Dozens of boaters are furious after paying deposits of up to $500 each at Amherstburg’s Ranta Marina, which has been closed down because of unpaid bills and faces an uncertain future.
“It’s unbelievable, it’s heartbreaking,” said Lisa Scott, a former employee and co-manager who quit last fall after more than 20 years at the marina. “Everyone is very sad, angry and pissed off. Ranta is not just a marina — it’s family, a community.”
A handful of boaters also paid full annual memberships for this year at costs of up to $2,500. The Star spoke to three Ranta members Thursday who did not wish to be identified.
“It’s upsetting,” one longtime member said. “Everyone in the Amherstburg boating community is angry. We put our trust in these people.”
Ranta Marina at 1500 Front Road Amherstburg, Thursday May 21, 2015. (NICK BRANCACCIO/The Windsor Star)
The marina’s co-owner Rick Adam ordered The Star off the property Thursday shortly after noon, but did speak briefly when approached later.
“It’s not a happy situation,” he said. “There is no story here. The mortgage holder is taking the marina. It’s a business that just didn’t make it. We can’t afford to lose any more money. We have voluntarily given it back to the mortgage holder.”
Adam has informed boaters there is a $1.6-million mortgage owing on the property, so he and partner Judy Withington-James are walking away.
The marina’s hydro has remained shut off since at least February because of unpaid bills.
The marina’s primary mortgage is held by several Toronto-based investors and control of the property belongs to them.
Judy Withington-James is photographed at Ranta Marina Thursday May 21, 2015. (NICK BRANCACCIO/The Windsor Star)
The group’s lawyer, Frank Piccin of Woodbridge, said Thursday it has been a nightmare dealing with Adam who first started defaulting on the mortgage in September 2013 and has since “fought tooth and nail” in court against the mortgage holders.
Piccin said the sheriff has been needed to get Adam off the property so the mortgage holders can take ownership.
Boaters he said are “out of luck” when it comes to money they may have handed over to Adam or Withington-James.
“I can’t help them,” Piccin said. “They have to account for the money and maybe get police involved.”
Piccin called Ranta “the best marina I’ve ever seen.”
His investment group had the property appraised at $1.8 million. That’s why it provided such a large mortgage, even though Ranta’s owners paid just over $500,000 for the marina five years ago, he said.
The Toronto investors have no intention of running the marina, Piccin said. “My clients just want their money back. That’s all. Hopefully, we should be selling it in the next month and somebody will be running it this summer.”
Walter Ranta bequeathed the picturesque waterfront property just north of town to the municipality for public use. Ranta Marina first opened with the help of federal grants in the mid-1980s.
The Town of Amherstburg sold the 104-boat slip marina to a private developer in 2009 for $584,000, despite angry objections by users and town residents. The plan was to construct a condo and marina development.
Then in 2010, Adam and Withington-James entered the picture as investors. For the last several years, boaters have had some relief as the Ranta site continued to operate as a marina.
Richard (Rick) Adam is photographed at Ranta Marina Thursday May 21, 2015. (NICK BRANCACCIO/The Windsor Star)
But things started to crumble in fall 2013 when the co-owners started defaulting on the mortgage and slowly stopped paying bills.
Scott said last fall — soon after quitting her long-time job — she attempted to warn members not to hand over any money to Ranta’s owners.
“The writing was on the wall,” Scott said. “I told as many boaters as I could not to put down deposits, but they love the place and didn’t want to lose their spot.
“How can (the owners) do this to people? They made people pay deposits even though they knew they were going to close. Most boaters are not rich. They are average, blue-collar people with second- or third-hand boats and this is all the recreation they have. To come up with and then lose this money, it really hurts them.”
dbattagello@windsorstar.com or @DaveBattagello
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