Yankee Marine Group targets $3 million expansion in Lake George

Andrew Brodie, co-owner of Yankee Marine Group, plans to build a $3-million boat storage facility on Route 9N, in Lake George. This move would allow Brodie's marina, retail centre and repair business grow, creating new jobs all year round.

The town of Lake George Planning Board, and the Adirondack Park Agency approved the second-generation boat seller's development of a nine-acre lot located at 2217 Route 9, across from Roaring Brook Ranch, approximately a 10-minute drive from his retail and marina center in Diamond Point on Lake Shore Drive.

Brodie is approved to build up to three buildings totaling 33,000 sq. ft., which will allow him to store between 100 and 110 boats outside, in addition to 240 boats indoors. He has already started clearing the site and will be building two buildings this year.

Brodie explained, "We've been leasing land to store boats for so many years that our ability to expand our storage business has been hamstrung."

Brodie says that the construction costs have increased dramatically over the past two years, during which the multi-agency approval procedure has lasted for more than two years, making it hard to justify expansion.

He said, "I didn't deal with the same numbers when I reached the end of approval." The price of steel has risen dramatically, and interest rates have almost doubled. I had to stop and think about whether I wanted to invest in this.

Brodie thinks he has found a way, after a conversation with Chuck Barton at the spring boat show, to justify moving ahead with the project.

Yankee Marine has applied for a tax incentive program through the Industrial Development Agency that could save it a little over $250,000 in 10 years.

Brodie has filed a request with the Industrial Development Agency for a $22,343 exemption on mortgage taxes and a $112 695 exemption on sales tax. Yankee Marine also could save $117,744 in property taxes through a payment-in-lieu-of-taxes-agreement.

At its meeting on May 3, in Glens Falls, the industrial development agency will begin to review Brodie's request.

Brodie, in response to the incentive package proposal, said that it would "take off enough of an edge". As a long-term, if we could grow our business in storage, sales and service, it would definitely be a good investment.

Brodie has spent his whole life in the boating industry. He began his career as an engineering worker for GE Global Research. His parents bought the marina in 1972 - three years before his birth.

In the last five years, Jon Brodie and his brother have bought out their parent's business. Jon Brodie is the owner and operator of Brodie's Lakeside Marina and Little Harbor Boat Co. rentals in Lake George.

Andrew Brodie, his wife and Yankee Marine are the owners and operators of Yankee Marine.

He said, "The boating industry is now transitioning out of the Covid boom." "The past couple of years will probably never be repeated. Boat dealers sold everything they could get their hands on. It was a problem that production was so low that nobody wanted to buy that many boats. They were selling fewer boats, if anything.

He believes that supply and demand will likely return to normal.

In the last three years, Yankee Marine acquired several new boat brands, including Monterey Pontoons and Blackfin.

Yankee Marine employs around 40 people in peak season, and about 12 employees all year round. Brodie believes that the expansion of indoor boat storage will allow for more detailers, mechanics, and support staff to remain on-site year-round. They can repair boats in the winter instead of having to scramble every spring to get customers ready for the summer.