Daniel Island Marina on market

The Daniel Island Marina, a 471-slip dry storage facility near the Cooper River, is on the market for $12.5 million.

At a price several hundred thousand dollars less than the current owners paid two years ago, the property might look like a steal. But the conversion of some dry slips into privately owned "dockominiums" makes it less valuable.

"We have sold a good bit of product up here," said owner Freeman Barber Jr., who wants to sell the property so that he can focus on a commercial development in Goose Creek.

About a fourth of the facility's 471 dry-stack slips, which traditionally are rented out, have been sold under Barber's ownership. Sales have totaled about $4.7 million, according to marketing materials.

The facility's 44 wet slips are not for sale, Barber said.

The dockominium trend, driven by a voracious demand for property during the real estate boom of recent years, led several other local marinas to sell slips, including the Bohicket Marina & Yacht Club near Seabrook Island, Wild Dunes Yacht Harbor and the Harborage at Ashley Marina in downtown Charleston.

Barber's company, Daniel Island Marina LLC, briefly stopped selling dry slips earlier this year when the property went under contract with a potential buyer. At the last minute, the group couldn't get the financing.His company bought the property in June 2006 for about $13.2 million.

It includes the wet and dry slips, a 1,650-square-foot office space and about 1,000 square feet of retail space, according to marketing materials.

The facility is near where the Daniel Island Co. is proposing a total of 500 wet and dry slips on the Wando River.

That marina could open by mid-2009 and ease rental rates across the Lowcountry.

Barber said the Daniel Island proposal did not factor into his decision to sell.

Reach Katy Stech at 937-5549 or kstech@postandcourier.com.