Bain Capital Real Estate and BlueWater Marinas Acquire Two Coastal Marinas in Connecticut and South Carolina

CHARLESTON, S.C. and BOSTON — Bain Capital Real Estate and BlueWater Marinas have acquired Mystic River Marina in Mystic, Connecticut, and Ripley Light Drystack Marina in Charleston, South Carolina, the firms announced Sept. 21, 2026. The two transactions represent the sixth and seventh marinas acquired through the companies' joint venture, extending a portfolio that targets Class A coastal boating assets along the East Coast.

Two Acquisitions, One Expanding Platform

The deals add geographically distinct properties to a platform that BlueWater Marinas and Bain Capital Real Estate have been assembling across high-barrier coastal markets. Both acquisitions share characteristics the joint venture has consistently sought: established operating histories, loyal customer bases, and diversified revenue streams that include slip rentals, dry storage, fuel, and ancillary services.

Dunston Powell, a Principal at BlueWater Marinas, said the two properties reflect the type of assets the platform set out to acquire. "Mystic River and Ripley Light both represent the caliber of marina we set out to acquire, properties located in core coastal boating markets with deep operating histories, loyal customer bases, and diversified, highly recurring revenue streams," Powell said. "We're excited to welcome both teams to the BlueWater family and to continue investing in the experience our customers expect."

Andrew Terris, a Partner at Bain Capital Real Estate, pointed to supply constraints in waterfront markets as a driver of continued institutional interest. "We continue to see attractive opportunities in marina real estate, particularly high-quality assets in established boating markets where demand is durable and new supply is difficult to develop," Terris said. "Mystic River and Ripley Light are strong additions to the platform we are building with BlueWater, each with a distinctive history and an important place in its local boating community."

Mystic River Marina: Nearly 70 Years of Family Ownership

Mystic River Marina is a full-service, storage-centric marina in Mystic, Connecticut, one of the Northeast's established boating destinations. The Class A facility is anchored by large wet slips serving seasonal and transient boaters, complemented by winter dry storage. Additional amenities include a parts and service department, fuel dock, ship store, on-site boat brokerage, breakfast café, customer lounge, and pool.

The marina carries nearly 70 years of continuous family ownership under the Garbarino family, spanning four generations. In 1957, Gene Garbarino and his brother Fred dredged the site and began installing docks. Gene's son Bob joined him, and in the late 1970s Bob and his brother Skip acquired the marina from the founders. Bob's daughter Lauren later stepped in, followed by her niece Kelcey, who carried the family's ownership into its fourth generation.

BlueWater Marinas said it is committed to carrying the Garbarino family's legacy forward as the next steward of the property.

Ripley Light Drystack Marina: A Charleston Lowcountry Fixture

The second acquisition, Ripley Light Drystack Marina, is located minutes from downtown Charleston with direct access to Charleston Harbor and surrounding Lowcountry waterways. The marina has served the Charleston boating community since 1988 and features 220 dry storage slips accommodating vessels up to 40 feet.

Ripley Light offers a full-service boating experience, including valet-style launch and retrieval, fuel, an on-site service department, and an established boat club. Its proximity to downtown Charleston and its range of services have made it a destination for area boaters over its more than three decades of operation.

Marina Real Estate and the Institutional Investment Case

The acquisitions reflect a broader investment thesis that Bain Capital Real Estate has articulated around waterfront marina assets. Zoning restrictions, waterfront scarcity, and entitlement barriers limit new marina construction in established coastal markets, supporting pricing power and occupancy stability at existing facilities. That supply constraint, combined with recurring slip and storage income, has drawn institutional capital to the marina sector.

Marinas can generate revenue across multiple streams simultaneously — wet slips, dry storage, fuel sales, service departments, brokerage commissions, club memberships, and ancillary retail — a diversification that distinguishes the asset class from more single-revenue commercial property types.

BlueWater Marinas, headquartered in Charleston, South Carolina, was established by former executives and team members of PORT 32 Marinas and Atlantic Marina Holdings. The firm focuses on acquiring, developing, and operating coastal marina assets along the East Coast. Bain Capital Real Estate, the real estate arm of Bain Capital, has invested and committed over $10.7 billion of equity across multiple sectors as of Sept. 30, 2025. Bain Capital manages approximately $225 billion in assets under management across its broader platform.

Terris said the firms intend to continue scaling the portfolio. "We look forward to investing alongside BlueWater to build on what has made these marinas successful while continuing to thoughtfully scale the portfolio," he said.

Sources

Bain Capital Real Estate — BlueWater Marinas and Bain Capital Acquire Mystic River Marina in Mystic, CT, and Ripley Light Drystack Marina in Charleston, SC (Sept. 21, 2026)