the ports of Wilmington and Morehead City.

The marina was listed for sale in January, Pyron said.