In the comments following our story about Archie McPhee leaving Ballard, a few of you correctly pointed out that Jacobsen’s Marine shares the same plot of land. The land’s owner has refused to allow either Archie McPhee or Jacobsen’s Marine to sign any leases beyond a month-to-month agreement, reports the PI. McPhee has decided to move, and Jacobsen’s has decided to go month-to-month. “In the boating business, it’s not a great time to think about doing anything,” said Greg Jacobsen, the owner of the business. To make things even more interesting, the trustee of the land, Bob Jacobsen Jr., is Greg’s brother. “I don’t know what I’m going to do,” Bob Jacobsen Jr. said when asked if the plan was to sell the land. But he did point out that if a new development was built high enough, “you would have a good view of the canal.”
Update: To clear up confusion about the month-to-month arrangement, McPhee’s David Wahl gave us a call. “They’ve been good landlords to us, but the terms of a month-to-month contract isn’t good for our business,” he said. “It’s in our interest to not be somewhere where we’d have to leave quickly.” Wahl says the terms of the agreement would give them just a 30-day buffer to find a new location, sign a new lease, move the inventory, etc.
