Depending on how nice Santa was to you recently — and we're talking seven-figure nice here — you could purchase one of Baltimore's most prominent summer hotspots today.
The Tiki Barge Pool Club and Bar, located at Harborview in Federal Hill, hopes to sell its 120-foot barge for $1 million, according to Dan Naor, chief operating officer of Baltimore Marine Centers, the company that runs the marina and owns the barge. A sales listing for the barge was posted by Bluewater Yacht Sales a week and a half ago, said broker Chuck Meyers.
The ideal plan, Naor said, is to find a buyer willing to take the current barge away, so ownership can purchase a new one to replace it. The current barge — which opened as the Tiki Barge on Memorial Day weekend in 2010 — will still be used for the upcoming season, he said, which is scheduled to begin April 15.
Naor compared the decision to potentially replace the barge to buying a new car.
"If you have an old car, you can put a lot of money in it, but at the end of the day, it will still be an old car," Naor said. "Sometimes it's just better off to sell the old car and buy a new car. It's no different."
Although the listing's description states, "a change in the marinas [sic] plans creates this opportunity to buy this craft," Naor said there are no plans for major changes — other than replacing barges — and he is "absolutely" still committed to the Tiki Barge's concept. As a business, Naor said, the Tiki Barge is coming off "the best season we ever had."
"The broker just put that [wording] in," Naor said. "The first time I saw it was when people started calling me [asking about it]."
If the plan is executed as Naor hopes, a new barge will be in place and ready for the 2016 season. The next boat will have the same dimensions and occupancy restrictions, he said.
The Tiki Barge has attracted its share of supporters and detractors since opening. In April 2011, the Liquor Board suspended the Barge's liquor license for a month due to disturbing the peace and misleading statements from the bar's lawyer. Less than a year later, the Liquor Board sided with concerned neighbors and nixed plans for a second barge and restaurant.
Things have been quieter since, and fans of the warm-weather hangout can breathe a bit easier knowing the popular destination off Key Highway will operate normally this season. Naor said concerns over the Tiki Barge's future made their way from regulars to him.
"People are pretty emotional over this Tiki Barge," he said with a laugh.