Boat industry veteran Don Stringer told the owners of April Plaza Marina on Lake Conroe north of Houston that they should consider selling to Frisco-based TopSide Marinas.
And for that simple business connection, he’ll collect $75,000.
TopSide, which acquires and operates marinas, has been public about its $75,000 finder’s fee offer to those who connect them with a marina it ends up buying, whether it be on a lake, river or coast.
The April Plaza Marina deal is the first time TopSide bought a marina through the referral program. But TopSide will soon close on a second one, said co-founder Stephen Lehn.
Stringer, who owns Full Stringer Outdoors, said he was impressed with repairs and improvements TopSide made at nearby Galveston Yacht Marina.
“A lot of investors just take the money and pocket it and don’t reinvest it,” Stringer said. “But I could tell they wanted to make it a good experience, not just for the commercial tenants but for the residents with boats there, too.”
Stringer said he knew the family owners of April Plaza didn’t really want to sell, but he suggested it anyway.
“I told them, ‘[TopSide] really has their act together,’” he said.
Stringer said he didn’t know about the finder’s fee at first but that it was a nice surprise. He said it’s a common practice in big purchases but is often done privately. He said he plans to use the reward on inventory since he buys and sells used boats.
The 4.9-acre April Plaza, which opened in 1974, is the second-largest and longest-operating marina on Lake Conroe. More than 60,000 boats are registered to owners who live within 50 miles of the marina, which had a new dock built in 2018, according to TopSide.
This is TopSide’s fifth deal in its two-year history.
The acquisition comes shortly after TopSide bought family-owned Larsen Marine, a 16-acre boatyard and marine facility on Lake Michigan north of Chicago. It had been owned by the Larsen family for 89 years.
“It was a once in lifetimes opportunity because it’s been three generations of this family owning this business, and now they’re trusting us,” Lehn said.
Topside, which has an office at The Star in Frisco, also owns North Point Marina on Lake Belton in Temple and Beavers Bend Marina on Broken Bow Lake in Oklahoma.
The company is ahead of schedule in terms of acquisitions, Lehn said. It has an additional three marinas under contract with closings expects this spring. That would raise Topside’s marina portfolio to eight.
