Global Domination

With the construction of an astonishing number of marinas worldwide, including 40,000 slips being built in Dubai alone, Island Global Yachting is sailing to the top of its industry thanks to the innovative vision of owner Andrew Farkas
By Stephanie Wilson I Photography by Nalia Ruechel

A born entrepreneur, Andrew Farkas says that his business sense came naturally, even in his youth. “My father reminded me that when I was eight years old, for a weekend art project, I drew a stock certificate on a piece of paper and sold it to my grandfather for ten cents,” Farkas recalls with a deep chuckle. “I had forgotten that story until just now!” While the tale may have slipped his mind, the entrepreneurship is still well instilled.

While most eight year olds wouldn’t even know what a stock certificate looked like, Farkas already knew undoubtedly he would head into the business world. At the age of 16, his first company, called Data Mini Systems, wrote and sold software in a time when the term P.C. did not yet exist; Farkas, a New York City Native, has been unusually ahead of the learning curve throughout his life.

Upon completion of his studies at Harvard, Farkas headed diligently into the business world. Farkas created Insignia Financial Group in 1990 with $5 million raised from a group of investors. His tenacity allowed the business to grow into one of the largest commercial real estate companies in the world. The company went public in 1993, and by 1998, Insignia was among the top owners and operators of multifamily real estate in the US, controlling a whopping 350,000 residential units, and over 200 million square feet of commercial space. Farkas decided to sell the company in three parts, with the final sale being completed in 2003.

Not one to rest on his laurels, Farkas immediately dove into his next project. “I am not someone who can sit still for a long period. The very day that we sold the last piece of Insignia, I started Island Capital Group,” he explains.

Today, Farkas, now 47, is CEO and founder of Island Global Yachting (IGY), the world’s premier owner, developer, and manager of luxury marinas and lifestyle destinations, based out of Fort Lauderdale, Florida. IGY, an affiliate of Island Capital Group, has one main goal: to bring marinas around the world up to five-star status.

IGY was born out of necessity. “I spent a tremendous amount of time in my younger years living in Jamaica,” Farkas explains. “We went boating all the time.” His familiarity with the Caribbean region has long been a defining characteristic, and his love of the water is significant. An avid lifelong boater (although currently he is between boats, because, as he says, “what one needs to have a boat is time, and time right now is the rarest of commodities for me.”), Farkas was ecstatic when he reached a level of success in life that he was able to charter boats. “1992 was the first time I chartered a large vessel to go sailing around the Caribbean. From that point forward, I was chartering boats whenever I could, and going into every nook and cranny.” Farkas purchased his first boat in 1995, a 106-foot Palmer Johnson sloop, which he eventually replaced with a 125-foot Palmer Johnson pilothouse schooner.

Farkas took to boating like a fish takes to water: “I spent as much time as I could sailing around the Caribbean and Mediterranean, but one thing occurred to me: there was nowhere to put the boat,” says Farkas, a high level of frustration evident in his voice even all these years later. “Even marinas where you could put the boat had very little resources, very little service, very limited utilities, and everybody was competing for the same few spaces. Typically people who own [megayachts] like to be able to go last minute, and you just couldn’t; you had to plan well in advance. And even if you planned in advance, competition for the space was fierce.”

Like any ambitious businessman with capital, Farkas decided to fix what ailed him. Thus was the birth of IGY, a company that focuses on the design, development, acquisition, and control of megayacht and other luxury-class marina facilities in key yachting and nautical tourism areas around the world. “Island Global Yachting was founded with a vision to elevate the level of megayacht and luxury-class marina facilities and experiences worldwide,” says the corporate backgrounder. This is accomplished because IGY takes a marina through its entire lifecycle from construction to opening. The group has a successful team that has overseen billions of dollars worth of development projects around the globe; they bring this expertise to the construction of some of the finest marinas the world has ever seen. “Most marinas are not equipped to deliver the highly specialized services a yacht, its owner, and crew demand,” says Farkas. “A marina should be run like a five-star hotel, and IGY is creating the ultimate experience in megayacht marinas.”

The first project IGY tackled was Yacht Haven Grande in St. Thomas, USVI, which opened on March 17th of this year. Construction of the marina began in 2004, although the acquisition process dates back to 2001. “The US Virgin Islands are amongst the most popular cruising grounds in all of the Caribbean, but lost their position of preeminence in yachting because a series of hurricanes destroyed a number of venues that were not properly insured,” Farkas explains. IGY went to work securing the properties, and creating the first yachting-orientated resort destination in the Caribbean, and the largest urban redevelopment project that the Virgin Islands have ever seen.

Aptly called ‘the playground by the sea,’ the property has already hosted some of the world’s most spectacular megayachts, with more than fifty arriving for the grand opening event. Yacht Haven Grande boasts over 5,000 feet of state-of-the-art megayacht dockage, with a plethora of amenities that brings the center above that of its competition, which is virtually non-existent. High-speed in-slip fueling, black water pump-out and waste oil removal, up to 600 amps of 3-phase power, WiFi, side-to berthing for yachts up to 450 feet, 18 foot concrete docks and so much more are offered for the many yachts that sail into the harbor. While the offerings certainly are a focal point to Yacht Haven Grande, the main idea behind the facility is service: “The staff here has been trained not as dockhands, but as five-star hoteliers. They really understand hospitality.”

The property not only includes the marina, but also an esplanade with three restaurants and 80,000 square feet of retail space, home to luxury boutiques like Louis Vuitton, Buglari, Coach, and more. 12 waterside condos, which start at $2 million, 2 tennis courts, a putting green, swimming pool, and office-space round out the offerings. A boutique hotel is scheduled to open in the coming months, adding even more service aspects to the marina, which is a $150 million project.

While historically, marinas have been about parking and storage, with the development of larger and larger boats, the focus has shifted to one of service. “What IGY has done is recognize that shift, and undertake a new concept in hospitality,” Farkas explains. While Yacht Haven Grande may be the first of these resorts to open to the public, it is by no means the last.

The IGY group has been very busy staking out a worldwide monopoly when it comes to these full-service marinas, with Yacht Haven Grande being the ideal prototype. They currently have properties operating or under construction in Montauk, New York; St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands; St. Lucia, West Indies; St. Maarten, Netherlands Antilles; Virgin Gorda and Tortola, British Virgin Islands; Anguilla, British West Indies; Antigua, West Indies; Cabo San Lucas, Mexico; Muscat, Oman; and Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

The project in Dubai tops out as the largest IGY has undertaken to date when it comes to sheer numbers; IGY has partnered with Nakheel, Dubai’s premier property development firm, to develop and build an astonishing forty thousand slips in new luxury marinas in Dubai. Only five hundred such slips currently exist in Dubai now. “In fact, IGY, which enjoys the Government of Dubai as one of its premier shareholders, has an exclusive agreement with Nakheel to design, build, and operate all the marinas in all of the island communities being developed in Dubai,” says Farkas. This includes the signature developments of The Palm Islands, the World, and Dubai Waterfront, the largest waterfront development in the world.

In April, IGY revealed that it had already sold a staggering 380 berths for the Anchor Marina project, located on The Palm Jumeirah. Anchor Marina is one of the rare marinas on The Palm, making it even more special and coveted. The marina’s berths will provide for yachts between 10 and 30 meters in length, with spacious concrete pontoons and modern technology making this the ultimate marina experience in what is sure to become one of the yachting capitals of the world. “The demand and sheer volume of sales for berths on Anchor Marina are simply astounding, and it really demonstrates the potential held within the market in Dubai,” says Ralf Heron, CEO of IGY Middle East. “However, it also shows that IGY can finally provide the ultimate luxury experience that yacht owners around the world have been seeking in the Emirates.”

But Farkas is quick to say that Dubai is by no means consuming all of IGY’s time and concentration: “We have so many different venues under development, it is hard to describe any one as being the largest.”

Close to Farkas’ heart is the Montauk Yacht Club Resort and Marina, which is near his family’s summer home in Southampton (The Farkas family, which includes Andrew and his beautiful wife, Sandi, their son, and two children from Farkas’ first marriage, also have homes in Manhattan, the Bahamas, and St. Thomas.) “The Montauk Yacht Club is such a jewel,” he says. “Over the years, it has become somewhat dilapidated, but even in its dilapidated state, it retains a charm, grace, and attractiveness that makes it a unique destination…. Our objective is to bring it back to its original grandeur.”

From headquarters in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, the IGY team is always scoping out their next location. Next stop? “We are putting our eyes on the Western Mediterranean,” says Farkas.

What inspiring entrepreneurs can learn from Farkas is that tenacity is a key ingredient when it comes to building a successful business, although in his case, he is building so much more than a business; he is building a global empire.