Ship Sails Itself

You're bound to get some calls when 55,000 cars a day pass your for-sale sign on U.S. 41 in Bonita Springs between Fort Myers and Naples.

But if the commercial property you're marketing is a full-scale replica of a Spanish galleon, you're certain to get more people to look twice.

William Wolf, a broker with Commercial Realty Group in Bonita Springs, has had the listing of this unusual property for six months and gets three calls a week from interested buyers.

Wolf doesn't have to do much to market the property except to list it on LoopNet, a commercial real estate listing service. It's safe to say everyone in the Fort Myers-Naples area knows The Ship and they often use it as a point of reference for driving directions to Bonita Springs.

Rob Fowler Jr., the president and chief operating officer of Fowler Construction, built The Ship in 1995 off a set of authentic plans for a 16th century Spanish galleon. At the time, the three-mast ship was a $1 million project.

Fowler says every detail of The Ship was an accurate replica of a Spanish treasure ship, including the yellow and red stripes painted on its side. This was an optical illusion used by Spanish sailors to ward off pirates because they looked like canon portholes from a great distance, he says.

The 4,000-square-foot wood galleon sits on top of a 10,000-square-foot building that once housed an upscale restaurant with seating capacity for 250 people. Later, the place became a bingo parlor and nightclub, but it's been empty for about five years.

The treasure ship's name is The Troy-Franco, the names of the owner's two sons. It even has a moat that can be filled with water to give the illusion that the ship is floating.

Wolf is sentimental about the place, recalling friends he'd meet there for drinks and food. “I want it to stay as a ship,” he says. He has had calls from investors interested in turning it into a pirate-theme dinner theater and even a bowling alley. Some want to tear it down, perhaps for a car lot or a hotel.

During the real estate boom, the property was listed for $4 million. It includes 3.62 acres and a single-family home in the rear of the property. Today, Wolf says the property is listed for $1.75 million, but an investor has the option to buy The Ship and the parking lot for $1.25 million. Treasure not included.