Star Line Mackinac Island Ferry Co. sells to Florida billionaire

The second of two ferry services that shuttle visitors to Mackinac Island from the mainland of Michigan has sold to the Florida billionaire who purchased Shepler's Ferry two years ago, sources confirmed to the Detroit Free Press.

The Star Line Mackinac Island Ferry Co. closed the deal at 11:59 p.m. Friday with the Hoffmann Family of Companies, led by patriarch David Hoffmann, of Naples, Florida. He has told of working as a child with his father, a milkman who made early morning deliveries door-to-door in tiny Washington, Missouri.

Employees were told of the sale Saturday morning.

It will be business as normal for the newly acquired ferry company, and jobs of all 200 employees are secure, said Jenny Gezella, president of Hoffmann Marine, which includes Shepler’s and Sip n’ Sail Cruises on Mackinac Island.

"All employees are staying on," she said. "We're looking forward to ensuring a first-class and efficient ride to and from the island. All pricing is under a licensing agreement. All the pricing will stay the same."

Ferry prices, which are established through a licensing agreement with the island, will not change as a result of the sale, Gezella said.

She declined to disclose the price of the sale.

Gezella said this latest acquisition makes the Hoffmann Family of Companies the largest owner of parcels of property in the area of Mackinaw City and St. Ignace. The two local newspapers, the Mackinac Island Town Crier and St. Ignace News, have also been purchased by the Hoffmann group.

Since buying Shepler's in 2022, an estimated $1.3 million in updates have been completed on five ferry engines, and that kind of investment will continue, said Gezella, who flew to Michigan to handle details of the latest acquisition.

Starline service has been disrupted by equipment problems, including this season, which has been an ongoing cause for concern among island leaders. Issues have included loss of propulsion and steering failure, according to documents obtained by the Free Press from the U.S. Coast Guard.

Reaction to the acquisition is immediate

News of the acquisition generated enthusiasm on the island.

Bart Berkshire, front manager of the Chippewa Hotel, home of the Pink Pony bar, told the Free Press, "The Hoffmann family has been doing a great job continuing the Shepler’s Ferry legacy. I can’t wait to see how they will improve the passenger ferries to and from Mackinac Island."

Tim Hygh, executive director of the Mackinac Island Tourism Bureau, said Saturday afternoon after hearing the news, "The Hoffmann ... team has really immersed itself in the island culture over the last few years. We look forward to learning more about their vision for the Mackinac Island Ferry Company."

The 2024 season is expected to be strong, and so ferry is traffic, Hygh said. "May (hotel) room revenue was up 17.3.% from a year ago" reaching $9 million for the first time ever. "We've never had a May like that, and last year was a record. The island has seen great growth over the last decade."

All eyes on Mackinac and keeping tradition

Mackinac Island, a renowned travel destination, is a carless island getaway known for its hiking, biking and horse-drawn carriage rides.

When Hoffmann bid for Shepler's, he didn't make the highest offer. But the Shepler family wanted to sell to another family, Chris Shepler told the Free Press at the time. David Hoffmann runs the Hoffmann Family of Companies with his wife, Jerri, and sons Geoff and Greg.

"We're a family business so we don't have shareholders or quarterly reports or quarterly financials to report to Wall Street," David Hoffmann told the Free Press in 2022. "We're very much about maintaining the culture of Mackinac Island and that's what we bought into. We don't want to see that change."

Shepler ferries alone shuttle about 650,000 passengers between April and November to Mackinac Island from Mackinaw City and St. Ignace through the Straits of Mackinac. The newest ferry, which carries 210 passengers and launched in 2020, cost $5 million. Chris Shepler remains part of the Shepler ferry service today and active with island business leaders.

Annual income at Shepler's alone is in the tens of millions, growing steadily, Shepler told the Free Press at the time of the sale. He declined to comment this weekend on his former competitor, deferring to Gezella, who oversaw the latest deal.

Who is who

The Hoffmann family runs a multibillion-dollar operation with a presence in 27 countries. Hoffmann confirmed he is the biggest real estate owner in Naples, Florida. The family renovated downtown Naples; Winnetka, Illinois, on the north shore of Chicago; and Avon, Colorado, the base of Beaver Creek ski mountain, Hoffmann said. Their vineyard investments in Augusta, Missouri, also have generated attention. 

The ferry company purchased this week had rebranded as the Mackinac Island Ferry Company in 2022 to consolidate the Star Line Mackinac Island Hydro-Jet Ferry fleet, which began in the 1970s, the Arnold Line Ferry fleet, operational since 1878, and the Mackinac Marine Services (MMS) shipyard, founded in 2019, according to a news release sent Saturday afternoon by the Hoffmann companies.

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This acquisition expands the U.S. fleet in Hoffmann Marine’s portfolio to 46 vessels across seven states, the news release said. Hoffmann purchased Sip n' Sail in May 2024.

"With this expansion, HF Companies now owns more than 116 parcels of land, including docks in Mackinaw City, Mackinac Island, and St. Ignace, 51 buildings and 6500 parking spaces," the news release said. "This makes the company the largest owner of real estate parcels in the area and employer to 500 people in the Mackinac area."

Contact Phoebe Wall Howard: 313-618-1034 or phoward@freepress.com.Follow her on Twitter@phoebesaid.