Pinellas County commissioners on Tuesday gave a thumbs up to a plan for a $38 million yacht manufacturing facility on a patch of unused land by St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport.

The commission unanimously approved a plan by Clearwater boat retailer MarineMax to build a new yacht building and storage yard for its Intrepid Powerboats branch. MarineMax will sign a 50-year lease for the 9.5-acre property at 60 cents per square foot, or about $248,987 per year, in order to build the 132,000-square-foot facility and 400-space garage.

Intrepid president Ken Clinton said the company has had proposals to build a larger boat-building facility in another county or state, but his preference was to stay at home, 15 minutes from their existing plant in Largo.

“One of the concerns that we had is growth,” he said. “We have a group of customers that we call the Intrepid Nation that are urging us to do bigger and larger vessels, which is a good problem to have, but it’s another problem when you can’t do it on the piece of property where you’re at.”

Clinton said the new facility will employ some 300 workers, on top of the 425 who work in Largo. The project is expected to take about three years.

“I just love the fact that we’re going to be able to continue to stay in Pinellas County and bring more craftspeople to this area,” Clinton said.

The land — known as the Turtle Club site for a bar and lounge that used to sit there — has been unused for years as airport and county officials decided what to do with it.

“It’s a very exciting project, we’re proud of it, and we’re looking forward to the partnership,” airport executive director Tom Jewsbury said.

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