BY BILL FREEHLING

The Coles Point Plantation on the Potomac River in Westmoreland County sold last week to a group of investors out of Alexandria.

The property includes a 182-slip marina, beach, boatyard, restaurant, campground, cabins, recreation hall, fishing area, store, swimming pool and 340 acres of undeveloped land. It occupies a tip of land between the Potomac and Lower Machodoc Creek.

Blackbeard Pond Partnership LLC bought the property for $2.78 million. Jamie Hamilton, one of the investors, said the new owners have a lot of experience in boating, marina ownership and construction. They want to turn it into a destination marina and plan to start work upgrading the facility soon.

A different group of investors out of Maryland submitted the winning bid at a Nov. 17 foreclosure auction but was unable to close on the property.

Katharine Sobotka and her late husband, Stephen, were the previous owners. They had ambitious plans for the property--which they bought in 1995 for $1.2 million--before the recession derailed them.

A 2006 dredging project expanded the size of the marina, and the Sobotkas envisioned high-end homes there. Westmoreland planners saw conceptual pictures, but no plans were filed beyond the materials to expand the marina. No additional slips were built, though there is room to because of the dredging.

A sewer system extends to the property, and the county has designated it as a high-growth area. Hamilton said the new owners want to meet with Westmoreland officials to discuss possibilities.

Hamilton said the first order of business will be to make "desperately needed repairs" to the marina. There are no immediate plans for any residential development, but the new owners may decide to build 10 or 12 cottages on the property where people could stay.

Bill Freehling: 540/374-5405
Email: bfreehling@freelancestar.com