Cat’s Paw Marina to break ground on expansion project Nov. 20

Cat's Paw Marina in St. Augustine announced Nov. 12 it plans to break ground Nov. 20 on an expansion project that will more than triple its size.

The marina is on 19.9 acres at 220 Nix Boat Yard Road at the junction of the San Sebastian River and the Intracoastal Waterway.

Founded in 2007, the marina says on its website that it operates in a 35,000-square-foot building that accommodates almost 200 boats.

The marina said the three-phase expansion includes initial improvements of adding 114,000 square feet of barn storage that can serve 500 boats up to 40 feet, transient boat dock space and a waterway restaurant open to the public. There are 295 parking spaces.

A building permit in review by the St. Augustine Planning and Building Department shows 82,820 square feet of improvements valued at $6.3 million, according to the city.

At completion, the marina can grow to no greater than 250,000 square feet, according to its rezoning application with the St. Augustine Planning and Zoning Board, which approved the application in a unanimous vote June 4.

The marina's land zoned for Mixed-Use and Open Rural was amended to Marine Industrial and Highway Tourist, respectively.

The Jacksonville-based Driver, McAfee, Hawthorne & Diebenow law firm represented Cat's Paw in the rezoning.

St. Johns County issued a permit March 5 to demolish a mobile home, two houses and a free-standing garage at the site.

Jacksonville-based investment group Bulls Dixon Equity Partners LLC, through BDEP Cat's Paw LLC, bought the marina in December 2020 for $6 million from Cat's Paw Marina LLC.

Jacksonville-based Almond Engineering is the civil engineer.

Cat's Paw charges $21.50 per foot to store boats less than 31 feet. Larger boats are charged $23 per foot.

Its hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.