Popular fishing pier on the North Carolina coast is up for sale — for a hefty price
An iconic fishing pier on the North Carolina coast, owned by the same family for decades, is up for sale.
Bogue Inlet Pier in Emerald Isle, which sits on the state’s Crystal Coast, stretches 1,000 feet into the Atlantic Ocean — offering a fishing haven. Coupled with its adjoined pier house, ocean-view restaurant and campground, the pier attracts visitors from all over each year.
Construction started on the pier in the late 1950s, shortly after the town of Emerald Isle was incorporated, per its site. It was sold to Melvin and Joe Stanley in the 1970s and has been in the family since.
But soon, the pier will have new owners.
“We want to do other things,” Mike Stanley, the pier’s owner, told McClatchy News on Wednesday. “It’s time to stretch our legs a little bit and spend some time with grandkids and tinker with antique cars.”
The pier — along with the pier house, restaurant and campground — is listed for $18 million.
It’s close to several “offshore hot spots” and offers 52 oceanside camping spaces, the listing says.
Stanley says it’s the right time to sell the pier as business has “exploded.”
The pier is open 24 hours a day and boasts daily catches on its Facebook page. After closing for a while in March due to COVID-19, the pier reopened in May, welcoming back a flood of visitors with social distancing measures in place.
If anything, Stanley says the pandemic has increased business.
“We’re surprised it’s increased as much as it has, but everybody is trying to get out and there’s no better place to be than in the open air,” he told McClatchy.
The pier has also bounced back from several hurricanes over the years.
In 1984, a waterspout brought by Hurricane Diane ripped 238 feet from the end of the pier, its website says. It’s also been damaged by Hurricane Fran in 1996, Irene in 2011 and Florence in 2018.
But each time, the Stanleys have rebuilt.
The pier house and restaurant were also recently renovated. The house was torn down and rebuilt, and the restaurant was “gutted” in the winter of 2016, Stanley said.
“We’ve got it basically at the top of its game,” Stanley told McClatchy. “So it’s time to move along.”
Stanley said he plans to stay in Emerald Isle and says he’s “blessed” to live there and “flattered” by the response to the pier.
“It’s very flattering and makes us feel so good because we know everyone has enjoyed us,” he said.
This story was originally published July 15, 2020 at 5:40 PM.
