Bahia Mar: "more business, publicity to Fort Lauderdale than any other man-made attraction"

Bahia Mar circa 1960s,
Florida State Archives

Bahia Mar

801 Seabreeze Boulevard
Fort Lauderdale, FL 33316

By Jane Feehan

The following about Bahia Mar does not serve as an historical account of the business transactions that have shaped it over the years, though some will be mentioned. In 1949, the Miami News claimed Bahia Mar was the only land in Broward County that had not been privately owned; that may explain its complicated history.

Some would say its history began in the 1870s.

The United States government built a string of five Houses of Refuge in 1876 in Florida from Cape Florida to the Indian River to provide shelter for the shipwrecked. One refuge, New River House No. 4 was moved in 1891 from its first site near Hugh Birch State Park (Bonnet House) to the beach across from today’s Bahia Mar where the third Fort Lauderdale was built.

The United States Coast Guard operated from the site, a gathering place for social activities into the early 1900s. It served as Coast Guard Station No. 6 during World War I. From the inland waterway—today’s Bahia Mar—the base played an active role in World War II defense activities in South Florida. 

After the war in 1946, the federal government declared the site as surplus, placing it in the public domain.

Bahia Mar 1951
Florida State Archives/
Florida Memory

The city of Fort Lauderdale purchased the property for $600,000 but did not have enough funds for its development.

Private investors, led by Ohioan and developer William E. Schantz* raised funds to build a yacht basin that opened in December 1949. It offered 450 boat slips, shopping, a restaurant with cocktail lounge (Patricia Murphy’s Candlelight Restaurant did not open there until 1959) and 650 parking spaces.

Newspapers lauded the $2.5 million project. Some claimed the marina, with “three miles of docks," brought more publicity, recognition and business "than any other man-made attraction” to Fort Lauderdale. It led to declaration by city boosters that Fort Lauderdale was the “yachting capital of the world.” One news account reported Bahia Mar was the first yacht basin in the nation to be listed on Coast Guard navigation charts.

Not long after opening, the developers declared bankruptcy and the site reverted to the city. The city leased it back to the private sector in 1959 (yes, it’s complicated). Since 1959, Bahia Mar has served as home to the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show featuring some of the most spectacular luxury yachts seen anywhere. 

About 100,000 pay to see the display in late October, early November each year. Today the yacht basin holds 250 boat slips (some land now operated by the adjacent International Swimming Hall of Fame houses 40 slips), the Double Tree Hotel, yacht brokers, shopping and restaurants and other amenities.

Bahia Mar now faces a major transition. Value of the 38.65-acre Bahia Mar property was estimated in 2022 at $256 million. The city signed an initial 50-year lease that was to end in 2062 with Jimmy and Kenny Tate of Rahn Bahia Mar Hotel. It was extended to a 100-year lease and will include partners Rok Acqusitions and the Related Group. The developers plan to share revenue with the city derived from operations (hotel, marina, condos).

Plans were approved by the city commission in 2023 for a hotel and three condo towers, including the St. Regis Resort and Residences (expected to be completed in 2027). Controversy swirls around the project's scope and potential traffic woes.

Resident support is mixed. Some fear the project’s impact on beach traffic and on the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show; others welcome the needed revamp. Stay tuned …

  Copyright © 2022, 2025. All rights reserved. Jane Feehan.

Bahia Mar 1968
Florida State Archives/ Florida Memory

Sources:

Weidling, Philip and Burghard, August. Checkered Sunshine. Gainesville: University of Florida Press, 1966. 

Gillis, Susan. Fort Lauderdale: The Venice of America. Charleston: Acadia Publishing, 2004.

Fort Lauderdale News, March 7, 1949

Miami News, Sept 1, 1949

Fort Lauderdale News, Dec. 3, 1949

Fort Lauderdale News, April 10, 1955

New York Daily News, Jan. 27, 1957

New York Daily News, June 15, 1958

Sun-Sentinel, March 30, 2022

Real Deal, April 6, 2022

https://www.marinalife.com/marina?slug=bahia-mar-resort-and-yachting-center

https://bahiamaryachtingcenter.com/?utm_source=gmb&utm_medium=yext

For more on William E. Schantz* use search box

Tags: Bahia Mar Marina, Fort Lauderdale in the 1940s, Fort Lauderdale in the 1950s, yachting capital of the world. Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show, Fort Lauderdale history

Bahia Mar Yacht Basin - cabbage palm logs and historical relics?

Bahia Mar 1951
Florida State Archives/Florida Memories

By Jane Feehan

Bahia Mar, once home to the third fort built during the Seminole Wars and named for Maj. William Lauderdale was also the site of a House of Refuge in 1876 and later a U.S. Coast Guard station. Today, boats of all sizes from around the world berth at the scenic spot. The boat basin project, wending through the vagaries of city politics and developers' woes through the years is now recognized as a world class yachting center. Few remember that a museum was once planned as part of the first Bahia Mar project.

One of the original developers, Ohioan William E. Schantz of Universal Construction Company (of Ohio and Fort Lauderdale), formed the Bahia Mar Corporation to build the marina in the late 1940s. An article about Schantz from the Miami News, Sept. 1, 1949, details plans he had to build a replica of the old fort across from the yacht basin “…using cabbage palm logs as did the Indian-fighters on the same spot on the high ground near the beach. This fort will become a museum housing old documents and relics of the early days of South Florida.”

The museum remained a pipe dream. Bahia Mar Corporation defaulted on payments to the city two years after completion of the marina in 1949 and the city eventually took control of the property. For more on the history of Bahia Mar, see index or use search box.

https://janeshistorynook.blogspot.com/2022/09/bahia-mar-more-business-publicity-to.html?m=1

Copyright © 2021, 2024. All rights reserved. Jane Feehan
_____
Sources:
Weidling, Philip J., Burghard, August. Checkered Sunshine. Gainesville: University of Florida Press (1966).
Miami News, Sept. 1, 1949.

Tags: Bahia Mar history, Fort Lauderdale history, Florida history, history of Fort Lauderdale