The Tampa Bay Business Journal reported that Bertram Yachts is moving boatbuilding production to a new facility at Port Tampa Bay.
The news was confirmed by Bertram vice president of sales Tommy Thompson in an email.
“The facility we are currently in, though a wonderful property with a long history of boat building just won’t fit us in the next couple years,” Thompson said. “We love the city of Tampa and value greatly our current staff, so … we found that in a property in the port of Tampa closer to downtown.”
According to the details from the meeting with the Port of Tampa, Bertram’s deal with the port includes investing $25 million to build the new manufacturing facility. The site is a 25-acre parcel with water access at Port Sutton Channel.
“We now have a letter of intent and approval from the Port Authority to move forward,” Thompson said. “We were slightly optimistic, so our CEO Mark Paulhus has been doing what most boat builders dream of doing — designing a facility from scratch.”
With the builder’s model line growing — a line of center consoles was teased earlier this year — Thomson said more room is needed to meet demand.
“We have made adjustments to the current facility to have three full production lines, but with several inboard 35, 50, and 61s on order and outboard 28 and 39 orders backing up, it will not be long before we are busting at the seams,” he said.
The facility — once the Lazzara Yachts shipyard — may be sold to another boatbuilder or redeveloped, according to Paulhus.
